Behind The Counter

[r3port3r66]

OK MoFo's here's another one of my observations as I walk through this life in real-time.

So I'm headed to work. I like chewing gum at work. I don't know if I'm allowed to or I'm just darn good at hiding it. But today I'm out of gum, and I decide to stop by a drug store to replenish my supply. I head into Walgreens: an American drug store that sells anything from underwear to makeup.

As I walk through the sliding doors, a lady behind the register looks at me funny, as if silently profiling me, like she suspects that I'm going to do something she can valiantly catch me at. I suddenly realize this happens everywhere I go lately. Then it hits me that I'm wearing my backpack. It's a small black pack with the normal opening at the top and a small compartment in front where I keep my phone, cigs, gum.

The lady has looked so far down her nose at me by now that her chin nearly hits the front of her smock. "Please put your bag behind the counter." she spits. Alright, I think that's fine. Obviously she questioning my intergrity, and as not to waste time I place my bag near her feet.

I find my gum, and as I'm passing through the aisles I notice that women's purses are quite large. I mean my small backpack is as big or smaller than some of the purses I see with pockets here, snaps there.Yet there is one thing the women have that I dont--their bags!!! This confuses me, and in true reporter form I begin to question why my bag had to be checked, and women are allowed to carry their huge purses throughout the store. I decide to ask the lady behind the counter about it as I pay.

"Well," she lies, "You can be sure if a lady is carrying a big bag she will be watched."
Then she adds, "But you bring up a good point."

Question: Why, if a man carries a backpack he is suspect to shoplifting, and is told to "check his bag", yet women can carry their purses wherever they go without being asked to leave them behind the counter?

[Herod]

Because we have penises.









And a lot of crap about how even the English language restricts men from appropriate ways of describing unfair treatment or hatred of their sex, not to mention a culture that looks down upon white males complaining about anything. But mostly I think it's the penis thing.

[MyRobotSuit]

That baffles me. I've went into numerous shops with a backpack and have never been asked to put it anywhere. I would instantly regard this as a very rude thing to be asked and would say no. They have no right to ask this. I don't know if it is different anywhere else but here in Liverpool (England), you are only approached if you leave the premises with an item(s) you have not paid for.

[sisboombah]

That baffles me. I've went into numerous shops with a backpack and have never been asked to put it anywhere. I would instantly regard this as a very rude thing to be asked and would say no. They have no right to ask this. I don't know if it is different anywhere else but here in Liverpool (England), you are only approached if you leave the premises with an item(s) you have not paid for.


i dont think places in england do it. i went to tenerife a few years ago and they have massive signs up in their supermarkets saying to leave your bags in the lockers before you enter the shop. i cant remember if i had to do it when i went to america but i guess it must be something that some places do. although if they are gonna ask men to leave their bags behind they should ask woman as well. but maybe its because some backpacks have thick layered material and if you put stuff in them the alarms dont detect it.

[Caitlyn]

Unless there was a sign on the outside that stated “No Back Packs” allowed, the clerk had no right to ask you to leave your bag in the first place…