I think that there is a slight difference between following guidelines and rules on a petrol forecourt and a totalitarian Communist state... :blink: I don’t think you’re paranoid at all!MarkE wrote:By the time it has become the norm it is too late to complain. I admit I am very sensitive about the imposition of petty rules and laws, partly because I used to have friends in the former East Germany and one of the weapons used to keep the population in order was a lot of such rules; they made everyone nervous because you had almost certainly broken a rule somewhere, somewhen so if the state wanted to remind you who was boss they had only to charge you with it; plus having a law to regulate every trivial aspect of human existance was (is) believed to encourage a culture of obedience.scouse wrote:You will get the odd occasion when something not to your liking but, until it becomes the norm; don't let it worry you as it’s just a passing incident.
The other part of my reason is that I am a natural contrarian who reacts badly to being told what to do for no good reason.
In the UK these days (and many other countries) a company will have to make a risk assessment for the work place, be it from an H&S viewpoint or the prospect that they might be robbed. There was a spate of incidents back in the 1980s and 90s where armed thieves would ride up on bikes, wearing helmets and rob the petrol stations of fuel, money and cigarettes. The criminals would use helmets with dark visors so that their faces would be obscured. Now, if this had happened in any other work place, do you think that it would be unreasonable to implement a helmet removal policy? Do you complain when you see a sign on the door of a bank asking you to remove your helmet for the same reason?
Your minor inconvenience or the fact that you may take your custom elsewhere means nothing to the company and even less to the person in the booth. I believe that this policy will soon be adopted by all service stations and why should we blame them? It may be one rule for one… but a baseball cap does not obscure the face like a helmet does and said helmet is not religious garb.
The more we complain about things like this, the more we as a group are alienated. There is another thread on this Forum about Gypsies and the troubles they bring: I’m sure that not all of them are the thieving scallies that people make them out to be, but they have been tarred with a brush just like bikers were in the 1960s and 70s – I was refused service in pubs on several occasions. The more we complain, stomp and shout, the more annoyed people will become and the minority who don’t want to remove their helmets. This will spread and, yet again, the motorcyclist will become the social outcast.
Stand up for your rights when your freedom is threatened but, please, do not throw a tantrum just because you are asked to remove your helmet.
Sorry for going on...
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