Please remove your helmet

Got some petrol yesterday for the Rex at Tesco's in Plymouth, Roborough store for those who know the area.

Went in to pay and the cashier said "can you remove your helmet next time please?"
I asked why and she replied "I have no idea, but we now have a no helmet poilcy."
I said I wasn't happy about it and left.

This is the first time I've ever been asked to do this and the next time I use this garage I'll be keeping my helmet ON and I'll see if they've worked out the reason for asking me to take it off.
I'll also ask if they have a no hoodie, baseball cap, sunglasses policy and if muslim women have to remove their face mask.

Anyone else had this and what did you do ?

never had it, altho plenty of people I know have, I tend to use the same 3 or 4 garages so they all know the bike and the helmet anyway

Yeah the garage near me makes bikers take lids off . They charge more for petrolthan other station aswell.needless to say i go to cheaper one now.

I don't think most non-bikers realise the aggravation it is, particulary if you're re-fueling mid-journey and in a hurry, to remove your gloves, glasses, earplugs, helmet and then put it all back on afterwards.

I'm sure the South West Surfers will confirm what an unpleasent cow the woman in the Aust services was on our rideout, "It's very rude of you to talk to me with your helmet on". They're not police and we're not criminals. We're paying customers, treat us with some respect.

The Aust services is the only place where I've had any problem with it. I'd also like to see the 'evidence' that suggests bikers are most likely to ride off without paying (and why this is moreso when they sit astride the bike to hold it upright to get more fuel in).

Yep, I take your point.
The garages I use regularly have never asked me to remove my lid. If they were adament about it I would though.
It is a bit of a pain but it takes all of 60s to take it off & replace it.

I do take your point about sunglasses (although maybe a bit extreme on their own) b.ball caps, hoodies & the muslim headress.

Hoodies & glasses together or b.ball caps & glasses together is a good arguement I agree.
Whats the difference between this & a safety helmet.

The muslim headress does hide your face & if you or I were to walk into a petrol station/bank whatever with something wrapped round our heads & hihing our faces we would expect to place folk into a state of fear & alarm.

But I think you would have a hard job convincing most people in our current society to back you up on the headress issue.

Some people may even "perceive" it to be racist.
The reason I use the word "perceive" is because in Scotland, & I am sure England is fairly similar, a racist incident is defined as:

"Any incident which is perceived to be racist either by the victim or ANY other person".

I am not meaning to preach in my post nor am I a political minded person, just really throwing in more "food for thought".

You can underdstand why they want you to, particularly with a very jumpy political climate at the moment. I think the real issue is how they ask. If someone demands I remove it immediately then they're looking at an argument, but if they politely and reasonably ask me with a hint of apology in their voice then okay it's not too much of a problem.

Maybe we should have stickers made that go on the front of our lids:

"Please don't ask me to remove my helmet as a refusal often offends"




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Just as an aside Jonboy, why do you always leave a couple of blank lines and a fullstop at the end of your posts?

Originally Posted by jonboy

Maybe we should have stickers made that go on the front of our lids:

"Please don't ask me to remove my helmet as a refusal often offends"

.

I'll have one of them.

Originally Posted by jonboy

Maybe we should have stickers made that go on the front of our lids:

"Please don't ask me to remove my helmet as a "Glasgow Kiss" often offends"

I don't really understand why garages ask you to remove your lid. If you're gonna hold up the place, you're not going to remove your lid before walking in because there's a sign on the door...