Headscarf letter Pharmacist response to headscarf complaint goes viral
Bochum · A woman who wrote a letter complaining about being served by an employee in a headscarf, received an answer from the pharmacy owner. It went viral.
A customer at a pharmacy in Bochum wrote to the owner of the pharmacy with a complaint: she and her husband would no longer take their business to that pharmacy because she had been served by a woman with a Muslim head scarf and this made her feel harrassed. Owner of the pharmacy, Jens Beuth wrote a letter back to her and it went viral.
The letter of complaint from the customer said she could not accept the non-verbal meaning portrayed through the actions of the employee (wearing a head scarf). The customer felt it implied to her that she presented herself as a sexual object (by not covering her hair), and that her husband was reduced to the notion of a man who would get aroused at the sight of a woman’s uncovered hair. She said this was not the way to integration.
Pharmacist Beuth promptly answered the letter and posted both the customer letter and his response on Facebook. He said that as a businessman, normally he would be inclined to write a letter asking the customer for understanding or offering an apology. However, in this case he would not do that. Instead, he wrote a letter saying he is a big supporter of integration and he believes all people should be treated the same. If the customer did not share his philosophy, she could find a different pharmacy.
Excerpt from pharmacist Jens Beuth’s letter:
“I employ Christians, Muslims, Atheists, fat, thin, tall and short women and men, from young to old, blonde to dark, long, short and even without hair. We have people who drive cars, motorcycles, who have no vehicles, with tattoos, piercings, light-skinned and dark-skinned. We have employees who eat meat, or are vegetarians, or vegans. We have soccer fans from Vfl 1848, S04 and BVB 09 and those who aren’t interested in soccer! A real cross section of the population!
I am happy you decided you should go to a different pharmacy, because we do not wish to have you as our customer. But as we have the obligation as a pharmacy to provide the entire population with medicine, we would still serve you in the case of an emergency, and with friendliness and professionalism. “
The posting from the pharmacist has already been shared on Facebook 23,000 times, and received more than 1,000 comments and 6,500 “likes”.
(Orig. text: Alexandra Mölleken)
