It sounds straight out of “the Onion,” but KMOV in St. Louis is serious about a sign posted in the city’s Family Dollar Stores, requesting that customers “please remove hoods before entering.”
The move follows a recent rash of robberies, which of course follows other recent developments in St. Louis that are not included in the news report.
Some customers say they understand the need for the sign. One of them nonchalantly explained to reporters, “They want people’s faces to be seen by the cameras. And sometimes when you have on a hood, it might block your facial view.” Another said, “It gives you more picture of the person.”
But not everyone interviewed was on board with the move. One customer identified as Roger Williams hilariously commented:
I would call it discrimination. That’s not right. It shouldn’t matter that you’re going in there with your hood on. If you’re not stealing, and you’re buying, purchasing something, what’s the problem? That shouldn’t be an issue.
Or to paraphrase CNN resident sage Marc Lamont Hill, “People wear hoods obscuring their faces for all sorts of reasons.”
Meanwhile the home office of the retail chain said it was unaware of the hood ban and has begun an internal investigation into the matter. Public & Media Relations Manager Bryn R. Winburn is quoted as saying:
It is not Company policy to ask our customers to remove hoods … before entering our stores.
Maybe not, but shouldn’t it be?
