-----Original Message-----
From: Patrick Lodge 
Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2001 10:26 AM
Subject: Re: Sainsbury's


This is the mail I sent to their customer services:

Dear customer service executive

As a customer who regularly spends circa £90 a week with you (check if you
like: 6341 xxxx xxxx xxxxxxx), I would like an explanation from yourselves
as to why your stores do not stock gay lifestyle magazines such as Attitude
and Gay Times. My local stores are Dulwich and New Cross Gate, but I've
never seen these titles in your other stores either.

A friend of mine who enquired as to why his local Sainsburgers (Newbury)
stocked a plethora of 'lad' magazines such as FHM, Maxim and Loaded, and not
the aforementioned gay titles, was told by the store manager that people
would find the stocking of these magazines 'offensive'. This is an
interesting stance given the titillating and semi-pornographic content of
the likes of FHM et al.

I get the impression that this is none other than the ugly face (yes, itıs a
bit like Jamie Oliverıs) of discrimination rearing its head, and I demand an
explanation from you. Pending your reply I shall make the extra journey to
M&S or Waitrose, where by the way, the fruit and vegetables actually have
flavour. I shall also be distributing a copy of this mail to my wide circle
of friends urging them to give the arcane practices in your stores a wide
berth too.

Yours disgruntledly

Patrick Lodge

P.S. the data privacy law changed last year meaning that you have to
specifically ask your website users to 'opt in' to receiving useless blurb
from yourselves. I shall be making the relevant web parties aware that you
are in breach of this change in the law.