Can I see your papers please?

by | Mar 25, 2011 | civil liberties, Just plain weird, Please fuck off., Politics, UK Misery | 6 comments

Whilst standing in the queue at WH Smiths in Manchester airport this morning I was intrigued to hear the till staff asking to see everyones boarding cards before they would serve them.

As I worked my way down the queue I watched every single person behave like a good brainwashed sheep as they handed over their documents without question.

It finally got to my turn in the line and the conversation went something like this :
Till Monkey : Can I see your boarding card please?

Wasp : Why do I need to give you that to buy a newspaper?

Till Monkey : It’s just routine Sir – I need to get a code from it.

Wasp : Well you are not having it – are you going to sell me the newspaper or not?

Till Monkey : That will be £1 please sir.

Wasp : Ok – why do you want to see peoples boarding cards anyway?

Till Monkey : We are gathering marketing information to see which flights have the most WH Smith customers on them so we can target our advertising more profitably.

Wasp, somewhat taken aback by the forthright answer : And how many people ask why you need their boarding card?

Till Monkey : You are the first in the 4 weeks we have been asking I think.

What a sad state of affairs in the UK when people blindly comply without question to any and every request to produce their papers. The government doesn’t even need to try to create a police state here as it would seem that 99% of the population are already fully complaint sheep.

I am glad I have managed to escape if only for a few weeks.

6 Comments

  1. Angry Exile

    Oh, fuck me. It’s enough to make you weep.

    • Wasp

      AE – my thoughts indeed aside from the morbid fascination of watching around 35 people in front of me behaving like brainwashed, compliant sheep.

  2. Wasp

    Bucko – I always say no or question the reasons for being asked for various documents and ID. I have always been prepared to walk away without whatever it is I wanted if service is refused but it is very rare for that to actually happen.

    JuliaM – I have no idea why people are so compliant with these requests – it is possibly the desire to fit in with the actions of the crowd around you in older people but for younger people they seem to be fully indoctrinated now after years of things like providing thumb prints for library books at school.

    Blaize – Unless more people start saying no then we will be completely stuffed in no time. I wouldn’t be surprised to start hearing of people being reported to the likes of the anit terrorist hotline for their “strange” behaviour.

  3. Bucko

    Well done. At least some folk will still say no. Not nearly enough by the sound of it though.

  4. JuliaM

    “What a sad state of affairs in the UK when people blindly comply without question to any and every request to produce their papers.”

    Working as intended.

  5. Blaize Burdon

    Jeez, have people really been so indoctrinated? Obviously they have – idiots! I hate to say it, but sometimes I think they deserve all the crap they get. Well done for saying NO!

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  1. Longrider » The Drone Wars - [...] Wasp shares a disturbing anecdote. The WH Smith outlet at Manchester airport is now asking to see passengers’ boarding [...]