Jebus

Daily Mail:

Two pensioners were left stunned after they were ordered to show photo ID to buy a bottle of wine – despite having a combined age of nearly 140. …

The pair, one of whom walks with a stick, and both of whom have grey hair, laughingly dismissed the question as a joke before being told it was company policy. …

Company policy, standard procedure – Unspeak:

It’s just standard procedure – as though the mere fact that it is written down in some bureaucratic rule-sheet ought to satisfy any complaints. If you had some questions about the morality of the incident, the spokeswoman chose to answer a different question altogether. “Is it right that you should do this?” “Oh, don’t worry, we always do this.” The reassuring appeal to standard procedure tries to fog one’s mind sufficiently to head off any awkward question about how it came to be standard procedure, or whether it should remain so.

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