Things that make you go hmm...

I found this story tonight. Women in Saudi Arabia are planning a boycott of lingerie stores until they employ women. The entire country has very few saleswomen because of its strict segregation of the sexes. Saleswomen would have to *gasp* deal with male customers or *horror* work with men. Clearly, Saudi Arabia can't have that. The religious police who patrol the streets, and malls, to watch for any male-female interaction wouldn't know what to do with themselves if women had to serve male customers.

But what about the lingerie shops? Oddly, though women have to be covered head-to-toe when outside, there is no prohibition on their undergarments. So women in Saudi Arabia are free to buy whatever naughty, frilly, and sexy things they want. But all the salespeople are men. How are the religion police not all over those interactions? Men helping women get fitted for a bra, pick out a little something for Valentine's Day, or just ringing up a woman's new underwear. Shouldn't the religion police want only female employees in lingerie stores?

Seems pretty illogical to me that store owners in Saudia Arabia would seek to prevent inappropriate male-female interactions by hiring only male salespeople, even in the stores or departments that cater to women's most intimate items. Maybe that's the one place where the sales staff really ought to be female if your goal is to keep men and women separate.