Shop girl told to remove poppy
A PATRIOTIC shop girl who lost ancestors in both world wars spoke of her “devastation” yesterday after being ordered to remove her poppy.
She says bosses called it “just a nice gesture and not the right dress code”.
Billie Graham, 23, always wears her commemorative poppy with pride in the run-up to Remembrance Sunday, as a mark of respect for her great-great-grandfather and great-great-uncle who died. Her great-grandfather also fought in both wars.
But 10 minutes into her first shift on the Christian Dior perfume counter in House of Fraser at the new Westfield shopping centre, west London, Miss Graham was stunned to be told to take it off.
“It was my first day and one of the managers came up to me and told me it was not part of the dress code,” she said. “I tried to protest but another boss, a woman, said that while it was ‘a nice gesture’, I could not wear it.
This is England, and we should wear our poppies with pride.
“I was very upset and would have argued more but when I looked round, none of the staff seemed to be wearing a poppy. I’m a student and needed the money so didn’t want to lose my job.
“I have always worn my poppy in previous stores and I just thought, ‘This isn’t right. This is England, and we should wear our poppies with pride’.
“I was devastated, and my mum and my nan were too when I told them. In our family, we are all very aware of Armistice Day and the sacrifices soldiers made. I was disgusted. It was shockingly unpatriotic.”
Miss Graham’s great-great-grandfather Joseph French was killed in action in France during the First World War. Her great-great-uncle Wallace Hall, a paratrooper and SAS hero, was shot dead in Holland in the Second World War.
The marketing student, of Notting Hill, west London, added: “It was so insulting – they acted like I was wearing the poppy as a fashion statement. It so clearly wasn’t.”
Last night a spokeswoman for Christian Dior said: “All Christian Dior employees have the right to wear a poppy and this is entirely a personal choice.”
A House of Fraser shopper pointed out: “It is quite strange to see all these staff so smartly presented and yet not one of them has a poppy on, unlike all the customers.”
House of Fraser added: “We encourage our staff to wear poppies.”
