Life can be tough for a Jedi Knight. And in the UK, it can lead to run-ins at the cereal aisle. In one of the more retweeted and blogged about stories of the week, the UK Guardian reports that Daniel Jones, the 23-year-old founder of the Church of Jediism, was told to remove his hood while shopping at the grocery chain Tesco.
Jones, who also goes by his Jedi name ““Morda Hehol,” has lodged a complaint with the store, alleging religious discrimination and is calling for a boycott. The hood he wore, he said, is part of his right to exercise religious freedom. The Tesco empire has “struck back” (the Guardian already made this joke but anyway…) claiming that they respect the religion, but respectfully ask that he remove the headgear.
Quoth the Guardian: “…Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker – all appeared in public without their hoods…”
This is just the kind of situation that makes me wonder what the galaxy is coming to. I mean really, if you’re a Jedi, wouldn’t you just do a few mind tricks on Tesco security until they’re convinced that this is just the type of fancy dress they’ve always been interested in seeing in their supermarket? I was also deeply disappointed to hear that to prove his Jedi status, he gave them a (get this!) business card.
As someone who knows the power of using the force for all kinds of maneuvers, I can say that the old “here’s who I really am” trick only works if you’re using magic paper a la Doctor Who. Otherwise, it screams “stuck on the third rock without my airspeeder” with the power of a thousand sun crushers.
We here at Online Storage Optimization will be following this story closely, reporting any breaking news that comes over the transom whenever and however we can. Meanwhile, may the force be with you, whether you’re clipping coupons or defeating the Zann Consortium.
Image of cool origami Yoda from: http://helenkosings.wordpress.com/2009/03/28/a-crazy-week-a-surgery-date/
