Causeway Bay basement proves to be a model of positive discrimination

Local companies have a deservedly bad reputation for discriminating against the physically disadvantaged. So it has recently taken a sex shop to show how to treat such customers with the respect they deserve. Here is something a reader witnessed outside a certain well-known sex toy shop in Causeway Bay. We didn't ask what he was doing there.

'The shop, in the basement of a shopping centre, has a strict 'no touch' policy on the gadgets, gizmos and gifts it sells. This especially applies to the life-sized Japanese doll that takes pride of place in a space behind the counter. But a recent visit by a blind customer showed that equal opportunities legislation has taken on a new meaning behind the store's curtained entrance.

'The man was fumbling his way along the shelves when he encountered what felt like skin. He quickly pulled his hand back, thinking he had touched another shopper, when the young woman sales assistant sidled up. 'Japanese doll - very real,' she said. Then, to the visually impaired peruser's astonishment, she took his right hand, pushed the two middle fingers together and gently pulled them towards a part of the doll that would make even a lifeless mannequin blush. 'See? Very real,' the salesgirl said with an I-told-you-so tone in her voice.

'The man mumbled an agreement and was suddenly acutely aware of two other male customers. They were commenting to each other about the 'Do not touch' sign at the doll's feet and that blindness may have some perks after all.'