So there I was, standing in the queue at the supermarket till with my weekly shop. The customers in front were a couple with a young child. The woman was wearing a burqa. I noticed the only part of her face visible was her eyes. As an avid reader of newspapers and of every shade of commentator from far right to far left, my head was swimming with views on this scene. I'm not proud to admit that one of my first thoughts was "the creeping Islamification of society." I thought of a story I heard - apocryphal? - of a woman stopped by security in some western airport. Asked to remove her niqab, she duly obliged - to reveal a clamped mouth. Is there any stronger symbol of female oppression on earth, I asked myself? The family had almost finished putting their groceries through the checkout, and were packing them into bags. The last item was scanned. It was time to pay. The man began rummaging in his pockets. The cashier looked on, waiting for payment. I earwigged, trying...