Caused a scene in a cafe today. Now wondering if we were unreasonable

@Skodacool how could you possibly know what language people were speaking before you walked in though?

As soon as we spoke

Yes, there’s a magic whistle that only Welsh people can hear when English people walk in anywhere that signals you must instantly switch to Cymraeg or the dragon comes bite you on the arse at midnight…

The op claims to be from north wales, born and bred with an entirely Welsh speaking family. That means being immersed in the language from day one. As for visiting Anglesey, the presumption is that the locals/workers speak Welsh not the other way around. The majority of Anglesey are Welsh first language, schools are wholly Welsh bar for English lessons and learners who are given more mixed work. Secondary is more lenient but primary schools expect Welsh to be spoken at all times. The majority of jobs in NW Wales expects you to be able to speak Welsh, so knowing this it would be incredibly surprising if the op had found one of the rare people on Anglesey who wasn’t a Welsh speaker at all.

As soon as you walked in?

I remember childhood trips to North Wales where fairly typically the locals would switch from English to Welsh when we entered shups and cafes.

She doesn't say that Welsh is her first language and she doesn't know that the cafe staff speak Welsh whereas she knows they will understand English.

I agree, none of it made sense. She got what she wanted though- a massive Welsh bashing thread.

I guess we'll never know given that it looks like she's not coming back. So we can just draw our own conclusions

I don't believe she is either.

She claims to have lived in Conwy all her life yet describes herself as "local" when in Anglesey which is (depending where in Conwy and where in Anglesey) could be anything between 30 and 50 miles apart.

If she genuinely lived in Conwy she would know that it's sufficiently far from Anglesey that she wouldn't be "local" there.

If she was genuinely Welsh and a fluent Cymraeg speaker she wouldn't be inviting Mumsnet to pile-in on her fellow country-folk.

It is possible she might be a non-Welsh speaking Welsh person. There are a lot of them and some have a bit of a chip on the shoulder about Cymraeg. She might be one of those.

I don't believe for over minute the OP is Welsh or even speaks it.
It just didn't add up

I was joking 😁 my point is if you write off an entire country based on one incident 50 years ago, you really miss out! Individuals may not always be nice or kind, but don't use that experience as a judgement against an entire nation of people

Well,how very dare people in Wales have a sense of their own national identity eh.

Hello in English and Helo in Welsh sound very much much the same.

Do they speak to you in Welsh, or each other?

The OP says I'll start off by saying I'm welsh, born and bred and speak the language as does my entire family.. She lives in a Welsh speaking area, goes to a cafe in another Welsh speaking area where the staff speak Welsh and yet chooses to speak English. As a first language Welsh speaker I just find that very strange.

Em well no not quite, so it's more like you walk in, they're not talking at all, you say hello in English, they then start talking in Welsh, even though they can obviously talk English & probably know I don't know what they're talking about!!

Carmarthen, the bakery is quite famous for it apparently. And there's a cafe gifts shop in llandysul, yeah that's got "we're Welsh" vibes too & quite a few have mentioned it to me, I've had experience directly of that shop

In reply to SlugsWon, was everyone in the queue being charged the same, or just you? That was my point.

Omg I totally get it! This one time I went to London and I was charged £5 for a cone of chips. Put me right off English people that did, never been back. Shame because England seemed nice and all, but I won't be treated like that

Because the OP mostly speaks English and everyone understands English?

An English person was rude to me once; but despite the fact that I have also met rude Welsh people, I have decided to irrationally hone in on the nationality of the English person.

I’ve had my own back, however. Every time I now hear an English voice, I immediately switch from speaking English to Welsh which highlights an amazing paradox. Welsh is de-valued as a ‘dead language that no-one speaks,’ yet an entire pub can speak the language on mass upon English people walking into the bar. Unless of course, a Welsh person has decided to have a ‘day off’ from speaking the language, which this thread has taught me is a thing.

I feel that it is my patriotic duty to keep ‘Cymrophobia’ going as much as possible, despite my son being half-English. Maybe that is why I named him..Bradwr.

When I worked in London an English woman almost shoved me under a train in her haste to get on it. The English really are all murderous monsters and I feel much safer now I am back in Wales.

When I went to England once, 30 years ago, a woman there was rude to me too in front of everyone.

Somehow I managed to realise that this one rude English woman doesn’t represent the whole country and have not thought ‘never again’ about stepping foot back in England

So you’ve written off the whole of Wales on the basis of that one encounter?

Yes because nothing will have changed in 50 years with Welsh local shops. They still use the old decimals in the most rural areas don’t you know, and guess the price on what the weather is like at that particular moment…