If you found a local shop keeper creepy, would you still go to the shop?

[Jippers]

We have a handy small grocers nearby, very convenient. But the chap behind the till gives me the creeps. There's nothing outward I can put my finger on though. Do you trust your gut instinct?

No, I wouldn't go to the shop. Yes, I'd trust my instincts.
I no longer go to the local garage after being approached by a sleezeball working there.

No. We have three newsagents 2 mins from us. One of them has a sleazy owner so I don't go to that one.

Exactly the same. The one I avoid is so creepy. He's old enough to be my dad and asked for my number, wanted to know exactly which flat I live in etc.

I'm sure he would say he's just being 'neighbourly' and I'm friendly enough but no, just no.

No.

Read The Gift of Fear. It's eye-opening.

No. Our local newsagent and Hermes parcel place, the owner isn’t creepy so much as a total fucking arsehole. Barks orders at customers as if they were his personal slaves. I won’t give him any business, even the 5p or whatever he makes on parcels, I drive to the next nearest shop instead.

I avoid my local co-op if one particular staff member is in. Luckily there is another shop nearby but I like co-op so it’s a shame!

No, I would go elsewhere. Lucky enough not to live in a place where I only have one option.

Don’t ignore your gut instinct. It’s there for a reason.

It doesn't take much for me to avoid a shop if there's an alternative. I feel that continuing to shop somewhere that makes me uncomfortable for whatever reason is sending the wrong message to the person making me uncomfortable (not that they are likely to take the hint that they are the reason for lost business).

I once went to a health food shop near where I lived and pushed the door, which didn't open. I realised that he had closed to for lunch, so I turned to walk away intending to come back. He opened the door and insisted that I come in, even though I said I would come back later. I only needed one thing so it took about a minute to pick it up and pay, during which time he bitched to his friend about how people are demanding and have no consideration for other people's time. I lived in that location for another five years and never went back.

I wouldn't go in the shop

When I was little there was a shop just before Greenwich market (1970s it was). Cannot remember if it was a butcher or a fishmonger but the guy who owned it really gave the young Me the creeps. Never set foot in there

I have, at various points in the 30 years I've lived here, avoided one or other of the 2 local shops due to strange or rude behaviour by owners. Thankfully both shops have changed hands and currently there are no issues. But I don't give my money to people who don't treat customers appropriately.

The world is full of creeps. Learn some life-skills to deal with them.

I think we forget two things. One is that there are a LOT of predatory men, more than you think there are. Two, you have feelings for a reason. You're just a sophisticated monkey and that part of our brain is still there. Stop telling it to shush.

There was a barber in Fleet Street who always seemed very creepy and many customers only ever went there once.
Not a nice place at all, although next door there was a lovely lady in a bakery who made the most delious meat pies, so it sort of balanced it out. 😱

I am pretty sure the local butcher where I used to live, was also some kind of gangster.

He did sell lovely sausages though, so I kept shopping there.

If I found the shop owner or staff members creepy from my perspective and I had other options, I would not go back. Having said that, there's a card shop in town and it's owned a friendly and helpful man who has never been anything other than amiable and he even saved my sons favourite toy when he dropped it. A former colleague of mine kept referring to the card shop owner as a creepy paedophile and advised everyone to stay away. My former colleague is now in prison on charges of grooming, assault of an underage child and possession of indecent images 🙄so I wouldn't necessarily take the heeby jeeby vibes advice from someone else.

Could you be more specific about 'life-skills' for creeps? I'm sure we'd all find it useful

I think avoiding them by not going into their shops is a good starter.

I'm intrigued. What life skills are you referring to?

No, I wouldn't go back. My gut has never been wrong about a creep!

I'd avoid it and find an alternative. Then again I even park in a certain place when doing the school run to avoid having to cross right outside the school because our lollipop man is awful.

😬

Good one @BlackAmericanoNoSugar!
I read, somewhere, sometime, that our subconscious adds up lots of little things about a person or situation that doesn't quite add up or seem right; our subconscious turns this into what we call our gut instincts. It might be a load of rubbish, but why should you give your money to someone you don't feel comfortable with.

It might be a load of rubbish

It's not a load of rubbish. Having worked with very dangerous people for a lot of years, your gut is cleverer than your brain.

I wonder if you live near me?
I groan when I see that my 'return' is assigned to the outlet at his shop.
He's a miserable sod and deliberately blocks the area with boxes of stock.. and woe betide if you can't get your QR code to scan (me every time)
The last occasion I said: "You really hate doing this don't you love?" 😂

We have a shop like that and we go out of our way to avoid it unless whatever we need is only sold there.

I don't hold with all this 'trust your gut stuff' Unless the shop keeper had done or said something creepy then yes, I'd still use the shop.