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Original poster

to be offended by the checkout womans comment? (lighthearted)

85 replies

forbiddenfruit85 · 16/12/2012 14:52

Saw 'The Hobbit' on sale for £4.00, never read it so thought why not.

Went to pay for it along with the rest of the groceries.

When the checkout woman scans it through say "who's this for?"

I replied it was for me.

She gives me a Hmm look and says "It's very difficult to read to know?"

I guess she thinks I must look a little bit dim haha Smile

OP posts:
Original poster
forbiddenfruit85 · 16/12/2012 18:39

Yes QueenofPlaids I know Hmm hence why I used the word 'lighthearted' in the title.

I find it amusing that she said that to me because it's a children's book.

Just thought I would share as I found it funny.

OP posts:
PoppyPrincess · 16/12/2012 18:43

But she wasn't implying you were thick, she was being sarcastic so therefore saying that it wasn't difficult to read. If you understood sarcasm you would have got that and that wouldn't have to question whether she was implying that you are thick.
I do have a sense of humour and that's why I get what she was saying.
I know that you're being light hearted but you clearly just didn't pick up on the fact that she was taking the piss.

Original poster
forbiddenfruit85 · 16/12/2012 18:57

No I was stood right there PoppyPrincess she wasn't saying it sarcastically in the slightest she was deadly serious when she said it.

When I said the book was for me, she gave me a look and then said - it's really hard to read you know?

She then went on to say how she read it in school and that she also read Shakespeare.

She was being serious which is why I found it funny. If it was said sarcastically I wouldn't have found it as funny.

OP posts:
Original poster
forbiddenfruit85 · 16/12/2012 19:12

Even though it was obvious from her tone she wasn't being sarcastic.

The fact that she carried on saying that she read it in school and that she also read Shakespeare pretty much concluded that she was not being sarcastic.

OP posts:
DingDongKethryverilyonHigh · 16/12/2012 19:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MummytoMog · 16/12/2012 19:16

I was an early and prodigious reader - fricking hated Tolkien though. Odd as I am a massive Scifi/fantasy buff now. Still don't like them, but I did enjoy the films. Bawled every time I saw the charge of the Rohirrim.

MummytoMog · 16/12/2012 19:18

She read Shakespeare in school? From what I remember that was compulsory...

Seriously though, if you want to help kids understand shakespeare, then Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare is the plots of the plays, in the same sort of language, but told as stories. You can also get it is an audiobook for the car.

MoelFammau · 16/12/2012 19:22

The Hobbit is a kids book aimed at 8-10 year olds. The Lord of the Rings is heavier going but for hardcore mindfuck, the Silmarillion is the one.

I read the Hobbit at 8 - really wasn't tough in the slightest. Maybe a bit old fashioned but I liked that and still do.

PoppyPrincess · 16/12/2012 19:25

I'm not a big reader but I love love love Shakespeare! It was especially good if you had a great teacher at school who really helped bring it to life and explained the meanings of the words but also the hidden meanings.

Tanith · 16/12/2012 19:28

DS loved it! He's a golf fanatic and the description of the origins of Golf had him in fits of giggles.
I tried reading him a chapter a night when he was 8, which is how I was introduced to it. He pre-empted me and finished it all in one go.

Original poster
forbiddenfruit85 · 16/12/2012 19:32

Yes I like Shakespeare too.

But I wasn't really talking about him.

I was referring to the fact that she wasn't being sarcastic.

And why I think you were rude to say so bluntly - get a sense of humour.

OP posts:
Scheherezade · 16/12/2012 19:55

Really annoyed about the Silmarillion described as a "hardcore mindfuck". It's no different to any academic history text, except its made up.

serious Tolkein geek*

Scheherezade · 16/12/2012 19:57

And yes, the Hobbit is a childrens story book. I wonder if the checkout assistant and previous posters also struggle with Spot goes to the Zoo, and Rara the Hungry Lion in hardback...

Original poster
forbiddenfruit85 · 16/12/2012 20:16

That's quite rude Scheherezade you don't have to patronising.

I've not read it so cannot comment on how difficult it is but maybe it's the style people find hard to read.

OP posts:
TheCortanaThatStoleChristmas · 16/12/2012 20:23

I wonder why she said that OP! It is a lovely book though, hope you enjoy it. DP did find the LOTR books to be quite hard to get through. I think you'll either love the style and wolf it down or you wont. Xmas Smile

Blu · 16/12/2012 20:33

I don't think I am especially dim, and I have a degree in things literary, but I found the Hobbit very difficult to read. I didn't finish it, I don't think, or Lord of the Sodding Rings or any other tedious middle earth interminable made-up shit.

I should be a supermarket book advisor!

Fakebook · 16/12/2012 20:35

booboostoo thank you! I had no idea about that, I'm ordering it from Amazon tomorrow.

mintberry swings and roundabouts innit? Grin.

DingDongKethryverilyonHigh · 16/12/2012 20:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

saintmerryweather · 16/12/2012 20:43

i really dont understand people who think tolkien was such a literary master. peter jackson has improved the books beyond all recognition. i dont read historic academic texts for fun, so if you want to.look down on me for that go right ahead. im judging you for thinking the silmarilon is a good book

FromEsme · 16/12/2012 20:43

I have a degree in literature, but I can't get through anything by Tolkein. I just find it so utterly dull.

sausagesandwich34 · 16/12/2012 20:45

some people are being very rude about the cashier -calling her rude and thick is not on

I had to read the hobbit at school aged 12 and really struggled with it where as I found shakespeare & chaucer easy

I find the writing style really hard to get my head around and quite frankly it was boring so I had nomotivation to read it, I've never been interested in anything 'fantasy' so also can't read Terry Pratchet

both dds read it around 8 yo and both loved it

also cashier's have to comment on purchases, it's part of their job to 'personalise the service'
some people love it, some people hate it a bit like the hobbit really

degutastic · 16/12/2012 20:47

It's a kids book Shock It's in teen fiction in bookshops! For heaven's sake, I read when I was 7 and the lord of the rings when I was 9 Neither are exactly hard to comprehend Hmm

What a numpty!

AlwaysHoldingOnToStarbug · 16/12/2012 20:51

The Hobbit was an easy read compared to LOTR. I got DH to buy me the illustrated books but found I couldn't get into it again. Obviously reading it once was enough.

The Silmarrillion, I read that. Oh god, it bored me but I ploughed through and refused to give up. I won't do it again.

I do love the films though. Except the end of the last one, probably because I saw it at the cinema while heavily pregnant with twins and needed the loo and the end went on for what seemed like an eternity!

Scheherezade · 16/12/2012 20:55

saintmerryweather I was referring to The Silmarillion as an academic history book, not The Hobbit or LOTR, which are story books.

Fakebook · 16/12/2012 20:55

I've read all of Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Shakespeare's books/plays and they were admittedly all easier reads than Tolkien, but once I'd read a few chapters of lotr it became easier to understand. I've read it twice now, and still enjoy it as much as I read the first time.

I've never read Chaucer in my life. Am I missing out on something?