To be embarrassed about being an idiot in M&S today

[Dontfencemein]

Paying for some tights in M&S today. DS2 asleep in pushchair. He is 8 months. This is a rare treat (the sleep, not the tights).

The lady on the till sees a queue forming and naturally calls for colleagues to open another one. She picks up a bell, not a little tinkly thing but a great big one like they have in schools. She rings it with gusto. I hush and rock the pram as baby now waking up. I pray for a speedy transaction.

The colleague duly appears and then she too picks up the same bell to ring it AGAIN. At this point I crack and loudly beg the women to stop ringing the bell. The poor women apologise and look at me like I have taken leave of my senses.

Now I feel totally mortified. I didn't mean to be rude or come across as an uber-entitled mother who expects the world to revolve around her (sleeping) children. They were just doing their jobs. Going back to apologise would make it worse
I fear.

What would you do?

I refuse to ever set foot in a Sports Direct again for many reasons but the main one being they blow whistles at eachother when my son was sleeping in his pram.

Don't do anything...forget the whole thing, it's not important.

I would do nothing and I wouldn't worry or think about it again.

Perhaps You were a little short but it's really not worth dwelling on.

YWNBU - forget it!

I would have ripped the bell out of her hands and thrown it across the shop as soon as I realised it was going to be rung. Probably while aggressively shushing her.
She got off lightly.
My DS also does not like sleep

Sorry but I think your actions were entirely reasonable and I would have done the same! However, I have been known to yell at neighbours for revving car engines as Itry to read bedtime stories

Nah that's bloody annoying, I'd have shushed them too.

M&S staff are among the worst IMO. Only beaten by John Lewis/Waitrose. Never helpful or friendly, just condescending and tedious.

At least you got in there before a third shop assistant arrived and rang the bell again.
Relax, they will have encountered far worse customers. You were after all being quite reasonable.

I told a builder to pause his banging next to my house once so I could transfer sleeping child into house. He looked at.me like I was mad but did it. We've all done it when we have non sleeping kids!

Good lord, you wereNBU. Whatever happened to tannoys?

Even if you didn't have a sleeping baby (and I had one that didn't like sleep too, so I feel your pain), isn't it a poor customer experience for everyone having that loud irritating unnecessary hullabaloo?

I wouldn't go back and apologise. I remember being desperate for my baby to sleep and others seemed determined to wake her up - even sticking their head in the pram and wittering loudly. If it was me in my knackered years they'd have had the bells across the back of the head so they should be thankful they got you . You're not entitled just tired so give yourself a break xxx

How crazy to be ringing bells like that anyway...and Yes yes to turquoise re Sports Direct..can't bear the place!

I almost landed DH when he opens the front door too loudly with his key this evening cue another 20 mins sat on the floor in ds2 room as he wailed himself to sleep (won't let me leave, doesn't want to be touched 🙄)

Even the fact that you are worrying about this shows how sleep deprived you are - I suspect that they could see this. Have a glass of wine and an early night, if either are possible, and forget all about it. Tomorrow will undoubtedly bring fresh things to stress upon.

I would forget it
But I'm struggling to picture a cashier ringing a hand bell like that
Am I imagining the wrong thing? Did they buy it in an antique shop?!

Your post makes me want to scream "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP RINGING THAT FUCKING BELL" ..."and don't fucking touch it again". Ywnbu. well maybe a bit, but it definitely could have been worse

you were totally, totally reasonable. What a pair of twats! That would have got on my nerves even without a baby.
My DD1 refused to even go in a pram until she was 15 months, much longer before she'd sleep in one. DD2 is going the same way. I remember once walking down the street and had finally got DD1 to sleep in the buggy, and a fucking fire engine drove past, down an empty street with no traffic ahead, and stuck its fucking siren on just before it hit us. She woke up, and I just gave the driver a look of death and pestilence. He mouthed sorry at me. Fucking twat. Still angry.

I once tutted at a fire engine. I am not proud.

And don't get me started on twats that whistle or have high pitched shrieky laughs that erupt out of nowhere. SHUT THE FUCK UP.

Pizzapop - don't feel bad. Tutting is nothing on shouting STFU!!

M and S have a new bell/ tone from their till .. Which sounds identical to the NHS ward emergency alarm buzzer which activates all staff to a fast run .

I 'spoke sharply' once to a poor girl in Tescos who crashed down a massive pile of baskets right next to my sleeping baby. Made a feckin' racket (the baskets, not me).
My local Sainsburys is always smashing and crashing those big cages on wheels around too, did my head in when I took sleeping baby in there. I used to have to take him out in the pram to get him to sleep.

That M&S bell still drives me nuts - it's a really obnoxious sound, drills into your skull - and I don't even have a napping baby any more...

Just forget OP, I would have felt the same.. why are they using bells anyway!? Q

I would have asked her to stop ringing the damn thing too. Even if I wasn't with any of my kids.

Am wondering if the new M&S Christmas ad will involve bell ringing till staff ......