Two minutes silence and refusing to serve customer

[BalugaBelle]

At work today I was on the checkout (large retail store) and the silence was announced over a tannoy.

A woman (on the phone) came up to the checkout during the silence, so I shushed her. Motioned to poppies next to till!

She then said, "I'm going to miss my train, please continue serving me!"

I refused, shook my head and sat silently for the two minutes.

At the end I put her items through, she moaned at me and called me rude and petty and then went on her merry way.

So was I being unreasonable to respect the two minutes silence, even if it meant a customer was unhappy at me doing so?

I know good customer service is needed but surely the two minutes silence takes priority? She clearly had no respect!

Quite frankly I didn't give a damn about her train, I was paying my respects as was everyone else in the shop. It was literally almost silent apart from young children (understandable) and general noise, i.e., heating making noises!

Yes I did a quick google jaques, couldn't find any

rookie the German football team wore poppies this week so I think we have moved on .

Your employers told you that you must observe the silence?
That bothers me more than your rude customer.

I hate all this ostentatious silence observing and poppy wearing.

Someone always mentions freedom. Freedom to do what you are told?

I wear a poppy and I observe the silence whenever possible.
I don't judge or police what others do beyond explaining to my kids what is going on.

I am 50 and it was NOT like this when I was a kid/teen. People did it and got on with it. They didn't spend their time observing and reporting on what others did and if they did, if they did it properly.

Gets right on my bloody nerves.

There are some dreadful people about

You're right. However, they are not the people who continue working through some wanky enforced silence. They are the people in government who insist on starting more wars all the time and giving almost zero support to soldiers who have been maimed in those wars. How about they actually DID something to bring about peace rather than casually invading e.g. Iraq while at the same time thinking that forcing everyone to wear a paper flower and be silent for 2 minutes in any way means anything.

Also deeply ironic because the horrors of WW2 led to the unification of European states to prevent these atrocities happening again. Now we want to 'take back our country' and make crass jokes about invading Spain to go to war over Gibraltar. 'Don't forget'- my arse.

the op wasn't forcing the other person to observe the silence, she was just wanting to observe it herself. I think its fair to accept that it is a huge event and many people you come across will want to take a moment to do so, even if you don't wish to. And serving in silence is silly - that is not reflecting.

I do find the patriotism side of it difficult, but my church always reads the words of Harry Patch which basically talk about how the war wasn't won on a battlefield but round a table and how many lives were pointlessly lost and what a waste it all was as the talk round the table could have stopped it happening or stopped it sooner (its all a bit more eloquent) and I certainly do reflect on the deaths of all sides and current conflicts which I don't agree with. I think much around that table

HandbagKrabby well said.

Totally agree the woman shouldn't be forced to observe it - but that isn't the issue - she could have run off to get her train or whatever - but she needs to respect that the OP did want to observe it - like you'd have to respect if someone was praying at the particular time you wanted their attention. Agree the shop should have made an announcement that some staff would be observing it and service would cease so the OP didn't have to second-guess this and the woman could have made her decision earlier to abandon the shop if she was cutting it fine.

Your employers told you that youmustobserve the silence?
They didn't.

Thry said staff on the shop floor would be observing thr silence but if anyone didn't want to participate then they didn't have to. They could go out back so not to risk appearing rude ti others or break the silence

Of course you should have served her. You were at work and observing the silence isn't compulsory.

If the 2 minutes silence is company policy then no one gets served! It’s what my employers (major food retail company) expect so we do it! Tough shit if customers don’t like it.

YANBU. That woman was ruder and highly disrespectful.

Rude not ruder!

Well done OP. You did the right thing.

...some wanky enforced silence.

This is utter nonsense. So many people saying she should have been served because she chose not to observe the two minutes silence! The OP did choose to. Not her problem that the customer was running late. Maybe she should have got her arse in gear and allowed plenty more time to catch her train. YANBU OP.

I am 50 and it was NOT like this when I was a kid/teen. People did it and got on with it. They didn't spend their time observing and reporting on what others did and if they did, if they did it properly.. Totally agree with this too. As it happens I haven't bought a poppy this year and I didn't observe the silence yesterday (thought it was today). I have thought an awful lot about conflict and world peace and we visit the local war memorial quite regularly (it's in a hospital where we go and dd1 always asks to go in and she asks respectful questions and we think quite deeply about the dead). I've also given to charities related to the victims of war, albeit not the poppy appeal this year (might still do so - it's not a principled stand, I just haven't got around to it yet). I don't think that makes me an awful person. All this thought-policing is OTT and has cumulated in that awful MP wanting to claim his poppy expenses because for him it has no meaning other than a compulsory part of his work wardrobe.

...some wanky enforced silence

I know I said I’m not up for forcing people to get involved, but was that necessary?

Wild bluebellies your crazy rant has completely misunderstood the fact that RD doesn't, in itself, prevent wars hmm although arguably the idea is to prevent another world war

Really? I thought the idea of 'never forget' was to ensure that the same thing doesn't happen again. Why do we blindly take part in these services yet the same things are happening over and over and over then? What's the point of never forgetting if we keep repeating the mistake? We have our PM holding hands with and cosying up a president who has threatened to start a nuclear war ffs. We have a government who has repeatedly assisted in arming the terrorist groups we are apparently at war with. And it will get even worse because we have now decided to sever our links with our neighbours and will probably have to do whatever america says or else.

Maybe people aren't doing much about Syrian refugees because they're forgetting about the horror of concentration camps because people like you think events marking such atrocities aren't important? Have you considered that?

I haven't really, no, because it's not true. It is about humanity and compassion. People claim to have that in spades but when it comes down to it they don't want to help. If they wanted to help those affected by war, there are so many things they could do. Standing in silence for 2 minutes and wearing a flower do absolutely nothing.

here are the quotes I was thinking off for anyone interested.

peacenews.info/node/5810/was-harry-patch-worlds-oldest-pacifist

I know I said I’m not up for forcing people to get involved, but was that necessary?

Yes, it was. Sorry if you don't want to hear that, but we have a government that doesn't even publicly condemn Trump and his nuclear war threats yet thinks that people being silent for 2 minutes actually makes any difference to us 'not forgetting' about the atrocities of war. We had Tony Blair standing in somber silence at many remembrance services and wearing a poppy, yet casually inventing evidence to support unnecessary military action that would kill millions. The silence makes no difference.

"Really? I thought the idea of 'never forget' was to ensure that the same thing doesn't happen again. Why do we blindly take part in these services yet the same things are happening over and over and over then? "

I find it unspeakably bizarre that you expect the royal British legion to be able to stop war from breaking out anywhere in the world

It would have been better if the company had asked you to stand at the side of your till or something so it was more obvious.

When I was working in retail we didn't put anything through the till during a 2 minute silence in any of the shops I worked in. The till beeped each time an item was scanned and the cash drawer rattled when opening and closing and you needed to tell the person the total and ask how they would be paying. So not possible to serve anyone in silence. So no OP YANBU.

WildBluebelles I agree with you, I just don’t see why the two have to be mutually exclusive? You can rail against the politicians and warmongers without being openly derisive of the boots on the ground who were sent to these wars. I cannot abide Tony Blair (DP and BIL are Iraq veterans), he is an odious, self serving cretin. Donald Trump and Theresa May are warmongers who do nothing for humanitarian causes and to help communities ravaged by the wars their governments started.

I’m not saying you have to wear a poppy or observe the silence, you don’t. But to openly refer to it as wanky is unnecessary and offensive.

You did the right thing OP.

I am absolutely baffled by the many, many posts suggesting the OP could have rung up the goods in silence

Are people really that ill-educated?