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!

This all comes across as till workers desperate to have a bit of power over customers. She was there in time for the purchase, but didn't bank on an open shop refusing to serve because of personal views.

Just get yourself off the till, although I suspect you got on the till for that time on purpose.

Two minutes in which the staff members stopped working

Two minutes out of the year during which that customer couldn't shop

The indignation about such a short pause in the shopping treadmill is strange.
Even if you disagree with the 2 minutes, be respectful and allow others to observe it.

I have no religious beliefs, but despite disagreeing with their views, I would not interrupt someone praying, whether in church or outside., merely for my convenience.
Similar situation regarding respect, imo.

Jacques, you mean YOU don't agree. Hope that helps

Are you hard of thinking? There are others on the thread who don't agree with you. Everyone who doesn't agree with you isn't someone who "doesn't get it". Do you need smaller words?

Stealth What business did she have shopping at all then if time was that tight? She could've hit a queue; the SA could've had a problem processing the payment; the till roll could've need changing....any number of things!

It's TWO minutes FFS.

Well, Lass etc, as the OP said she would have been prepared to serve the customer had she not been talking on the phone and laughing, I don't think she felt that strongly about the silence in the first place, do you?

But do carry on. You're not at all fitting in with the dreadful stereotype of those who are rabid about a moment's silence

If 2 minutes was going to make the difference you would pass on going into the shop

Sometimes I wouldn’t. Non diabetic hypoglycemic.

There is absolutely no way I would observe a 2 minute remembrance for members of the British military. However, there is also absolutely no way would I interfere with someone else's observation of it, regardless of my opinion on the whole concept. If I was in a shop, I would carry on shopping quietly. If I'd finished my shopping and was waiting for service, I'd just browse while waiting or go on my phone (not talking, obviously) or abandon the shopping if I was in a hurry. If I was at work, I would quietly carry on with my normal work.

I would not expect to be judged negatively for my perfectly reasonable decision not to observe something I don't agree with. Equally, I would not judge someone for observing something I don't agree with.

I think the woman was rude to interfere with others' observation of the 2 minutes. I think the OP was being judgemental and sanctimonious, based on her comments about the woman not observing the silence. Wrong on both sides here I think.

We weren't allowed to serve customers during the 2 minute silence when I worked in retail, this was stated over the tannoy before the silence started.

I was at the gym for the 2 mins silence. 2 people carried on - everyone else stopped. They looked ridiculous pumping away on their cross trainers.

Two mins - even if you are anti-war (aren’t we all in reality) this is about people who sacrificed their lives for our very existence.

You were right not to serve OP.

a lot of veterans fucking hate the whole business. Many of the WW1 survivors sent their medals back/never wanted to hear a word on the topic of the war/became active pacifist campaigners. Their feelings and opinions are just as valid - actually rather more so - than the sort of wankers who have no personal connection with the military but are full of misty-eyed fantasies about the glorious war dead and are determined to enforce other people's compliance with a now thoroughly-tainted ritual.

Well that's a nice little chunk of knee-jerk abuse, isn't it.
If you were attempting to paint my family members as those sort of people, you are so, so wrong.
Nearly everything my family knows about thier servicecame out after they had died. Not one ever spoke of it.
Your cliches about 'war-mongers', and saintly pacifists are inaccurate and unnnecessary.
God you're rude. And wrong. And ignorant.

Oh, and I also think it was very rude of the OP to "shush" the customer.

Itsgonnabeacoldone Quite clearly you have never worked in retail. You don't get to choose where you're put; you're down on the floor plan in a specific position before you even get in that day.

And that's not even mentioning the fact that in large supermarkets, staff are hired to specific roles, so the checkout assistants are purely checkout assistants.

Your attitude stinks.

I actually think that some kind of flexibility needs to be shown by shops in this.

It is fine and nice for shops to observe the 2 mins silence - they do it so that their customers primarily and their staff secondarily can observe it. Of course lots of businesses cannot or do not do this and the staff then don't get to observe it. Customers I guess can just do so if they wish. Staff in these situations have always had to just het on with work. They are free to give respect and think about remembrance or any other issue of a similar nature in their own way at any other time. The fact it isn't at quite the same time doesn't diminish it as an act of remembrance.

Not everyone wants to acknowledge or engage with remembrance. This is a fact and it's important that people are not forced into it. So if they wish to keep walking round the shop etc then they can....unless the shop actually closes, it really has no control over exactly what the customers do. And for this reason, I think that if customers are in the queue and want to finish their transaction or pay and not wait 2 mins, shops should serve them - they can do it silently if they wish, but the shop shouldn't impose their wish to acknowledge the silence on their customers and actually staff don't have an entitlement to observe 2 mins silence - it's not a basic human right that is being abused by serving staff as some suggest.

Most staff will find they can quietly observe the 2 mins. Fine. Some will find spcustomers still want service in that time. That is also fine and I think they should give that service rather than force customers to observe something they don't wish to. The staff can give 2 mins to quiet contemplation later if they wish. Being at work does mean putting customers first and this really isn't an infringement of human rights as some suggest.

What business did she have shopping at all then if time was that tight?

The business of a free citizen in a free country?

If I were standing in a queue next to be served, and someone came rushing up, ”oh please could I go in front of you, going to miss train, etc, etc”

I think I’d be inclined to let them go in front of me.

Kinky, I know.

They looked ridiculous pumping away on their cross trainers.

Why? You can't think about things while moving your arms and legs?

Haven’t read the whole thread but that customer sounds rude as fuck.

Some people are though.

Fancy having a go at someone observing a 2 minutes silence. I’ve heard it all.

Yeah, not everybody though, Butchy if the number of selfish individuals on this thread is anything to go on!

They looked ridiculous pumping away on their cross trainers

How long of the two minutes you were "remembering" did you spend thinking about that

YABU
She was a customer and you were wrong. As others have said, not everyone observes the silence.

And I agree that the OP comes across as someone who quite wanted to have conflict with a customer, rather than as someone who desperately wanted to observe the silence themselves. I imagine that in large shops the staff look forward to the 2 mins and any other slight change to the routine - especially any which might provoke a customer reaction which adds further interest to the day.

Question to OP - if you had been at home alone, would you have been observing 2 mins silence?

I expect she just got her back up because the OP shushed her.

I wouldn’t have done that myself. Let her make an arse of herself talking while everything else was quiet.
I’d put money that the train thing was just a way of having a go.

If 2 minutes was going to make the difference you would pass on going into the shop

Sometimes I wouldn’t. Non diabetic hypoglycemic

And you presumably then accept you run the risk of missing your train due to any number of factors outwith your or the checkout person's control.

Strange, with respect, only you are talking specifically about your family members. I don't think anybody else here knows them.

It's ok for people to have other opinions and they will have read and amassed information from various sources... and it's ok for them to post it here.

Probably most of us (I know I do) have family members who fought in at least one of the wars. It doesn't give any of us the right to dismiss or deride other people's views and experiences and incorrect.

If this is too personal for you and you're getting upset then it may be best to step away.

YANBU, I have worked in customer service for donkeys years and to all those saying she should have served the woman. I expect this would have probably resulted in somebody else complaining to her superiors that OP did not observe the silence.