Asked to move back ..aibu to be annoyed?

[simdd]

I went to Morrison's today.
I'm stood in the queue for the deli counter.
She shouts for my turn so I go over
(Obviously I cant see what I want,so before I order I look at the items )
I'm stood back (not right next to the counter)
She shouts .."can you step back "
(Bare in mind she's behind the deli counter and the counter is quite wide outwards)
So I say "I am back,I'm trying to see what I want to get "
Step back further and block the aisle now ..
Then she throws my meat on the counter.
I go to pick it up and she pipes up again
"I did ask you to step back"
So I reply .."how the hell am I meant to pick it up from on top of the counter without moving forward"
Aibu to think people are getting a bit stupid here and not using common sense.

"I don't know what the hell has happened to people. They seem to have no ability to think critically and assess risk."

You can assess your own risk but shouldn't really expect to assess everyone else's as you come into contact with them.

@rawlikesushi no, you're wrong. It happened to me and I see these things happening when I go out. Don't patronise and talk down to me.
People like you make me sick, you're so fucking pleased with yourselves. So fuck off yourself and take your unwanted opinions with you.

I was in a Spar in a little village yesterday which has put a 2m exclusion zone around the counter which also has plastic screens up. I stepped into the zone to reach the payment machine and the woman shouted at me to stand back. So I did and couldn't reach the machine. She rolled her eyes so I just walked out. I think in part this was because I'm not a local

@whatsthishappyhorseshit why do you have the right to make fun and belittle others following the actual rules? Why does your desire n to be inconvenienced outweigh their desire to keep themselves safe by following the advice given to all of us to maintain our distance? And what sort of person yells at strangers to fuck off for literally doing as the government has told them to do?

Are you not embarrassed of yourself for your lack of self control and rudeness to a complete stranger who did not swear at you or actually do anything wrong?

@zaffa

Surely if we all just follow the rules then staff won't need to shout at you to stay back? If you are meant to stay behind the line then do so, if you don't like the rules of that supermarket don't use it. But if you wish to use that shop or whatever it is, follow the rules in place to make everyone safer.

It's not rocket science - I can't stand it when people encroach on my 2m space. Just because you're sick of the rules and don't want to socially distance why should I take the risks?

Also the supermarket staff don't make the rules, they are just the poor underpaid people left to enforce them. There is really no need for all this aggression towards them and name calling - it really just makes all the people on this thread look entitled - as if the rules shouldn't have to apply to them. The situation is what it is.

And no, I don't work in retail at all so this isn't personal - I just can't understand why there is so much hate towards the people most at risk of transmission given the number of people they come into contact with daily

But that's just it- in my case with Aldi,it wasn't Aldi policy. He wasn't even a manager. He had taken it upon himself to call himself Covid Patrol and act like a dick. And actually, the times he hasn't been there since, the people on the door just let you know not to have more than one trolley and to please be considerate of others, not to walk apart from each other and lob stuff across a busy aisle, this getting in people's way as well. There is no rules in place that you have to socially distance from your partner or household, even the most over zealous Police officer wouldn't have instigated that bollocks.

And frankly, I've worked retail and most customers can quite adequately get on with shopping without having to have a nursemaid.

Yes, you will always get the odd rule breaker who does it to be a dick. But the stories here are purely common sense, you have to be able to pay, you have to be able to collect your stuff, you have to load unload and pack your shopping.

If you have that bad anxiety perhaps you should ask to be out the back?

I laugh now when I pass people out walking, plenty of space, yet they stop dead and flatten themselves against the wall/hedge/fence. Basic physics: two objects moving towards each will pass quicker than a moving object passing a static object. So, yeah, by being ridiculously hysterical and freezing dead, you're increasing the risk.

The actual risk of catching it in the open air in the absence of somebody directly coughing on you is miniscule anyway. But people are idiots.

" Don't patronise and talk down to me.
People like you make me sick, you're so fucking pleased with yourselves. So fuck off yourself and take your unwanted opinions with you."

1. This is AIBU. Opinion is literally the whole point of AIBU, even if you don't like it. If you are too sensitive to hear opinions different to your own, there are lots of other forums to try.

1. Talk down to you? Are we in school? Maybe your tendency to over-react to anyone with a different opinion is one of the reasons you're coming up against so much conflict in the world right now?

But @LadyofTheManners clearly a lot of people here don't know how to pay or collect their goods from the counter because they're having to be reminded.

I agree your experience sounds extreme - if the company has agreed that isn't policy then of course highlight it to management who will take whatever action they see fit to protect their store and their staff. If you don't agree with the rules then let management know and leave it to them to change the ones in place - it looks like that has now happened in your case?

But it is common sense to step back and wait to be called forward to pay; clearly everyone else is doing it else no one would actually pay for any goods so there must be an established system that works that people are not following to be called out. Else you would be standing in the payment or deli queue and you would already see every other customer be berated and therefor be prepared for what they would expect you to do.

@rawlikesushi

No, I disagree that anyone at all is loving it or setting themselves with glee.

What you do have is people who are trying really hard to follow and enforce the rules for the benefit of everyone - or everyone who is worried, anxious, elderly, vulnerable - and dicks who can't understand why other people are worried just because they themselves aren't.

"She accused me of 'barging' past her and was squawking '2 meters apart!' over and over like a trained parrot. I told her to fuck off."

Well she's right isn't she? It is 2m apart. You have no idea whether it's the first time she's left the house, or her partner is shielding, or she herself is vulnerable.

You could have said 'so sorry, I thought I'd left plenty of room for you' but chose 'fuck off' instead, just to make the shitty world that little bit worse. Well done, very brave.

Did you mean to be so rude?

@LadyofTheManners it's very interesting that you consider advising someone of words to use that don't include swearing as rude but make no comment on the banshee shrieking fuck of at strangers for being uncomfortable with them coming too close into their personal space (as demarcated by government policy ....)

"If you have that bad anxiety perhaps you should ask to be out the back?"

Whereas I think people should avoid going into shops if they can't cope with being asked to step behind the line, stay 2m away, follow the arrows.

It's not hard, it really isn't.

If you're reminded to do something, just do it.

If there's a genuine reason why you can't, just explain that.

Telling people to fuck off, throwing stuff on the counter, leaving a store in a huff - just because you've been reminded to do something, is bizarre, entitled and really quite childish imo.

"The actual risk of catching it in the open air in the absence of somebody directly coughing on you is miniscule anyway. But people are idiots."

Or they don't want to be coughed on by a stranger.

Or they are more at risk than you.

But yes, sure, laugh at the idiots. How kind.

Shop workers are potentially exposed to the Covid-19 virus all day at work. We, as shoppers, are not. I can understand them being twitchy, and they have to deal with some very rude and unpleasant people. Maybe she was over-reacting. I wasn't there so I don't know, but I'd have a lot of sympathy under the circumstances.

"Did you mean to be so rude?"

I didn't think i was rude.

I'm beginning to wonder now whether all those employees being accused of over-zealous rudeness really are being rude now, some people seem to see it where none is intended.

"She rolled her eyes so I just walked out. I think in part this was because I'm not a local."

It was probably because you were being a bit disingenuous. After all, all of the other customers had managed to pay hadnt they? So there must have been a way to do so safely.

I was told off in Wilko on Friday. There was a screen at the till but to get my items on the counter to be scanned I wasn’t completely behind it, and was standing well back, and was very abruptly told by the assistant that I had to move behind the screen.

She then went on to yell at the people waiting to be served but it wasn’t clear where you should queue for the tills, and it was a problem which could’ve been solved by opening more than two tills. There were a lot of staff members walking around the store so it shouldn’t have been a problem to open up extra tills to clear the queues.

"it shouldn’t have been a problem to open up extra tills to clear the queues."

Yes they should have done that. Shops have got a responsibility to operate safely too.

Unless of course the staff you saw weren't till trained. Not every one in every shop can do all the tasks.
Frankly I don't know why some of you go shopping unless it's just to have a go at the staff.

This is really getting to me. I'm autistic but I present neurotypical and I'm too scared to go shopping because everything has changed so much. I've been building up for two weeks to getting to Specsavers to pick up some glasses that my little snot of a toddler broke 🙈 I've got a sertraline prescription to pick up too, but I don't know whether I can walk straight in to the supermarket or if I have to queue. I'd like to have someone with me the first time to show me what to do but I'm not allowed. It's hard.

@Meatshake call the supermarket in advance to ask as some some stores do have provisions for prescription collections. A large Tesco in my area has signs up in the queuing area asking you to call a number if you’re just collecting a prescription.

Meatshake, most shops have made their new rules really clear. There's likely to be an employee outside the shop, or a written sign.

If you can't see a queue, you can head straight in.

If there is a queue, it will be obvious where to join at the back and signs telling you to keep 2m from the person in front/behind.

Inside, if there's a one way system, it'll be marked by arrows on the floor.

At tills and counters, there will be plexiglass between you and the staff member, and possibly a line on the floor to stand behind so that you're not too close.

Some places have relaxed the rules on having someone with you, just not two trolleys.

I think the pp's advice to call first if you're anxious is a good one.

Please don't let all of this put you off getting what you need.

@rawlikesushi

"If you have that bad anxiety perhaps you should ask to be out the back?"

Whereas I think people should avoid going into shops if they can't cope with being asked to step behind the line, stay 2m away, follow the arrows.

It's not hard, it really isn't.

If you're reminded to do something, just do it.

If there's a genuine reason why you can't, just explain that.

Telling people to fuck off, throwing stuff on the counter, leaving a store in a huff - just because you've been reminded to do something, is bizarre, entitled and really quite childish imo.

1: I refrained from telling anyone to fuck off -because I was with DP and he would've moaned-

1. I didn't slam anything down
2. I didn't "leave in a huff"

I actually wonder if you've rtft?
The instances mentioned here are of over zealous staff and in some cases, other shoppers, who rather than just observing rules or using common sense, did not.
Pray tell oh wise ones, how does one go about paying for shopping when not in possession of the arm span of Inspector Gadget? If you leave two metres why is it necessary for banshee like parrot screaming two metres, two metres?
Why did the the deli counter -moron- not just step back herself so poor op could actually grab what she had bought, you know cos last time I checked that was the purpose of shopping for food after all.

And I wouldn't begrudge anyone who walks out if they're spoken to in the manner of a child whilst doing what they can to observe the frankly ridiculous ott rules now we know you need to be around someone in close proximity for quite some time before being at risk.
In fact there's more risk to the shopper- think how many goods the sales assistant touches in a day after they've been touched by many other customers.

"Pray tell oh wise ones, how does one go about paying for shopping when not in possession of the arm span of Inspector Gadget? "

Maybe just observe all of the other people, who have managed to achieve this incredible feat without incident.

"If you leave two metres why is it necessary for banshee like parrot screaming two metres, two metres?"

Well that pp said she left 'plenty of space' but maybe it was not 2m.

Maybe that squawking woman hadn't left the house for 12 weeks and was very anxious.

A little tolerance and kindness would go a long way I think.

"Why did the the deli counter -moron- not just step back herself so poor op could actually grab what she had bought, you know cos last time I checked that was the purpose of shopping for food after all."

I wasn't there so I don't know for sure but, again, others were managing it.

I can't imagine being someone so affronted by a request to stand back, I just can't.