AIBU?
WIBU to politely ask her to step back?
Supermarketweep · 21/03/2021 22:36
At the supermarket today. As usual, most people not really social distancing, but I try to just focus on what I'm doing, and ignore it.
Get to the till, the last bits of my trolley load of shopping coming through and I'm packing them in bags. I become aware of the woman behind me in the queue, who is now standing quite near the card machine at the till, and therefore well within 2m of me.
I assume she's just a bit over eager, and when she realises I haven't paid will step back. She doesn't, she moves forward and I now can't get to the card machine without reaching past her or standing right up next to her.
So I politely say can you step back please, I need to pay.
She goes off like a rocket. I couldn't understand every word because she wasn't English and her voice was muffled by her mask, but could understand most of what she said and her tone was pretty clear. She was shouting about why should she have to move back - I said social distancing rules are pretty clear - and then kept ranting.
The member of staff at the till calmly said to her that I was entitled to ask her to step back if I felt she was too close. She carried on shouting she wasn't too close, I was abusing her etc.
I had then paid; a security guard came over and she carried on ranting to him about how I was in the wrong.
In the car park as I was returning my trolley she came out of the shop and continued shouting at me, 'I don't want to stand near you, you smell, you stink' over and over at the top of her voice!
I didn't respond, because she seemed like the sort of person who would accuse me of being verbally abusive. But all because I asked her to step back - which in all honesty I would have done even pre Covid because I don't want someone 6 inches from me when I'm putting in my pin number!
Am I being unreasonable?
AIBUYou have one vote. All votes are anonymous.
Supermarketweep · 21/03/2021 22:55
I was completely baffled at her response. Firstly to be so irate when she was in the wrong by being too close to me, and then shouting 'you stink, you smell' across a car park, I mean who does that?! She was driving a big SUV type vehicle too (not that her driving an old banger would have made it more acceptable of course).
londonscalling · 21/03/2021 23:05
A friend was in a similar situation and the woman behind her got quite abusive and shouted "what, you think I've got coronavirus"?
My friend very calmly turned round and enjoyed saying "no but I think I may have"!
That shut the woman up and she quickly moved away!!! 
Midlifephoenix · 21/03/2021 23:06
Who pressed 'YABU'?
She obviously has a problem, and as you say even pre covid people shouldn't be right up close when you are checking out and using a card machine. In fact I have told people to step back pre covid - it usually is they aren't aware and I just have to look at them and say 'could you..' and they immediately apologise.
The security guard could have been a bit more proactive and allowed you to exit without allowing the woman to follow you.
Cheeseandlobster · 21/03/2021 23:29
@perisoire
🙄
There is always one.
If she was Greek or French or Polish or Spanish etc, then yes, the op may not have been able to understand every word.
Op. She sounds like she was spoiling for a fight. You showed remarkable restraint not responding and you were not in the wrong
AlreadyDoneHadHerses · 21/03/2021 23:33
@perisoire
🙄
Nothing unreasonable about this comment. It is not always easy to understand foreign, or indeed regional accents, when you are not used to them.
English is my second language fwiw.
Supermarketweep · 22/03/2021 11:08
I didnt think about recording it on my phone - will bear that in mind if anything like this happens again!
I'm not a particularly confrontational person, I seem to end up with people within 1m of me let alone 2 a lot of the time and I don't say anything, but this woman was basically inches away, and blocking me from paying.
I didnt think there was anything wrong with asking her but her reaction was so OTT and disproportionate I couldn't help wondering if I'd missed something somehow. She might've thought I was being unnecessary, and that's fine, she's entitled to think that; if she'd said something like that to me I would have been fine with it (each to their own) but to start shouting and then be yelling top volume across a car park 'you smell, you stink' is not the reaction you expect.
Supermarketweep · 22/03/2021 11:25
Tbh I would have asked her to step back pre Covid too, because I needed to input my pin number and you certainly shouldn't be doing that with someone right next to you (just like you shouldn't have someone hovering over your shoulder at a cashpoint etc). She shouldn't have been so close to me anyway, Covid or not.
melj1213 · 22/03/2021 11:44
@perisoire
🙄
Why the eye roll @perisoire?
I work in retail and with everyone wearing masks it is hard enough to understand exactly what people are saying, add in an accent (especially if it is a heavy one) and I will struggle to understand every word.
I work in on the cigarette kiosk so people either want cigs, tobacco, vape stuff or lottery. There is a group of Romanian guys who work as contractors for a large gas company. They come in every day but their English isn't the greatest and is heavily accented. Until I memorized their orders we used to have protracted exchanges as I tried to figure out that, what sounded to me like, "mbra go" meant "Marlborough Gold" and "big rotma blu" meant "Rothmans Blue Superkings" etc
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