To find this an odd comment from the charity shop assistant

[LellyJelly]

I was looking through some rail, one near the till and I was looking at some trousers for a while, just seeing what they were like. I could feel that she was watching me. All of a sudden the assistant said 'they're a size 20, I don't think they'd be any good for you.' Aibu to think this is odd to comment on? She doesn't know my size and I felt like she was a bit strange to decide what would be good or not for me.

She should not have said that because:

• it is none of her business what size you are looking at
• you could be shopping for someone else
• you could be buying something because you like the fabric and will alter the trousers later (I have a sewing machine and often look at clothes in a different size if I like the fabric because I can customise them).

Most charity shops have volunteers behind the till though so it is not uncommon to have people who know very little about customer service and running a proper shop...

Most charity shops have volunteers behind the till though so it is not uncommon to have people who know very little about customer service and running a proper shop

Again the old nonsense about volunteers being there because they are too stupid to "get a proper job". The three volunteers on shift in our shop yesterday (and we are all volunteers in our shop, we have no paid staff at all) were B, a former social worker, F, a recently retired teacher and me, a self-employed professional. This idea that the only people working in "most" charity shops are socially awkward, have special needs, can't get work elsewhere or are just totally stupid is so insulting.

'@KnottedTwine

Again the old nonsense about volunteers being there because they are too stupid to "get a proper job". The three volunteers on shift in our shop yesterday (and we are all volunteers in our shop, we have no paid staff at all) were B, a former social worker, F, a recently retired teacher and me, a self-employed professional. This idea that the only people working in "most" charity shops are socially awkward, have special needs, can't get work elsewhere or are just totally stupid is so insulting.'

You are choosing to read things in my comments that are simply not there and to get offended.

Most volunteers are not retail professionals, that's my point and you can't expect them to get everything right.

I have worked as a volunteer in a charity shop myself and there is often zero customer service training given.

As a neurodivergent person I would also like to remind you that there is nothing wrong about being socially awkward or having special needs or with people who are unemployed getting work experience and references from working in charity shops. It seems to me that you are the one who is judging many of the people who volunteer in these shops...

After reading some of the replies on here my head is in my hands.
Some dreadfully snobbish, rude and downright nasty people out there.

I work in the NHS so I'm used to the demands of the public. They are very much a mixed bag of predominantly good decent people and then you get the opposites that are just bloody awful and no matter what you do or say it's not right.

Posts like this and some of the replies on here make me despair for humanity.

I love charity shops, so I’m in them a lot. I sometimes have slightly weird interactions with staff but I don’t pay them any mind because:
a) most of the time they are volunteers - who do the job for all sorts of different reasons (like interacting with people perhaps)
b) sometimes charity shop workers have disabilities or learning difficulties, getting some valuable work experience
c) it’s not like I’m a millionaire out shopping in Bond Street, expecting a certain level of service 😂

MN is an eye opener, for sure, personally l don’t see it as a true representation of people in the UK and of course other people around the world are commenting too.Some people are under the impression it’s just mums commenting on here, it isn’t.And because it’s anonymous, some posters as just using this forum as entertainment, a way to argue, be rude, basically be angry and say things they wouldn’t have the front to say in real life, because it’s anonymous.So personally l don’t believe MN is a true representation of humanity, it’s a small percentage of people in the UK and other countries, who have shown, on this thread, just want to vent their anger and are not actually interested in the original post.