AIBU to report racist comments made by a couple the GP waiting room?

[rhomb]

At the GP practice this morning. The practice has screens around the waiting areas which come up with name of patient, medical staff and room number when called up.

I was sitting behind a couple who did a running commentary between them. They used racist terms on the foreign sounding names. Then when a name came up such as John Pearson “ooh a proper name”.

I moved seats as I got fed up with the racism. They decided to move (unsure why) next to me. Then carried on. I was in two minds whether to report them. The couple would know it was me that reported them.

I am sick of racist people.

Try reading my post again.

Is this another take on a Reform thread

A useful course of action would have been to say, loudly..

'Would you mind keeping your nasty racist opinions to yourself, or perhaps discuss them privately at home, not here'.

And then make a complaint there and then to the receptionist/practice manager.

If you did neither of those things there is not a lot you can do now and they have left thinking its absolutely fine to voice such opinions publically. Being an ally does NOT mean sitting in silence then ranting about it elsewhere, it means speaking up in the moment and saying 'no, this isn't acceptable'.

Yawn.

😂

This!

All those lovely “British” names explaining why it takes so long to get an NHS appointment. People have given up caring about appearing racist.

I don't understand what kind of society some people seem keen on living in. No I don't agree with people making rude comments about other nationalities or backgrounds. But I also don't want to live in some dystopian hell scape of wrong speak. Who polices the correct speech?

Who do you propose reporting them to? Did you have their names and addresses? As far as I know the police won’t be nipping round to have a word.

And why didn’t you call it out if they were that offensive? It’s no good saying it to strangers on the internet afterwards

Exactly this. You outlaw racist speech and it’s a very fine line between that and outlawing speech about anything the government of the day deems wrong.

@DuckTales1234

I don't think that's a fair or accurate saying. There are all sorts of reasons why someone might not confront people being openly racist. The other person might be frightened or intimidated and scared of being targeted themselves.

What makes someone a racist is having the belief that other races are inferior to yours. It would be great if everyone was brave enough to tackle racism, but some people are vulnerable themselves, others are just easily intimidated and some of us are wimps.

Being scared and a coward doesn't make someone a racist. I couldn't put my hand on my heart and honestly say that I would have said anything if I were in that position (I will also openly admit to being a wimp.)

Reform voters are out in force. The racists get louder as support for Reform grows.
If you're an ethnic minority OP, the following you when you moved and continuing with the racism is worth reporting to the GP practice and possiblythe police but I'd guess you don't have their personal details to report them? It sounds like an attempt to intimidate and harass you.

I'm not sure why so many people are being harsh to the OP. It's not that easy for all of us to publicly call people out.

I too have noticed a rise in people daring to say racist comments out loud. Sadly, I think today's election results will embolden these people further.

I think we should all have a low threshold for challenging casual racism, antisemitism, homophobia etc. Esp in a ‘safe’ environment like a GP surgery.

OP of course this was racist, ignore the dissenters here. But the time to act was when you heard it.

OP hasn’t asked for them or their speech to be outlawed, she was looking for some solidarity.

Some of these responses seem designed to make her insecure about her feelings about what she heard.

My mum used to work in a GP surgery and I would not say it’s a safe environment at all. People used to get violent all the time!

@ProudAmberTurtle

I agree it can be cowardly (I think it's a bit different if the individual is themselves vulnerable in some way) but the fact is - some people are cowards.

We can't expect bravery from everyone; we can't expect the same levels of bravery from everyone. I also wouldn't necessarily say that cowardice is some sort of moral flaw; it's just the way a person is.

If it had been me, I would probably have been too scared to say something myself, but I would probably have gone to a member of staff and asked if they could do something about it. Basically, I'd offload the responsibility onto someone else - and to be fair, as staff members, I think it's more their responsibility than others, if they are aware.

Flag it to the receptionist. It may be someone else overheard and they can be removed from the practice.

You can't deny people medical care, even Wayne Couzens is entitled to it.

Ahhh the thought police... report to whom? I don't agree but mil had a hospital appointment last year, she was 96 at the time and she couldn't understand a word the person said. I entered the cubicle and managed to translate...so I can understand perhaps where they were coming from

Report them for what? Having opinions you don’t agree with? I don’t think the Big Brother thought police are quite here yet. 🙄

Surely the time to 'report' them has long gone. Why didn't you speak to them at the time and tell them their comments are unacceptable? Why wait until now, and who are you going to report them to?

Love virtue-signalling and virtue-signallers on MN!

The morality police? For not wanting people to be racist? What a fucking world we live in

Lol, I quoted this to agree with you and it got deleted.