AIBU to expect a supermarket checkout person to know what an aubergine is?

[thomsc]

That it is a VEGETABLE and that it starts with an A?

I mean... ok, perhaps you might not know what an aubergine is, but her next question (whilst holding it) was "is it a vegetable?"! No, it's a type of biscuit!

She then said she couldn't deal with it as it didn't have a barcode. When I suggested that she weighed it and told the till what it was, she looked under 'O' in the list of vegetables.

AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH

I think that posts on this thread keep confusing 2 issues.

1. Many people are malnourished (in terms of micronutrition) in Britain because they eat an inadequate diet and this is to do with social capital as Duchesse has pointed out.

1. Some people do not know what an aubergine is or how to spell it.

IMO,

The fact that the check out woman belonged to group 2 does not mean that she also belongs to group 1, because many people with a good diet do not know what an aubergine is.

It is snobbery to suggest that not knowing what an aubergine is means that you belong to group 1. It is not snobbery to suggest that the existence of group 1's eating habits is far from ideal.

Well said Milly, neatly summed up IMO

you are right, milly

Exactly, Milly

This is not so much about the issue of food poverty/food ignorance as whether or not you are judged to be some way inferior if you don't know what an aubergine is and how to spell it. The less attractive side of MN is demonstrated admirably in this thread.

In fact I think this must be one of the most bizarre threads ever to have been posted on MN. Is there absolutely nothing that will not be judged on here?

I think the spelling really got to me.

It's one thing to know about aubergines or not, and perhaps and indication of some major shortfall (I don't share this idea, btw).

However, given that someone is not familiar with aubergines, how could you possibly expect them to be able to spell it?

My strictly vegetarian middle class staunchly working class DH would have given checkout girl a gold medal.

Have mentioned this before but aubergines feature in his "too fucking middle class" food hate list.

Also includes:

avocados
hummus
couscous
tappas
kiwi fruit

All pronounced in the same tone of voice that Rowan Atkinson used to use to read his comedy school register.

Other non-food TFMC items available on request.

Perhaps they should teach a new alphabet at school:

A is for aubergine
B is for butternut squash
C is for celeriac
D is for erm, erm

etc

Yes tis me Marla

I forgot my email and had to register again, hence the extra 'S'

We don't have artichokes in this house, because I don't like them. If in years to come my DD is putting in an honest day's work on a checkout (whilst hopefully putting herself through college or university), is presented with one, has to ask the customer what it is and then proceeds to look it up under R, then I swear - if any of the little madams on here start on about the checkout girl who didn't know what an artichoke was or how to spell it I shall hunt you all down and shove one up your you knolw whats.

You have been warned - and it's a toss up between a and a

D is for durian fruit.

I'm not sneering or demeaning. I was just... oh well. Ok. I am unreasonable.

1. The supermarket was a very small one in Brixton, South East London. Aubergine is not an exotic form of vegetable here.

1. The hopper was half empty. I was not the first person to have bought one that day.

1. The only person who laughed was the woman at the next till.

'd' is also for dragonfruit and dill (herb).

Thomsc, I am amazed you know about 'durian'. It is so pungent and, to untrained noses, offensive that airlines and hotels do not allow you to take them in.

Maybe she was new your mean lol

Maybe she just didn't know what they were called or how they were served and thus wanted to information so she could scan it through as quickly as she could without having to talk to you holding you up longer than necessary? I really think it's terribly snobbish to think she should definitely have a variety of facts to hand about aubergines. Particularly the spelling. I used to work in an office as a copy-editor and had to ask a colleague how to spell 'PDF' once. We all have off days. YABU.

This thread is a bit horrid - smug and arrogant. "oh, how stupid, she doesn't know what an aubergine is"

e is for eggplant.... hehe

Maybe it has become that.

But I think the starting point was, very simply:

1. that people who work in retail ought to know what they sell

and that

2. lots of words in English are not spelt phonetically so, while no one can know anything and we all make mistakes, it is not expecting miracles that people might know how the first letter of a word of foreign origin

And, on that basis, I would say to the OP, no, YANBU

Aubergines are fruit. They are used as vegetable in cooking. (I know, because I used wikipedia to check up on what sort of plant the aubergine is, therebye killing any idea that I may know my vegetable from my butter knife)

My friends father is a writer. He moved out to some remote island for inspiration. He went shopping in the small local grocery/yarn/fishing equipment shop. He asked for avocado. The grocer looked at him and said with a blank face "I am sorry, we dont have that book". Unthinkable to call him ignorant just because he doesnt know his vegetables from his literature.

Tirimissu, not the point I'm afraid.

reminds me of a time I was in Asda and asked a staff member where the celery was. He looked at me blankly then said 'you mean like what I get paid every month?'

Well I'm originally from Australia, and there:

aubergines - eggplants
courgettes - zucchinis
butternut squash - butternut pumpkin
peppers - capsicums
hot peppers - peppers
satsumas - usually covered by the 'mandarin' label

English - no other language like it!!!!

Pregnant - I'm not saying you should know everything, but this comes back to another part of the OP's post, ie aubergines are NOT a speciality item in SE London but a big seller.

And, when I have worked in supermarkets, multi-skilling was the name of the game so no one did "just" checkouts but were also out and about in the store. Maybe your shop's different but I'm basing my views on that situation.

Just because the checkout girl didn't know what an aubergine was is no indicator of her diet or social class.

My mum grew all her own veg when we were young so I know exactly where food comes from. Aubergines take up loads of space for the amount produced, only grow well under glass in this country and need loads of watering, my mum would only buy veg from a supermarket in extremis so we never had them. As a result I was in my late teens before I ate an aubergine.

I've had similar experiences with hoummous and capers so whilst I can empathise with the op, it's not that unusual. I teach catering students who don't even know what celery is.

I don't think that it's reasonable to expect everyone who works in retail to know about everything they sell. Was she young? You should have been more constructive rather than make her feel and look an idiot though.