to stop shopping at morrisons because

[gatheringstones]

i'd rather pay more in sainsburys and not have to put up with the constant agro in morrisons car park? honestly, people shouting, horns blaring, speeding - you name it. i just snapped today and thought 'never again' when i heard a man shout 'FUCK OFF CUNT' at the top of his voice at some woman in a car who was giving as good as she got. no idea what happened but he was a pedestrian, elderly and with a stick. going by past experience he prob wasn't moving fast enough for her or forced her to slow down or - horror - wait for a second.

meanwhile dd1,almost 4 just gazes at me, 'why are those people shouting mummy?'

and it's not much better in the shop.

then you venture out onto holloway road. the police go out in groups of four.

i really don't want to live in a middle class enclave in london - where's the point of living in london then? and i know i can't shield the kids from conflict and everyday shit on the streets - but there's limits and jeez i've had enough for one day. i want a house. in the country. deep in the country.

I have worked in a supermarket. Waitrose, as it goes, when I was sixteen.

It was right next to an agricultural college that attracted lots of posh horsey types.

Hungover one Sunday morning, I was scowling inwardly at the braying toffs who came in stinking of manure to buy caviar and gold-plated orange juice for their breakfast and scoff at the likes of the povos who have to serve them.

Posh student : Err , I think you will find those are croissants , yah ?

ME : gives posh student icy look and adopts a 'don't patronise me, you arrogant inbred twunt' tone Yes , I know .

POSH STUDENT : in an apologetic tone Yah , it is just they have come up on the scanner as bagels .

ME checks screen and confirms that this is the case. Tries and fails to void it. Accidentally adds four poppy seed muffins to the bill. Weeps inwardly. Ill call the supervisor .

I am loving this thread.

As we 'officially' live in the middle of nowhere I can safely say that there is no Morissons within 1hrs drive of our house, or unfortunately Waitrose which is within about 3 hrs drive away.

The choice round here is small Tesco - OK but limited choice of items, or Massive Asda - lots of choice but frequent displays of domestic violence, children roaming all over the place and people who smell of wee.

Well I have been told to fuck off in IKEA BY ONE OF THE STAFF.

It was the Brent Cross branch need I say more.

Thunderduck - I agree - the most vile people I encountered, as a Receptionist, were terribly middle-class people, who looked down on me - and I'm Middle Class !!!!!

ah..East Grinstead Sainsburys...
Get caught in office retrieving vital piece of gear by phone going off - pick up the phone with chirpy #Good Afternoon, this is Sainsbury's East Grinstead, How can I help?'
'Hello? I've called to complain.'

me 'yerrs?'

Woman (stressed) 'I bought some of your organic milk and the carton spilled all over the back of my car. Some of the food is ruined too! And what will it cost to valet my car?'

me>sigh< 'Please bring in your receipt, and the empty carton of milk, and we'll arrange appropriate compensation'

Woman (Verging on hysterical) - But thats not all! The other carton of organic milk spilt all over my fridge, what are you going to do about that?'

me >patient and calm tone< 'As I said, please bring in the faulty product, and receipt, and we'll arrange appropriate compensation'

Woman 'But aren't you going to come here and check that this stuff is ruined? You are happy to take my word for it? You need to come here and see!'

Me >thinking my staff have been unwatched for 20 minutes now and I will probably get a bollocking when I get downstairs and they aren't working< 'Bring your receipt to the front desk, along with the faulty product'

Woman 'But You've got to come here!!!'

Me> now desperate to end conversation without being rude, feeling heavy of limbs as the 5am start begins to tell...< 'I can't arrange a refund of any kind a your house now can I?? I'll leave your details with the front desk, bring your receipt...your name is???'

repeat this a few times before finally extracting name and phone numbe of woman.

Manage to close the conversation...leg it downstairs to find colleagues working (phew) and head to front desk to tell them that if the snottiest woman they have seen that day demands a refund of extortionate proportions from them, that they have me to blame. Resume marathon 14 hour shift....

ah. the good old days of retail.

I thought this read, stop snogging at morrisons

I'm glad you said that dizzymare, so did I!

my uni's main site was on Holloway rd, never witnessed or saw any bother all the time I was there. (97-2000)
And I lived in Kingsland rd in dalston for a time -the so-called 'front-line'-again no trouble whatsoever.
Now I'm in rural middle-class dorset-bullying foul mouthed teenagers left right and centre.

I once saw two children cycling along the aisles in a supermarket

To make it worse they both said hello to me as they were pupils in the school I taught in .

Darn it pink - that's not what I want to hear

NigellaTufnell it must be twinned with the big Tesco in Hackney.

And the number 12 bus.

I love Morrisons. It easily has the best veg, fruit, flowers and plants of all the supermarkets but I have to admit I wouldn't buy meat there.

I uesed to shop at the Morrisons in Guiseley and it had a sign saying "Good Brown Gravy Onions". You didn't get that at Sainsburys.

can i just say i'm not making this up. having jibbed morrisons yesterday went to sainsburys this morning. all fine, my kids worst behaved there, nice chat with 'nother mother in coffee shop. bliss.
out of car park, turning onto green lanes and bugger me a fight breaks out. four against one. i lean on the horn to attract attention of bunch of uniforms on other side of road, they gawp at me for a while, long enough for me to see they're salvation army not police but then one of them says 'oh, a fight' and they all leg it across the road, thankfully followed by a couple of proper plod.
i drive off. more explaining 'well, those men were arguing and one of them hit the other and that's naughty so pc plum went to tell them to stop because it's naughty' blah blah blah.
upshot 'we like pc plum don't we mummy. when i'm a grown up i want to dress up and be pc plum'
groan.

Thinking about it Morrisons do have wine labelled "Good French Wine" which cracks me up everytime. I have explicit instructions from DH not to buy wine from there after an unfortunate incident with some German white.

We tried Morrisons for a short while, I have to say I was impressed with the fresh food.

However was slightly alarmed by the young girl working at the 'meat' counter.
I suppose that I should have known better than to ask for my ham to be weighed in good old 'pounds & Ounces'

"Half a pound of crumbed ham" asks I.
Vicky pollard in a tabbard looks flummoxed and shifts about a bit, but prepares my order nontheless.

I am distracted by DS1 so dont see her weighing up my order.
I put the bag into my trolly- DP picks it up and says "what the hell is in here?"

A few shreds of meat not even enough for half a sandwich in the bag.

I go back to the counter and tell the girl that she has made a mistake.
"Half a pound I asked for"
"Yeah- and thats what yam got" (this is the morrisons at Wednesbury - Black Country Midlands)
"well thats not half a pound" I say, exasperated

" How much was yam expecting for 50p ? "

I gave up explaining that I didnt literally mean half of £1.

ROFLing at this thread. Feeling quite cheered up now!

There is a famous actress who does the Morrisons ads who I've seen in my local supermarket before. Which is Waitrose. Prob just too posh to wander the aisles with the proles but not posh enough to reject the appearance fee!

When I lived in Chelsea our local supermarket was a Sommerfield. Sent DH in to get some Mapel Syrup for pancakes I was making. He returns having caused chaos. Apparently no one there's ever heard of it. DH says "maple syrup" and the man in shop repeats back "mapee stirrup? marple stibub? mapply syreb?"

I've also seem a woman throwing a tantrum in Sainsburys in Chiswick because they had "the wrong kind of Parma ham"!

On the plus side I once saw Colin Firth in M&S on Chiswick High Road so not all bad!

"Actually I told him to FUCK OFF* but to be fair he deserved it.

*in the Edinburgh style, I did it with subtle body language. "

Brilliant. Was it a slightly raised, and perfectly groomed, eyebrow?

I shop at both Waitrose and Morrisons. I think they are both brilliant at what they do. I really can't stand Sainsbury's... their fruit and veg is dreadful. And Tesco and Asda make me feel ill. I went into a Lidl recently and it was v interesting - not really like being in a supermarket, more like being in a shop on holiday where even the washing powder is interesting.

TiredOFTHEDMemma you had me ROFL! I can just imagine the look of despair in your eyes.

I love Morrissons, the only thing I would change in my local one is the charity people who insist on "helping" you pack your shopping. We do a monthly shopping for a familly of 6 and have become superorganised with DH to pack things "just so" and save a lot of time at home when we tidy the stuff. Even when you give them money to NOT help they insist on helping and very often make a mess of it! OMG I do sound ungrateful!

I second Sweedes WRT to fruit and veg at Morrissons, We used to shop at
tesco (was closer to home) and carrots were roting after a couple of days in the fridge, never happenned with M.

Probably depends on the individual supermarket. The sainsbury near me is best for fruit and veg.

We don't have a local Morrisons but I drive out my way to go to the Chingford one - it's bloody lovely. DH can't bear it but the fresh food is excellent quality and i can do my shop for half of what it costs in Sainsbos. And they always slip DD a chocolate lollipop in the cafe

I've never seen a fight in local Asda (Beckton) but there is an atmos of simmering violence that I find quite distressing. However I'm stuck with going at least once a year as it appears to be the only shop in the known universe that sells quorn 'chicken' nuggets, which when catering for birthday parties where a good 85% of the children are veggie/halal/kosher are a bloody godsend...

This thread has bought a tear to my eye. I miss the Holloway road so much. It was so entertaining. Never a dull moment outside of M&S. Is that man with the very red face still hanging about?

Its just not the same in Walthamstow. Its almost like living in the countryside.

I used to go into Waitrose once or twice a year. I just liked to step into another world everyso often. Sometimes I would pretend to shout angrily at my kids and buy some turkey twizzlers just to get a reaction

Morrisons was safeway in my day. Oh the excitement the day it opened!

Sigh

The vast majority of my herbacious border was purchased at Morrisons. Their plants are outstanding and cheap.

fruitbeard Lol at "atmosphere of simmering violence"

I can't face Asda either. Apart from the atmosphere of simmering violence, the place is so big I fear I may never get out of there ........

Internet shopping is the only way ....