To report these supermarket workers?

[thetimeisnow]

As I walked past some supermarket workers, they were having a chat, one said
' i couldnt tell if it was a man or woman'
Then another said ' we have one of them where i live'

I think it was inappropriate.

But am I over thinking and being unreasonable?!

I didn't mean to be vague.
yes he is on the spectrum and hating his changing body.
I didn't make a big deal of it, said ok, I support you.
Reading threads on here has given me more advice that it could be a phase.
I dont push him to talk or make changes but he knows im here and we have a very honest relationship.

Does he know he can’t actually change sex though?

Hi OP. I completely agree with this and your opening post. I'm genuinely horrified that the majority in this thread think it's absolutely fine for members of the public to overhear staff talking about another customer in this way.

Whilst it's not clear if the individual being discussed has a protected characteristic, that's not really the point.

Yes people have a right to have their own opinion. Do they have a right to articulate this in a manner or environment where they could cause harm or upset to others? In my organisation, this would definitely result in investigation, and potential disciplinary action if reported to management - up to closure of contract.

And to the many on here being who are ridiculing the OP - I presume this means that you would have no issue with overhearing supermarket staff (or people anywhere really) being rude about you or your loved ones?

Literally no one believes that this happened, or in the way you stated, or why you stated it etc.

Your story evolves as you get pushback that you fished for on a thread intended for rage bait and click bait.

I'm bowing out. Things like this make this site intolerable.

We didn't know they were being rude until the drip feed. There are plenty of examples in this thread of how those sentences could be neutral or positive without the extra context OP has now given.

The whole point is that prejudice starts with these tiny micro aggressions which are ignored. It then escalated. If you read my post that's what it says.

So what they said absolutely fits with stage one. It's rather disingenuous to not understand what the shop workers were talking about.

I wish we had three Waitrose in walking distance. You're very lucky.

It's not disingenuous to not understand what they were talking about when I wasn't there and had no extra context.

I have a lot of LGBT+ friends, trans friends, and friends that just like looking androgonus.

There are plenty of examples in this thread of how those sentences could be neutral or positive without the extra context.

And nobody will be hurt by a simple reminder to keep it civil in the workplace. If it was genuinely innocent they wouldn't even think it was referring to them.

Not being on board with an ideology and openly ridiculing are different things. There is no need for a shop worker to express these views at work .Allport shows how micro aggressions against groups of people escalate. It becomes acceptable to use hate speak. And we are seeing this in our society now, your comments are part of that. Do you really think that what happened in Nazi Germany can't happen again? Why not?

Also know it’s a hot button topic because the rights of women and girls are being eroded by men stomping on their hard fought rights to single sex spaces etc.

So whilst they probably shouldn’t have been discussing it on the shop floor, they have a right to their opinion

So we are kept silent by men who choose to change biological facts to suit themselves and have created Newspeak so that women and girls are silenced?

I won't be posting after this but when you said you'd support your child I hope you meant that you would support them accepting their natural body through the normal puberty changes that everyone goes through. That it's normal to hate it as it means growing up into an adult and leaving childhood behind. To support him with his autism. But that should never be supporting him to believe he is the opposite sex. I wish you good luck OP, outside forces on the Internet can be very harmful during this time and I hope you and your child successfully manage to come out the other side of puberty healthy and happy.

Absolutely delusional.

'I have a gender questioning teen.
Maybe thats why it hit a nerve?'

It wouldn't take a genius to join those dots. 🙄

I don't recall @thetimeisnow seeking advice on how to parent her child.

My word, people are so comfortable being horrid these days.

As a piece of advice - if you try being kind and thoughtful, and avoid being a dick about other people for the shits and giggles (or to make yourself look clever in front of equally abhorrent individuals), you'll likely find that not only are you happier, but people will also be kinder to you.

It's really not difficult to not be unpleasant about other people who have done absolutely nothing unkind/offensive/whatever to you. Grow up.

You are right, there is a lot of micro aggression and discrimination against a sector of the population, actual violence too. People are losing their rights. Those people have a name (though that's one of the things they are losing) they are called women.

@Anarchy99

I think some people do need training on how to behave appropriately at work. Employers can't prevent people from being bigots, but they can expect them to mask their bigotry as much as possible and train them in ways of doing that.

Yeah, it's not just about informing the employers/authorities etc which wouldn't be appropriate to me. But politeness/not being a dick costs nothing and I don't think there's anything wrong or "PC" about pointing out when someone comes across as unpleasant. That really isn't a new invention or "woke". I'd say it's quite an important part of the English/British cultural values certain people are always blethering about saving.

The Transes have spent a decade drumming into people how nobody can tell anyway and now, when people do exactly what was requested of them they are apparently 'being a dick'.

Tbf the trans lobby has in fact hurt many many people. If someone wants to pretend to be something they aren’t then that’s fine until it impacts half the population.

So I’m comfortable being a dick about people who (often aggressively) try to erase my rights and my existence. If you are happy with men trying to access women’s rape crisis centres or play rugby against young teen girls then that’s up to you, but you don’t get to consent for everyone.

Right.

It's a very famous book. The Nature of Prejudice by Gordon Allport. It was based on a huge amount of research, both academic and otherwise. Yet it's 'delusional'?

So protest, sign petitions, lobby your MP. It is not OK for people in the workplace to speak like this. If it becomes acceptable then it's open season.

As women we have experienced what Allport describes here, that's why there is so much violence against women.

Yes, let's make workers into Stepford wives. If this really happened, the the OP should have said something there and then. As for the organisation you work for, thank God I'm retired.