Asda's new pronoun badges for staff

[BessyK]

My BIL who works at our local store has just received this information, he thinks Asda's gone mad. Asda are also funding Diversity Role Models with £100,000 over the next year. Looks as though they're jumping in with both feet.

Looks like I’m switching to Aldi! Tired of companies trying to join in with the latest fads, idiots.

It’s customerphobic to try to drag me into this crap.

heartsonacake
He shouldn’t have shared this information with you, and you most certainly shouldn’t be sharing it on the internet. He can get severely disciplined for sharing company information meant only for colleagues

Do you actually think that?

The 'ask me my pronouns' thing - do people honestly think that other people care what their pronouns are? You don't even need to use pronouns when you are addressing someone directly anyway.

'Excuse me, where can I find the pot noodles please?'

'I think they are in aisle 8'.

'Thanks very much'.

@WrathFaeKlopp

heartsonacake He shouldn’t have shared this information with you, and you most certainly shouldn’t be sharing it on the internet. He can get severely disciplined for sharing company information meant only for colleagues

Do you actually think that?

I don’t need to “think” it. I’ve seen it happen.

"that womxn over them there, ze told me the pot noodles were in aisle eight, but they're not here"

Loved the comment about balsamic vinegar.

I went to Asda once - they only sell brown vinegar. Couldn't even buy the white/clear stuff for de-furring my kettle.

How do you think they are going to track down the ‘leak’ that has been posted by a third party on an anonymous forum @heartsonacake?

Oh FFS - this is utter rubbish.

I dont need to use pronouns to say to someone "excuse me, where is the peanut butter?" or whatever I'm looking for.

This just seems some idiots idea of appearing "woke".

Well the know the brother in law is a man as the op used "he". So that should narrow it right down.

"hello, what are your pronouns"
"ve/vir/vem"
"thank you. Now where is the peanut butter"
"aisle 8, just under the pot noodles"
"thanks"

I would actively walk away from someone wearing an "ask me my pronouns" badge in a supermarket.

No, I won't; I don't care enough about you to know what your pronouns are, just like I don't care where you're going on holiday this year, or where you got your hair done.
The fact that you want me to ask implies a connection we don't have.
For fucks sake, I'm doing my shopping, it's not about you.

Isn’t it transphobic to make people state their gender?

I've seen lots of trans people make this point on Twitter, but no one seems to take any notice of them.

Our local Asda until recently had the tinned tomatoes on their "Foreign Foods" aisle. I kid you not.

That's one hell of a leap.

"that womxn over them there, ze told me the pot noodles were in aisle eight, but they're not here"

😂

He could be severely disciplined

Perhaps he should be made to wear the badge.

It would be quite a fruitless task for Asda to attempt to find out who the OP is, especially as it's actually the BIL rather than the poster. Mumsnet also should not be sharing information that can identity posters regarding this, so unless he was the only person in the company to receive it, OP is fine. I wouldn't do it personally, but let's not be a bit OTT about it.

I can't really see in what situation these would be useful, I don't tend to address shop workers as him, she, etc- why would you?

Oh for fucks sake. ASDA is the only supermarket I can get a delivery slot with at the moment. Will be boycotting anyway.

So, what happens to customers who 'misgender' their employees if they are clearly wearing their badges? Are they banned? Or?.....

Also, what systems are Asda putting in place to ensure their employees don't misgender their customers? Is there going to be a scheme to register customers preferred pronouns? What are the consequences for Adsa employees if they misgender a customer?

Looks like I’m switching to Aldi

Asda la vista, Baby.

‘Briefing pack about the impact of misgendering’

As compared to seeing an adult male in the ladies changing room where women are undressed..?

Any chance of a briefing pack on the impact of selling £6 jeans?

I'm not sure how great an idea the ask me one is, especially with social distancing - couldn't they do one with a blank square in the middle and provide a marker/grease pencil to write them in? Or take requests and do custom ones.

There are times when you do refer to someone in the third person when they're within earshot - for example, answering a group phone ("I'll see if she's available") or multiple conversations going on at once in a large group ("Alex was just telling us about his trip to Prague") or a long introduction ("Lee manages tech support for all our internal systems - please contact per if you have any trouble with your accounts") but it seems rare in a supermarket setting. Maybe it's more for conversation among colleagues rather than with the customers.

I am the Asda Spartacus Bil and this the hill I will die on.

Isn’t that the company that has mixed sex changing rooms?