What’s The Internet Upset Over This Week?
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Answer: Woman boycotts Tesco because cashier was too friendly.
Okay, we all hate ‘till craic’- that awkward and half-hearted small talk you have to make with customers/cashiers at the till. The average conversation probably sounds a bit like this:
“Sorry for your wait, hun/love/dear/darling/sweetie/pet. Would you like a bag?”
“No thank you… Miserable day, isn’t it?”
“I know- when will we ever see the sun again?”
“It’s meant to be nice next weekend.”
“I hope so. That’ll be £12.80 please, hun/love/dear/darling/sweetie/pet.”
“Thanks, bye.”
Most people are perfectly happy to reluctantly participate in ‘till craic’- including the same boring weather conversations and the pet names- all except ex-Tesco shopper Beth Bellamy.
Bellamy alleges that she was so fed up of being called “sweetheart, darling and babe” at her local Tesco that she decided to shop elsewhere.
Speaking to the BBC about her customer service experience, she said: “I told the young checkout lady that I would rather she didn’t call me that as it was patronising, and that I found it offensive. She replied that if I didn’t like it I was free to use a different checkout operator. The checkout operator I chose was one at a completely different and cheaper supermarket.”
Since Bellamy wouldn’t reveal the location of the Tesco and clearly wasn’t affected enough by the horrible, offensive word “babe” enough to make a direct complaint to Tesco, we should probably be a bit sceptical about how valid her claim is.
Anyway, Bellamy’s complaint has sparked a bit of a debate. The vast majority of people don’t really mind being called babe, sweetheart or darling as it’s usually used in a friendly and well-meaning way but some people are arguing that it’s patronising and over-familiar.
In all honesty, there are so many things in life that are genuinely offensive and if one of Beth Bellamy’s biggest problems is that she doesn’t enjoy bog standard ‘till craic’, then good for her- what a nice and comfortable life she must lead.