Rude Co-op shop staff

[arnsider]

Well, it's a day and a half since I made a complaint to Co-op. I'll publish their reply (If they indeed do reply) on this Forum.
I have to be honest and agree that my response to the incident seemed to a lot to be OTT, but it was not born of malice. There was a degre of indignance and I was "triggered".
Reflecting on the idea that keeping shopping to the minimum and confining it locally, I have to agree with the logic.
It's just the half buttocked way we seem to do things with doubt and misinformation rather than clear cut rules.
The stipulation that only locals are to be served is a good one, so why wasn't there a sign outside advising visitors to stay away?
I wonder if the same attitudes prevailed in Co-op's service stations where passers through would be buying food on the go by default!
As for staff rudeness, that's a management issue, though with minmum wage and zero hours, most shop managers are hard nosed and probably too fearful of their own careers to rock the boat.
Of course, today it's all change and the usual plonkers will be queuing up in their droves at the Trafford center to stock up on their chinese junk.

[Jdsk]

... the usual plonkers will be queuing up in their droves at the Trafford center to stock up on their chinese junk.

Is there access by waterway?

; - )

Jonathan

[Oldjohnw]

Well, it's a day and a half since I made a complaint to Co-op. I'll publish their reply (If they indeed do reply) on this Forum.
I have to be honest and agree that my response to the incident seemed to a lot to be OTT, but it was not born of malice. There was a degre of indignance and I was "triggered".
Reflecting on the idea that keeping shopping to the minimum and confining it locally, I have to agree with the logic.
It's just the half buttocked way we seem to do things with doubt and misinformation rather than clear cut rules.
The stipulation that only locals are to be served is a good one, so why wasn't there a sign outside advising visitors to stay away?
I wonder if the same attitudes prevailed in Co-op's service stations where passers through would be buying food on the go by default!
As for staff rudeness, that's a management issue, though with minmum wage and zero hours, most shop managers are hard nosed and probably too fearful of their own careers to rock the boat.
Of course, today it's all change and the usual plonkers will be queuing up in their droves at the Trafford center to stock up on their chinese junk.

Johnson has the attention span of a gnat and zero interest in managing the virus response. Not surprising guidance has been so confused. ("Don't go to the pub but in case you want to we'll leave them open").

[simonhill]

I think I must live in a different country. Our seafront has been open to out of towners for weeks. There are takeaways and ice cream stalls selling to local and outsider alike. No restriction on how many times you visit in a day, let alone a week.

Today I cycled along our high street and it looked almost back to normal, apart from the queus outside Tesco and CoOp, with most shops open. Unfortunately cars are also back with their parking making the road unpleasantly narrow.

[Trigger]

I could understand some ire if this interaction took place 8 weeks ago when everyone was supposed to be under the original set of restrictions, but this was only the other day, people have been out and about for ages now so there's no need to get all shirty about being out on your bike buying some lunch from a Co-op that isn't your local.

I did the very same about 2 weeks ago at the half way point of a 60 mile jaunt, popped into a little Co-op and picked up a sandwich, a bottle of water and a flap jack, no drama ensued.

[pwa]

I could understand some ire if this interaction took place 8 weeks ago when everyone was supposed to be under the original set of restrictions, but this was only the other day, people have been out and about for ages now so there's no need to get all shirty about being out on your bike buying some lunch from a Co-op that isn't your local.

I did the very same about 2 weeks ago at the half way point of a 60 mile jaunt, popped into a little Co-op and picked up a sandwich, a bottle of water and a flap jack, no drama ensued.

You have to bear in mind that for you that was probably your one and only occasion all day when you were at a raised level of risk due the the presence of others in an indoor venue, but for the staff in the shop that your interaction with them may have been one of a hundred they have to risk every day, and if in their eyes some of those interactions are avoidable through people buying a week's food in one go, you can see how they might be a bit tetchy. Especially if they are in a location where lots of people are popping in for a handful of items for a lunch on the go. I did a 50 odd mile ride a couple of weeks ago and took my packed lunch to avoid an extra shop visit that I didn't need to do. But this is nit picking stuff and I only mention it to help explain how it might appear to shop staff who feel themselves to be working in a busier environment than they are comfortable with at the moment.

[Carlton green]

Well, it's a day and a half since I made a complaint to Co-op. I'll publish their reply (If they indeed do reply) on this Forum.
I have to be honest and agree that my response to the incident seemed to a lot to be OTT, but it was not born of malice. There was a degre of indignance and I was "triggered".
Reflecting on the idea that keeping shopping to the minimum and confining it locally, I have to agree with the logic.
It's just the half buttocked way we seem to do things with doubt and misinformation rather than clear cut rules.
The stipulation that only locals are to be served is a good one, so why wasn't there a sign outside advising visitors to stay away?
I wonder if the same attitudes prevailed in Co-op's service stations where passers through would be buying food on the go by default!
As for staff rudeness, that's a management issue, though with minmum wage and zero hours, most shop managers are hard nosed and probably too fearful of their own careers to rock the boat.
Of course, today it's all change and the usual plonkers will be queuing up in their droves at the Trafford center to stock up on their chinese junk.

Yes, a little time spent reflecting on events does help and I quite see your side of events. Even though we might in some small part have contributed to a negative situation who amongst us has never been triggered by some event or other?

I would agree with you that a sign outside of the Co-op to the effect that the shop was closed to non-residents would have been good. However the Co-op is a National organisation so such a policy would need to be thought of at HQ and then dictated to all of their branches, only some of those branches which would find that policy appropriate to them and their particular community. As an additional hazard Co-op stores would then risk turning away some genuinely in real need and distressed ‘visitors’ and/or those that have driven some distance to shop for a relative, etc., there will always be exceptions to any rule.

Life is full of situations where one has to use personal judgement and sensitivity towards others. It doesn’t seem too unreasonable to me to not visit shops without real need, I don’t want to catch anything whilst there and I don’t want to give any infection to others or worry them that I might infect them. As for staff rudeness, well it happens and sometimes an interaction as we recall it is very different to how the other party feels that things went. I hope that somehow this will all end well, it’s a learning exercise for us all.

[Oldjohnw]

Some people are abrupt/surly/grumpy/rude, virus or not. There are pages of people's experiences in the Spa Cycles pages.

[nirakaro]

... the usual plonkers will be queuing up in their droves at the Trafford center to stock up on their chinese junk.

Is there access by waterway?

; - )

Jonathan

Indeed there is - the Manchester Ship canal and the Bridgewater canal both pass within a few hundred yards (and the one passes over the other on the amazing Barton swing aqueduct). Of course if you wanted to load your Chinese junk onto your Chinese junk, you might incur shipping charges!

; - )

[mjr]

[...] some of those interactions are avoidable through people buying a week's food in one go, [...]

The people exhorting us to shop once a week (or fortnight or month) are misguided because:
1. fresh is best (healthiest) and fresh food ain't gonna be fresh in a week;
2. probability of infection with this coronavirus is thought to have a cumulative build-up aspect and it accumulates more readily in an enclosed space, so spending more time in an enclosed space like a shop in one go (to buy a whole week's food in one go, for example) seems like a bad idea.

[David9694]

Well, it's a day and a half since I made a complaint to Co-op. I'll publish their reply (If they indeed do reply) on this Forum.
I have to be honest and agree that my response to the incident seemed to a lot to be OTT, but it was not born of malice. There was a degre of indignance and I was "triggered".
Reflecting on the idea that keeping shopping to the minimum and confining it locally, I have to agree with the logic.
It's just the half buttocked way we seem to do things with doubt and misinformation rather than clear cut rules.
The stipulation that only locals are to be served is a good one, so why wasn't there a sign outside advising visitors to stay away?
I wonder if the same attitudes prevailed in Co-op's service stations where passers through would be buying food on the go by default!
As for staff rudeness, that's a management issue, though with minmum wage and zero hours, most shop managers are hard nosed and probably too fearful of their own careers to rock the boat.
Of course, today it's all change and the usual plonkers will be queuing up in their droves at the Trafford center to stock up on their chinese junk.

Are you seriously saying that it’s a local shop for local people? Nothing for you here?

[pwa]

[...] some of those interactions are avoidable through people buying a week's food in one go, [...]

The people exhorting us to shop once a week (or fortnight or month) are misguided because:
1. fresh is best (healthiest) and fresh food ain't gonna be fresh in a week;
2. probability of infection with this coronavirus is thought to have a cumulative build-up aspect and it accumulates more readily in an enclosed space, so spending more time in an enclosed space like a shop in one go (to buy a whole week's food in one go, for example) seems like a bad idea.

Popping into a shop for one sarnie and a packet of crisps at a time is surely the least time efficient way to get your food, if spending as little time in the shop as possible is the objective. And I don't know about you, but we have a fridge and yes, I reckon we can just about get through a week without encountering mouldy bread or rotten tomatoes. My daughter is going to do our big shop this evening when the supermarket is not so busy.

My thought is that perhaps Settle is a place that gets a lot of walkers and leisure cyclists and a shop worker might feel that they are making the risk of exposure to the virus appreciably higher for shop staff by popping in for small quantities of food and drink on missions that are purely recreational. I wonder if that is the perception that triggered the outburst. One person's health and wellbeing being endangered by people who don't need to be shopping.

[Jdsk]

Popping into a shop for one sarnie and a packet of crisps at a time is surely the least time efficient way to get your food, if spending as little time in the shop as possible is the objective.

Same thought, but it might depend on whether the two scenarios involve different shops as well as different frequency of visit... if you shop less often would you go somewhere else?

Jonathan

[reohn2]

Six pages over a five minute(not even a ten minute)argument,we're not doing too bad on adding to the internet forum burden

BTW,I've just been to the corner shop(that i rarely use) to deposit a Hermes returns parcel and was met with the most miserable so and so shop owner you could wish to meet.
Hey ho,the world would be a bit bland if everyone were the same,and for all I know he may have just had some really bad news

[pwa]

I have had a few encounters with grumpy shop workers / owners that have made me smile. An old favourite (no longer with us) was a man who mended broken TVs, in the days when that was simpler than it is now. He was good at what he did but he would only agree to work on your TV if he fancied the job. He never smiled and he made you feel like he didn't want you in the shop. Everyone called him Mad Eddy.