Rules and Regulations, Stupid!
From the sublime pleasure of a day out with her daughter and grandsons, 86-year-old British pensioner Thelma Williams experienced the downside of rules and regulations bordering on the obscene, at Britain's staid and quasi-institutional popular retailer, Marks & Spencer.
What could conceivably go wrong, shopping in the very-conservative, very middle-class department store that prided itself on expressing British values?
Well, as it happens, quite a bit, if you're a vulnerable, elderly woman out to enjoy a leisurely few hours with those most dear to you, and you're suddenly exposed to the rigid, mindless intrusion into privacy that such establishments feel they are entitled to in the protection of their 'rules'.
And, evidently, there are rules that separate the store's restaurant from the food offerings for sale in the rest of the store.
A chocolate chip cookie that Ms. Williams had purchased in the Marks & Spencer store and secured in her handbag got her in a heap of trouble when, after enjoying a meal in the Marks & Spencer restaurant, she thought she would like a little extra, and hauled out the cookie and began nibbling on it.
She had paid for it, it was in her possession as paid property, but it was forbidden, according to the store's rules, to eat what had been acquired in the food section of the store, in the restaurant of the store. A server moved in with great alacrity to inform this elderly woman that she would not be permitted to enjoy her cookie in the cafe.
Ms. Williams, reasonably, sought an intelligent reason for this rule she had inadvertently broken. The store employee claimed the difference resided in taxes paid on items from either the store or the cafe. And, presumably, when Ms. Williams scoffed, a security guard was called in to take charge. He too, insisted that rules are rules.
"I thought it was petty and ridiculous. I realize they have rules to stick to but it was so silly, I felt stupid. They made me feel like I had committed a crime", she related to The Lancashire Telegraph. "The situation was crazy, I would have paid the extra 10p for sitting in the chair to eat it.
"All the customers were looking at me, it was so embarrassing and very distressing." At her request the store's manager was unavailable, but the deputy manager duly presented herself. "Well, she was just out of her depth, didn't really tell me anything. She never told me it was all right though. She was just stammering."
It's tough operating a proudly middle-class and highly respected major department store in Britain; you've got to put up with grumpy, argumentative eccentrics passing themselves off as little old ladies, just begging to be put in their place. But someone's got to do it, put their foot down on disrespectful behaviour.
A spokesperson for Marks & Spencer explained "Marks & Spencer policy is that Marks & Spencer cafe customers must only consume items bought within the cafe area." Or, as the case may be, demonstrating that customer-service foot-in-the-mouth syndrome of risible absurdity sometimes described as being a horse's ass.
Ta-dumb!
What could conceivably go wrong, shopping in the very-conservative, very middle-class department store that prided itself on expressing British values?
Well, as it happens, quite a bit, if you're a vulnerable, elderly woman out to enjoy a leisurely few hours with those most dear to you, and you're suddenly exposed to the rigid, mindless intrusion into privacy that such establishments feel they are entitled to in the protection of their 'rules'.
And, evidently, there are rules that separate the store's restaurant from the food offerings for sale in the rest of the store.
A chocolate chip cookie that Ms. Williams had purchased in the Marks & Spencer store and secured in her handbag got her in a heap of trouble when, after enjoying a meal in the Marks & Spencer restaurant, she thought she would like a little extra, and hauled out the cookie and began nibbling on it.
She had paid for it, it was in her possession as paid property, but it was forbidden, according to the store's rules, to eat what had been acquired in the food section of the store, in the restaurant of the store. A server moved in with great alacrity to inform this elderly woman that she would not be permitted to enjoy her cookie in the cafe.
Ms. Williams, reasonably, sought an intelligent reason for this rule she had inadvertently broken. The store employee claimed the difference resided in taxes paid on items from either the store or the cafe. And, presumably, when Ms. Williams scoffed, a security guard was called in to take charge. He too, insisted that rules are rules.
"I thought it was petty and ridiculous. I realize they have rules to stick to but it was so silly, I felt stupid. They made me feel like I had committed a crime", she related to The Lancashire Telegraph. "The situation was crazy, I would have paid the extra 10p for sitting in the chair to eat it.
"All the customers were looking at me, it was so embarrassing and very distressing." At her request the store's manager was unavailable, but the deputy manager duly presented herself. "Well, she was just out of her depth, didn't really tell me anything. She never told me it was all right though. She was just stammering."
It's tough operating a proudly middle-class and highly respected major department store in Britain; you've got to put up with grumpy, argumentative eccentrics passing themselves off as little old ladies, just begging to be put in their place. But someone's got to do it, put their foot down on disrespectful behaviour.
A spokesperson for Marks & Spencer explained "Marks & Spencer policy is that Marks & Spencer cafe customers must only consume items bought within the cafe area." Or, as the case may be, demonstrating that customer-service foot-in-the-mouth syndrome of risible absurdity sometimes described as being a horse's ass.
Ta-dumb!
Labels: Human Relations, Particularities, Social-Cultural Deviations, Whoops
posted by Pieface @ 6:15 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home