Coronavirus: What one shop assistant told me about customer abuse was shocking – Hayley Matthews

After Hayley Matthews witnesses a coronavirus stockpiler explode in fury when her card is declined, she meets a shop assistant who has lost faith in humanity in recent years.

Supermarket staff don't deserve to be abused no matter how stressed people are (Picture: Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)

I know not many will admit to panic buying but we’re all doing it to a certain degree and I think it only seems normal. We’re in survival mode. If you’re just buying a few extra things to put in the freezer “just in case” then it still contributes to the empty shelves that we’re seeing which, ironically, then makes us want to stock up more.

I did an online shop and had to wait eight days to get a slot which is really unheard of and, I’ll be honest, I didn’t think I’d have anything turn up in the delivery so I picked up a small trolley-worth of essentials.

I’ll put my hand up and say I’ve got a few extras but with kids, you have to be responsible and make sure you have what they need. I haven’t on the other hand been buying bags and bags of rice, pasta, sauce and soap like some.

I saw one woman piling her trolley with hand soap before the restrictions on all items came into place. She had a lot of everything and was clearly stockpiling. She was wearing gloves and was clearly very stressed.

On edge at the till, she looked like her head was about to spin off when her card was declined. She went absolutely apoplectic at the check-out woman, whom I felt very sorry for. I was getting ready to empty all her bottles of Carex out on the floor for her badness and rudeness!

But why the stinking attitude? Is it the stress? Is it the unknown? Is it human greed and the fear of not having? I think it may be a bit of them all. However, if there is one that seems so prevalent at the moment it’s the greed – and I believe that will be what will “endeth us”.

As there was no paracetamol in sight in the supermarket I decided to head to a large pharmacy where again I saw poor attitudes towards the staff, rudeness and greed in all its ugly forms. As the woman behind the counter served me I asked her how she was coping in a time when people are going nuts. What she told me shocked me. She said for years she’s been screamed and shouted at and now had little faith left in humanity.

She said that she’s seen a huge change in people’s attitude over the last ten years and how we’ve become a blame culture, not wanting to take any responsibility for our own actions and I have to say I see it.

She went on to tell me how it’s not just since the coronavirus has struck that people have been greedy, rude and obnoxious; in fact it’s been slowly getting worse over the last ten years. She said she’s been screamed at for the shop not having any baby milk, spoken to like she was a piece of dirt when people have picked up prescriptions and everything else in between. I felt for her and could see she’d taken her share of aggression off the general public and seemed a little scunnered by it. I promise NEVER to be one of these people, ever! Manners cost nothing and in such difficult and unprecedented times, we really need to be nicer, more together and a little less in-your-face with the people who are working to serve the general public and those helping us get better. The ones who are scanning our shopping, making up our prescriptions, and packing our bags, not to mention the healthcare sector and others who are keeping things running.

Thank you and I’m sorry for all the idiots out there. I have heard that apparently the coronavirus affects the nasty, rude and obnoxious of society first, so you better watch out!