Being Scared Of Youths In Supermarkets?

loopyloo post was deleted I believe - I think you will see this if you read the whole thread.

What racism in the original post?
All I can see is black hoodies. The boys could have been any race.
Also they weren't shoplifting just
chatting.

NotSpaghetti

I wonder if you had spoken to them (say) "excuse me lads" and just walked past if they would have moved aside?

NOT excusing them - but speaking to people (especially with a smile) generally yields a more positive response I find.

I am sorry that you felt as you did but have to agree with this. I haven’t personally felt intimidated in similar circumstances but equally I do have the mindset that no one is going to intimidate me.

JennyCee

Our local Boots refuse to let young schoolboys in.
What happened to our youth? Girls can be just as bad

Discriminatory, would have thought?

I would not let some bits of kids terrorise or intimidate me to stop me shopping. They saw you were scared I'm afraid.

undines but if it happened on camera the race is really not the important factor here I think.
It will just be the people caught on camera, surely.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

You can get bad behaviour from all age groups in supermarkets, not just teenage boys in sportswear. I can remember a middle aged woman using a load of foul language as I committed the crime of banging into her trolley. On another occasion, a smartly dressed woman started yelling her head off because she thought I'd pushed in front of her in a queue. I just ignre people like this, or say have a nice day.

To the people who are quoting the deleted post I've reported you. I think it's an underhanded way of repeating the racism that was said in the original post!

And it supposed to be a better world, what a joke our worlds become

In this situation, Facebook and X are your friends. Name the supermarket and the location. This will almost certainly result in some action by the management.

Basgetti

NotSpaghetti

I wonder if you had spoken to them (say) "excuse me lads" and just walked past if they would have moved aside?

NOT excusing them - but speaking to people (especially with a smile) generally yields a more positive response I find.

Absolutely this. If in doubt, I smile. Usually works for me, almost invariably people smile back and step aside.

spot on

Allira

Macaydia

Cat call to elderly? Laugh in their face and put them in their place. They are only children

They are only children
Teenagers can be huge! and intimidating and some carry knives. I would not be laughing in their faces.

how do you cat call obsenely?

AuntieE

These youngsters were behaving badly, and got away w ith doing so because no-one felt brave enough either to tell them off, or to ask to speak to the shop's manager, or to ring the police.

As I see it, none of us have a duty to put ourselves at risk, so I quite understand why no-one either reproved the younsters or complained audibly about their behaviour.

But if we want this kind of behaviour not to continue, we do have a duty to report it, first to the store manger, then to the chain's headquarters and to get in touch with the local authorities and the press.

The police cannot well do anything , unless they are called and manage to get to the store while the incident is taking place, but they should still be informed ,as the crime prevention squad needs to be aware of what is going on.

We had a similar incident years ago in the shops we used, and as it was very obvious from the languages spoken and the boys' names that they belonged to the Muslim community, my husband went along to the mosque the following day and had a pleasant and useful conversation with the Imam who had not known of the problem, but certainly took steps to ensure that it did not continue.

So, identifying which community a group belongs to is not necessarily racist, but can be a way of stopping the rot.

So you would call the police because the wolf whistled OP, they did not do anything else, she was frightened alright I do understand, but that was her own interpretation of the situation. As many has said if she had smiled at them of spoken to them with a smile and said excuse me they would probably have been perfectly alright. Surely a wolf whistle is not police matters.

Purplepixie

Inform the manager and the police. Nobody should feel intimidated.

sadly neither would do anything

I if they didn't get their friends off

I had a similar incident in a bus. There were some rowdy youths, and the bus driver said unless they got off, he wouldn't go on. Three got off, and then everyone was just sitting there. I got cross, I was sitting downstairs, and very loudly told the the three youths, very loudly, that I would call the police and they would have a criminal record, is that student get their friends off. Use your voice, make a scene, don't be bullied.

My upmarket supermarket is friendly and safe but they have recently installed No Entry barriers at the checkouts and numerous signs warning about CCTV and theft.
It’s a sad sign of our times that shop lifting is rife and security staff are not allowed to touch thieves. Of course we all pay extra to cover the shops’ losses. If you are intimidated you must tell the staff, they don’t want their customers frightened away.

This bunch of youths were obviously idiots.. They do it because they can get away with it. Teenage lads nowadays are also big and tall.Around six foot.

. You are a vulnerable elderly lady. and an easy target. Sorry that they
picked on you and you must have felt very intimidated.

I bet they filmed the incident and posted it on somewhere like Snapchat. It makes them famous for a day

Do you have a mobile phone ? If you do and anything like this happens again Take a photo or a video.

I am also looking at personal attack alarms .

I meet a lot of younger people who are very helpful and are a delight. An absolute credit to their schools and parents So they do exist

Best Wishes
😻💐
Xxx

Ok..maybe your just a bit sensative?.i visit my local coop at nite.They gather for somewhere to go.Not all teens are robbers or causing trouble.I just say." Alrigbt lads..out the way..

Definitely e mail or ring head office customer services. they will be furious that this isn’t being addressed.
I wouldn’t bother at local branch level .
But ensure head office know you are happy to involve the police if this is not addressed.
I’m so very sorry for your experience and the anxiety this will cause you.
Hopefully after a cuppa tea and some tv you might feel a bit better.
It’s totally unacceptable

Further to my previous text, I heard earlier that Sainsburys have made a whopping profit this last financial year and so can afford decent security staff. Morrisons have security staff, and there seems to be at least one. So why Can’t Sainsburys?

Well, given all the recent publicity about store employees approaching problem makers and ending up sacked I doubt if there would be any security in stores now. If stores do manage to capture problems on camera at least if you did complain to say a manager the footage coukd be given to the police in the hope that they are identified. Think I would complain to store, if they don't know they can't act.

Our local Boots refuse to let young schoolboys in.
What happened to our youth? Girls can be just as bad

They do it because they can! Recently I encountered a young lad scooting around the shop on a trolley. His mother was with him and begged him to behave but he ignored her. I stood in one of the aisles with the business end of my umbrella ready to charge him but he went the other way!
Just a couple of days ago, I headed to the Post Office and noticed a young person in a 'hoodie' standing nearby. I thought little of it, but later, on the local Facebook page, an elderly man took some money from the ATM outside the same Post Office and was approached by a young person who had been standing on the corner. Fortunately, the man's wife was with him and she must have looked threatening because the youngster changed his mind.