Jobsworths.

Arrows are big enough aren't they ?

I wouldn’t call her a jobsworth though, having worked in retail all my life, she would have been given rules to stick to,

Our Sainsbury’s has been roped off so you can clearly see where to go in and where to exit, big signs too, I would do what you did if I didn’t know, no need whatsoever to be angrily shouted at by a shop worker, no reason why she couldn’t have said excuse me you are going out the wrong door, I’d have then said oh sorry I didn’t realise,

I am afraid this os the new normal.
Shopping is no longer a pleasure its fraught with rules, oneway systems, taped arrows, singular shopping,hand gel, sanitiser, facemasks and jobsworths, waiting to challenge you if you put a foot wrong ! All in the name of keeping us safe.Welcome to the new normal.

DillytheGardener

Doodledog because OP could have done as directed, excited via the requested exit and apologised. I’ve been in the exact situation as op, I have to travel around London for work, and I apologised along the lines of “sorry not concentrating” and exited correctly. Not difficult to be polite to those in customer facing roles during a pandemic

No, there is not - I agree, but there is no suggestion that the OP was not polite. The security guard, on the other hand, shouted and spoke angrily, which in my opinion is very rude, particularly from someone in a customer facing role.

Kircubbin2000 - I agree it’s difficult to know what’s going on out there when you’ve been inside for a year but it’s your responsibility to follow the rules - shop assistants have been verbally and physically abused by people who won’t wear masks etc and it’s not surprising that they try to call out the rules in the supermarket - it probably made no difference in the long run whether you exited the wrong way but the system is there to protect everyone - I would have apologised and followed the same procedure as everyone else - it’s arrogant not to do that - and I wonder what your take might have been if it had been someone who had just finished a prison sentence breaking a new societal rule - your answer to that might give you more perspective on your response to the shop assistant

I would have gone back and out of the correct door, laughing it off with "sorry, first time out, just not used to the change" - rules have been put in place for a reason. Regardless as to whether the shop was or wasn't busy if everyone went out the wrong door nknpoibt in having them

kircubbin2000

I have been to Sainsbury for the first time in nearly a year as son has been doing my shopping. I was up early and just felt like getting out so I had finished by 8.30.
As I was leaving , the security woman shouted at me that I was leaving by the wrong door, the entrance one, which I have always used before covid.She told me angrily to go back and out the far door.
As the shop was empty and I was almost outside I left and told her I'd know the next time. Would you have gone back into the shop and used the other exit?

No I wouldn’t have! There is no need to be rude!

I did it in Sainsbury’s I hadn’t realised but wondered why the security guard looked at me strangely! I skulked off quickly back to the car when the penny dropped ?!

Chazwin.. Yes. Giving people power can go to their heads & then they start abusing that power. My great auntie said to me " be very careful who you step on climbing the social ladder, because those are the very same people you'll meet on the way back down". Good advice, I believe, people don't forget.

I visited Asda yesterday for the first time in a year. After the checkout I headed for the door I had come in, only to realise there were barriers in place. As I puzzled over how I was going to get back to where my car was parked, a nice young lad came forward and explained that I needed to walk the length of the store to the other door to maintain a one way system. He was very apologetic that I had to do this, but I could see the reason why. I did tell him that it was my first visit since lockdown!

I got screamed at (literally) by a checkout operator in Waitrose for doing the wrong thing - I think I had moved my trolley too far forward, but there were no markings to tell me that. I was very rattled, but I reckoned she must be quite scared to scream like that, and realised she was dealing with people all day, any of whom might pass on the virus to her, so it was understandable.

In this situation, I think I would have said 'Oh, I'm very sorry, I'm not used to this yet', gone out the way I was being directed to, then been fuming when I got home! There's not much point her standing there if she doesn't ask people to use the correct exit!

Yes, I would have gone back and used the correct door. You were wrong. Yes you were wrong.

Yes I would have gone back and exited through the correct door. There are usually signs up and sometimes arrows on the floor.
We can't ask the door people to only sometimes enforce the rules. People enter without masks, don't use sanitiser etc. I think the only way to stop you in your tracks was to raise her voice.
I think before venturing shopping you should have asked your son or a friend what the drill is and it is a bit naive to think just going early is OK. Sorry 100% behind the shop

I would have just smiled sweetly as I carried on walking out the wrong exit..
Had they have told me I probably would have taken notice but shouting & embarrassing someone is wrong.
Now you know for next time

I’d have done the same as you. Had the shop been busy you would have noticed that others were going the other way. As it wasn’t busy at all it didn’t make any difference. If a large space is empty of people I wouldn’t walk in a circle or around the edge, common sense.

I had to go to ours a couple of weeks ago. Theu have two doors so one in one out?? But no. One was closed and the other one had been divided into in and out with just one of those ribbon things between. Not much division of people at all.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Doodledog because OP could have done as directed, excited via the requested exit and apologised. I’ve been in the exact situation as op, I have to travel around London for work, and I apologised along the lines of “sorry not concentrating” and exited correctly. Not difficult to be polite to those in customer facing roles during a pandemic

AmberSpyglass

Gosh, there are some entitled snobs who think the rules don’t apply to them here.

I think there is definitely inherent snobbery in the comments about the low pay of shop workers, as though that explains the rudeness of the one who shouted at the OP angrily. Would those who commented on that be happier to be shouted at by someone on £100k a year, or think that only the middle classes have manners?

As for the rules 'not applying to them' - the OP has said that it was a mistake, that it is the first time she has been out in nearly a year, and that the door she was heading for was the one she has always used in that shop. Why assume that she was deliberately flouting the rules?

No I would not have gone back, if I was already almost outside and especially if I was shouted at and if it was empty.

Yes I would have done as she asked. I found it difficult when I first ventured out, we are used to going up “down isles”
I suppose she was doing her best to keep us safe.

Fernhillnana

She didn’t need to be rude. We are all on short fuses.

Some with more reason than others - you know the ones who’ve been trying to keep us safe and going out to low paid jobs with all the attendant risks and putting up with abusive selfish behaviour from the public.

I would have apologised nicely and explained. would probably have gone back through correct door too. She's doing her job and can get sacked if not doing it correctly. Would hate to be a shop worker in this pandemic.

She didn’t need to be rude. We are all on short fuses.