Inverness supermarket worker reduced to tears as panic buyers turn abusive during coronavirus pandemic
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An Inverness man unleashed a furious rant on Facebook when his wife was reduced to tears after panic buyers turned abusive.
In the post factory worker Allan Breathet directly addressed the "selfish horrible customers" and hoped they were proud of themselves after his wife, Angela, told him she had just worked her worst ever 10-hour shift at Tesco Extra.
Checkout team leader Mrs Breathet had to endure being shouted at, was called names and treated with no respect – customers even blamed her directly for the situation which has resulted from the coronavirus pandemic.
Recent weeks has seen shelves stripped of prized items – such as toilet rolls, hand sanitiser and soap as well as food – as shoppers faced the prospect of self isolation.
In his post 43-year-old Mr Breathet said customers were also complaining about the length of the queues and the amount of time it took to get to the tills.
He said: "It's not my wife's fault. And it's not the normal customers' fault. It's the idiots like you that have come into the store in their thousands today and all week panic buying, being selfish and not giving a care in the world about the other vulnerable people in your community that actually need the items and food more than you.
"So to anyone that's going into any Tesco store or big retailers just remember that the people that are serving you are just trying their best.
"And just remember that just like my wife, and the rest of her colleagues, they have a more likely higher chance of catching this coronavirus, more than you, as they have got to deal with the thousands of customers that walk through the doors."
He said they had children at home whose grandparents were over 65 and he was concerned that, if his wife did become infected, she could pass on the virus to relatives.
Mr Breathet concluded: "You should be thanking the staff in the shops for being there and treating them with some understanding and most of all respect."
His post has since gone viral, gaining an astonishing 356,000 likes, shares and comments.
He said: "I'm asking people to try and stay calm and think of other folk, the food's not going to run out."
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: "We thank all our colleagues in stores and supply chains who are working day and night to keep the nation fed, but we need your help too.
"We understand your concerns but buying more than is needed can sometimes mean that others will be left without — there is enough for everyone if we all work together."
