Tesco, the UK's biggest chain of supermarkets, has had to introduce a dress code in its St Mellons store, Cardiff. The company has asked its customers not to wear pyjamas when shopping. Apparently, droves of single mothers from an adjoining council estate have taken to strolling the aisles in their nightwear and fluffy slippers. It seems to be a fashion. Other customers complained about the casual attire of a minority of shoppers and Tesco has introduced the rule as a response.
Mother of two, Elaine Carmody, was the first customer to be escorted off the premises by a security guard after she was discovered pushing a trolley dressed only in her PJs. "I just don't understand it," she said. "I go in other shops dressed in my pyjamas and they don't say anything." Clearly miffed, the 24-year-old continued: "I walked in with my trolley and the security guard came over and told me to leave. He said it offends people. But I've never seen anyone offended. It's just when I'm in a rush or busy with the kids. I would usually put a coat over the top and it's not like I'm flashing the flesh or anything."
Another mother interviewed by The Daily Mail said: "Do they have any idea how difficult it is to get three kids off to school when you are a single parent? You haven't got time for a cup of tea, never mind getting all dolled up! I won't be bothering with Tesco anymore - I'm off to Aldi." I'm surprised she didn't add... "Just as soon as I've been down the Job Centre and picked up my benefit."
Its disgraceful to go shopping in your PJs. What happen to basic standards?
ReplyDeleteTurns my stomach to think about it. Just a bit of cotton/polyester separating civilised shoppers and foodstuffs from other people's manky personal membranes. Yuk
ReplyDeletePolyester... Definitely!
ReplyDeleteNo silk pjs or baby dolls for this lot. Move over Bugtussle Tennessee, the hillbillies of Cardiff are clearly breaking new ground.
ReplyDelete4000 Chavs a year die from consuming cheap booze from Tesco........ "every little helps" :0)
ReplyDelete"You haven't got time for a cup of tea, never mind getting all dolled up!"
ReplyDeleteLMFAO - says a lot if putting on CLOTHES is considered getting all dolled up. Can you image what a night on the town must look like? Or, heaven forbid, a formal occasion?
And they say the Aussies dress casually LOL ....
I was wondering when you would post this one XTM. There was a discussion about this I think on BBC2 radio Thursday around lunchtime, when they interviewed an etiquette specialist and Aggie from How Clean Is Your House.
ReplyDeleteMy vote was with the etiquette lady as Aggie just thought it was a laugh (or that's how I interpreted it).
I used to work from home but even then I wore trousers, a T-shirt and a cardi, just because it made me feel better and more 'with it'.
I even used to do my hair, brush my teeth and put on some mascara! Ditto when I had to give my son a lift at 0750 as our local public transport does not allow for early starts.
Cora
I just can't bring myself to buy the "Do they know how difficult..." excuse. All she has to do is get out of bed ten minutes earlier to have a quick shower and throw some clothes on. That's not so hard. What a loser.
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of when I was a kid in grade 2. There was a boy who routinely came to school dressed in his pajamas. I thought it was kind of cool at the time, but I now realise there was more to his situation. He was neglected. His parents just didn't care. He dropped out in the middle of high school. At least by then, he had learnt to dress himself, in spite of his stupid parents.
I don't understand why a grown adult would choose not to get dressed before leaving the house.
One person leaving the house in pjs is ... odd. "Droves of single mothers"? What could they possibly have been thinking? AT LAST! NOW THERE'S A LOOK FOR ME! I WOULD LOOK GOOD DRESSED LIKE A CRAZED HOMELESS PERSON! It's all very Pythonesque.
ReplyDeleteIt is a bit sad really. Chav maybe, but.. there but for the grace of God... who knows what we'd be like had we grown up in their homes...
ReplyDeleteThis is hilarious, or it would be if honest, hard working taxpayers were not funding these people. There is NO excuse for not having enough self respect to throw on some clothes before venturing out into public places. Just for the record, i have 2 children, and have worked since they were very small, sometimes having to drive 20 miles to drop them off at my mums then another 8 miles to get to work by 7.45 - we all managed to get washed and dressed before we left the house. It is a matter or organisation. I still manage to get up early enough every day to go for a bike ride before coming home and getting ready for work, and have never been late for work, and my boys have not yet missed their school bus. This is so very sad and embarrassing, not least for the children of these parents. What hope do they have?
ReplyDeleteEven when my offspring has been critically ill in hospital, and that has been very often in their life, I have gotten showered and dressed!
ReplyDeleteI did wonder who was shopping in their PJs! Is it really too much to ask that they stick Joggy's and a T shirt on instead? I mean, how long does it take?
The mind boggles as to why some people think it is acceptable to behave this way when the majority and convention says NO!
Nowt so queer as folk, as they say!
This was a fad around here a few years ago...but the pjs were plaid flannel bottoms or fleece bottoms. I've never seen any Mickey Mouse jammies or distinctly night time wear. The youth wore t-shirts and jackets and definately no fuzzy slippers! I haven't seen it much lately.
ReplyDeleteFlannel is thicker than some cotton dresses so there is actually a greater barrier between "other people's manky personal membranes" and the produce.
I run my family members to the train wearing my jammies...my favourite ones are 'glow in the dark' Harry Potter red flannel ones. I throw a jacket over them and pop out to the car. I know that I look just sooooo chic!
Every time I do it I hear my mom talking about the neighbour who was in a car mishap in front of the high school and she was wearing a nightie, fuzzy slippers and housecoat! I think her hair was in curlers also. A vision of loveliness and humiliation for her two daughters! I drive extra careful on those early mornings! My mother would also say that sweat pants are in the same category as the jammy bottoms...not for shopping in. (men, don't go 'commando' in sweats please!)
Flannel might be thicker but that doesn't make it nicer. It might even have more of a wicking capacity than thin cotton. Eurgh.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that this isn't a tribal thing. Padding round Tesco in your jimjams is a way of saying you belong to a club. Where there is a concentration of a certain sector of society (and St Mellons sounds like it may have become a corral for single mums) then certain behaviours will catch on and spread quickly. A similar outbreak occurred a few years back at a school in Belfast. Mothers started turning up to the school gates dressed in nightwear and the practice spread very quickly. No doubt after a hard day on the sofa, spent watching Jeremy Kyle, it's not really worth pulling on some clothes to go and pick up the kids.
ReplyDeleteIts not just there, its everywhere. I live in a rich area of South East England and I see it in my local store. I'd like it see a company wide ban, there's a limit to what's acceptable and i'd say wearing pyjamas out shopping is past it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a big craze in Aberystwyth too - I'm surprised nobody has picked up on the fact that at least half of the people going shopping in pjs are STUDENTS. I was a student 2 years ago, but never felt the need to deliberately not get dressed!
ReplyDeleteStudent towns are notorious for this - my sister is a student in Cardiff and was outraged when Tesco brought this rule in - I just find it hilarious that she was outraged when she was well enough brought up to know that putting on clothes to go shopping isn't optional!