General Chat

"Whatever his audience may be".........

well this time he spoke to a cashier who spoke the price in english, so He should have replied in English, Yes? just as he had done with the BBC, Yes.

enough said,

Frail old man my arm,,,hes a pompus egoist bully.

he needs booing in the street.........


people dont call the police for nothing,,,,,,,,,,so what isnt this bully revealing.

^
*wot moonbi said*

I guess it proves that age and an extended education are no guarantee of good manners or respect for others.

When I was a student I did all sorts of jobs, some of them in shops, and I hope I always treat those who "serve" me with respect. I remember what it was like to have an awkward customer. Thank goodness owners and managers no longer expect their staff to put up with the sort of thing I had hurled at me by oafs and oiks all those years ago.

Gwynne

What the cashier earnes is of no relevance. The point I was making is that I do not believe that anyone who wants to become a champion or martyr for the cause of the Welsh language deliberately picks on someone serving him at the checkout.

If we live on the borders of Gloucestershire, we have a right to be spoken to in Welsh for most public services. It sounds to me as if he was speaking to a Welsh speaking cashier. It is natural to expect the whole transaction In either Welsh or English.

If I had been Dr Lewis and wanted tio make a point, I would have paid, then asked to see the manager and complained. Had that not resolved the problem, I would have written to the Welsh Language Board. my As in the Wales government in Cardiff and my MP in Westminster (who I think is Elfyn Llwyd).

He is not an enemy of the English language - far from. In his 1969 book he wanted people in Wales without Welsh to feel as Welsh as Welsh speakers and not be second-class. He is not snobbish - being snobbish does not get you far in Wales. I am far from snobbish. £7 an hour is what she will earn approx - yes, that is what many of us are pleased to receive. And my son is Robyn - and that was where I first heard the name spelt the Welsh way (on cover of 1969 book).

But looks like you all had some fun after I retired last night :-D :-D

Were they from Lisbon Lynda? ;-) :-D

No reasonable person would have behaved as he did, I think we can all agree on that.

John ...as I said I have lived in Wales for 50 years and love it...but have never felt 2nd class and why should I??
I have lots of Welsh friends ,but some are so old fashioned that they can't accept that a lot of English...and others have come in to boost the economy and not to be anti.
When I had a guest house on the sea front in the 60s,we were thought of as rich...a misconception...we just worked hard...and the whole row were run by English.

Its the minority of Welsh people who are so biased,not everyone.

I didn't say Robyn Lewis was snobbish, or you for that matter, I said that I thought what you said about the cashier sounded snobbish.

As AnnC said why make a remark like that if it has no relevance.

MUFFY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-D :-D

John if what the cashier earns is of no relevance why mention £7.00 ph?

I don't care what the rate of pay is. Dr. Lewis was being an absolute idiot and obviously used the opportunity to get attention.

You appear to be the only contributor on this thread who has any sympathy for the Archdruid and it sounds (rightly or wrongly) that you were radicalised during your time in Bangor!

I cannot be bothered to cite the pros and cons of using the Welsh language and the economy, tourism or attracting overseas investment. It will be clear as day to anybody who gives it a little thought.

Thanks to everyone who added so far :-D

It seems to me that no one has come out of this looking good.

-Robyn Lewis for being a stubborn old man. Any bi-lingual person can switch between the 2 at a drop of a hat.
-The Checkout person for not trying to pacify him or finding someone else if she genuinely didn’t know how to say the price in Welsh. For all we know, English might have been her first language, and she was exercising her own right in bi-lingual country to speak that!
-The Manager for allowing the situation to escalate.

Genuine question..is there some sort of law in Wales where you HAVE to speak welsh or get a welsh speaker if it's requested?

if there is, I've not heard of it

Thank goodness for DET's contribution. As usual, I must have used the wrong words. But I do not think Robyn Lewis comes out with any medals from this. The girl was Welsh speaking and he had been speaking to her in Welsh. That was why he was annoyed that she changed to English suddenly. Us old people do get annoyed in shops and on the phone occasionally, you know. And most companies train their customer staff to deal with us annoying old people. Not including Genes in this obviously.

And the cashier and the manager will not be the paragons of right that they appear to be on this thread. It takes two to tango, and the manager should have known how to diffuse the situation.

Sue. I like the word "radicalised". All I know is that I knew a bit of Welsh and believed (cos mom kept telling me) that I was Welsh and Wales was a nation.

I did get interested in Welsh politics in Bangor in 66. A village had been flooded to provide Liverpool with water, then Liverpool sold it back to people in North Wales!!. George Thomas (Minister for Wales) had no sympathy whatsoever for the Welsh language. And Gwynfor Evans became a Plaid MP. And those events interested many Welsh students, so I guess we all radicalised each other.

And perhaps still are a bit radicalised 45 years on. ;-)

I am rather glad I only speak English :-D

Ok thanks Rose and Ann...so there wasn't any obligation on the shop assistant's behalf to speak Welsh?....then she's blameless imho.

well said Rose!!!!

Rose. It seemed to get diffused pretty easily once the Welsh speaking policeman appeared. Everyone seems to assume Dr Lewis was looking for trouble.

I am sure he went through thr till and they had a friendly chat. And nothing wrong in my view in him asking the girl to say the amount in Welsh. No, she didn't have to by law. And probably she always said the money in English and didn'y see why the old boy had asked her to say it in Welsh as well.

Simple incident which anyone at the sharp customer end of business knows how to diffuse. We were including difficult Welsh language scenarios in Tesco customer training 30 years ago. He would have dug his heels in (and many posters on here would do exactly the same if they felt they had a point of principle to force home) and she would have rung her bell for help.

That is how wars start between octogenarian Welsh speakers and younger Welsh speakers in Pwllheli. Thank goodness that the policeman pulled the plug out before the bomb really went off. Didn't WW1 start a bit like that?

He will get a nice apology from Spar, loads of letter of abuse from folk on here (he lives in nearby Nefyn and that should find him), letters of support from the radicalised free Welsh and no one has been killed. Or called a hillock ;-)

don't think any of us on here would bother paying for a stamp to abuse him

John, how on earth can you predict that? You seem to live on a different planet sometimes. How you can continue to defend such arrogant and disrespectful behaviour astounds me. I suspect you are just doing it for effect.

I predict he will get a ban from Spar and no apology until such time as he apologises to the poor assistant. She's the wronged person here.

I also hope he's spoken to "off the record" by the police for refusing to enter into a discussion with the first policeman who came along because he wasn't Welsh speaking. Pathetic.

I would hope that most Welsh language activists (and I know a few) will be embarrassed by his stupidity, which reflects badly on them.

Just a little man that gets a kick out of bullying and attempting to belittle a woman imho.