Panic buying in Australia has led to newfound violence and sadness in the community, with the worker in the image being dealt the full brunt of the impatience and violence from shoppers in Australian supermarkets.
The image shown above depicts a woman in the supermarket’s uniform crying in the self-serve checkout, who had previously dealt with an aggressive customer.
The woman who shared the image on Facebook urged customers to “be decent” when dealing with supermarket staff who are just trying to their jobs.
“All of you need a god dam reality check!,” she posted.
“These poor workers are being brought to tears because of the way people are treating them, blaming them and abusing them for something they have no control of! They’re humans just like the rest of us, trying to make a living, trying to do the best job they possibly can for everyone at the moment.
“Before you act like an a**hole just looking for someone to blame for all of this mayhem, maybe try and think about the fact that these people are just trying to do their jobs and don’t need to be abused every 10 minutes just because Woolworths or Coles is out of stock!
“Be a decent human in these time you never know what someone is struggling with in their lives and you’re abusing someone over not being able to buy 3 packets of pasta or some toilet paper!!!!!”
Australia’s supermarket chains have been forced to impose product limits on products such as toilet paper and pasta, to prevent customers from over-stocking from coronavirus fears.
While restrictions have been issued, shortages of these products have led to increased aggression from customers, who have been placing their anger towards staff and other shoppers.
There have now been several instances of physical fights in supermarket isles, particularly over the collection of toilet paper.
Last week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison expressed his disappointment at panic buyers across the country, saying that this behaviour is “un-Australian”.
“Stop hoarding,” he said. “I can’t be more blunt about it. Stop it. It is not sensible, it is not helpful and it has been one of the most disappointing things I have seen in Australian behaviour in response to this crisis.
“That is not who we are as a people. It is not necessary. It is not something that people should be doing.”
