A British woman’s rant about Marks & Spencer staff at Heathrow speaking in Hindi sparked backlash online as the internet called her post discriminatory and unnecessary.
In a now-viral post on X, Lucy White – who describes herself as a Public Policy Specialist – said she had just landed at London Heathrow Airport Terminal 3 and stopped by an M&S outlet where she overheard three staff members conversing in a “different language”.
“I asked them ‘What language are you speaking?’ They responded ‘Hindi’. I have a voice recording and their names to report to M&S. We must confront them every time,” she said.
Take a look at her post here:
White’s decision to report the employees for simply speaking Hindi – India’s most widely spoken language – didn’t sit well with users online. While several tried to understand her point, most users questioned what rules the staff had broken and why she found it offensive.
Comments flooded in soon after. A user said, “I don’t see the issue with this. If I go to France with my wife, I’ll speak English with her – it’s our native tongue. What am I missing here?”
Another user added, “What arrogance. If they’re not dealing with customers, what’s the problem? Did you speak fluent Spanish during your entire holiday in Spain?”
One of the users asked, “So long as they’re not addressing *you* in Hindi, why is it your business? Staff are allowed to talk to each other in their own language while doing routine work. This is not racism – this is common sense.”
“I’ve worked with three Polish colleagues for over 20 years. They speak to each other in Polish and to me in perfect English. I don’t see why that should be a problem for anyone,” said a user.
Another user questioned her double standards: “You just returned from Rome. Did you only speak Italian there?”
See the comments here:
This isn’t the first time Lucy White has come under fire for sharing views. Earlier this month, she sparked a similar row by complaining that Heathrow staff – mostly Indian or Asian, according to her – “were not speaking a word of English”. The internet pushed back on that, too, much like now.
– Ends