Elin Jones, a town councilor in Lampeter, South Wales, was out with her little daughter doing her Saturday shopping at the local store, when she unwillingly found herself in a weird situation. She was explaining in Welsh to her one-year-old child about the food that was on the shelves, when a stranger confronted the mum for speaking "foreign muck" and told her to speak English instead.
Just got asked by a lady in a shop why I don't speak English and not foreign muck to my baby.I was speaking Welsh. In Wales. #givemestrength
— Elin T Jones (@ElinTJones) 9 сентября 2017 г.
Ms. Jones, who is a first-generation Welsh speaker, shared this uninvited comment with Twitter users, who found it both discriminating and ridiculous.
That kind of abject intolerance just scares me. It's nothing other than pure nastiness.
— Prof Alice Roberts (@theAliceRoberts) 10 сентября 2017 г.
How bloody rude, regardless of what language you speak! 😳
— Janette Hannah (@janette_hannah) 10 сентября 2017 г.
According to Elin, when she politely pointed out that she was speaking Welsh, the nosy customer just walked away in angry silence. "She didn't try to justify her comments," Ms. Jones explained replying to other users' comments.
You've been incredibly polite about this. I've been struggling to phrase a comment that doesn't contain offensive language for 5 minutes.
— sparklecreek (@sparklecreek) 10 сентября 2017 г.
Wow!! Foreign muck?! What is the world coming to? Even if you were not speaking welsh this would be so wrong.
— Bethan Maeve AM/AC (@bethanjenkins) 11 сентября 2017 г.
Bloody Welsh people, living on your own country, speaking your own language! 👀😂
— Jane Churchill (@churchybabes) 10 сентября 2017 г.
Some people felt so ashamed about this incredible intolerance that they actually began apologizing for the stranger's gaffe.
I feel like apologising on behalf of the English WE ARE NOT ALL LIKE THIS!! 😠
— Rosalind SharmanWard (@Glassrose59) 10 сентября 2017 г.
On behalf of English people, I'm sorry! We are the worst. Think it's wonderful the Welsh language is being kept alive & in everyday use!
— Vic (@toria_jay) 10 сентября 2017 г.
Dozens of users wrote in comments, expressing their support to Elin and sharing their experience, which was often quite similar to hers.
This has happened to me too..only I was speaking Irish in Ireland
— Cloudytrees (@Cloudytrees) 10 сентября 2017 г.
Reminds me of (less aggressive) comment said to a friend in Dublin 'Don't speak Irish to the baby, love — he won't know what you're saying'
— Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin (@macdhtadhg) 10 сентября 2017 г.
Once a drunk threatened me on a London bus due to my Yorkshire accent — apparently Northerners in London were "worse than asylum seekers" 😂😂
— Paul Maxwell-Walters (@TestingRants) 10 сентября 2017 г.
Same thing here in Catalonia. People from Spain telling you to speak spanish but bit català. If you speak english or italian is OK
— Canari i Catalana (@CanCat2007) 10 сентября 2017 г.
