A British woman claims she heard three Marks & Spencer employees at London Heathrow airport talking to each other in Hindi and reported them to their employer. Her viral social media post has sparked mixed reactions, with many wondering what crime the staffers had committed and others criticising the woman as ‘racist’.
Hindi at Heathrow
Lucy White took to the social media platform X on July 25 to complain about the Marks & Spencer staffers. “Just landed in Heathrow Airport T3. Went into M&S. Three staff were speaking in another language,” she claimed.
White asked the employees what language they were speaking in, and was told they were conversing in Hindi – the most widely spoken language in India.
White further claimed she recorded their speech and had plans to report them to Marks & Spencer. “We must confront them every time,” she wrote.
Her post has gone viral with over 4.6 million views. It proved to be deeply controversial on social media, with some agreeing with White and her take on what language must be spoken in London.
{{/usCountry}}Her post has gone viral with over 4.6 million views. It proved to be deeply controversial on social media, with some agreeing with White and her take on what language must be spoken in London.
{{/usCountry}}"It's alienating to hear shop assistants speaking in a foreign language in a British store. I wouldn’t shop in stores that permit this,” wrote one X user. “Well, what are you waiting for? Report them,” another said, to which the British woman replied indicating she was in the process of reporting the incident to Marks & Spencer.
The majority of users, however, called out White for being racist and xenophobic, while expecting staffers at one of the world’s busiest international airports to speak only English.
“People speaking Hindi at work aren’t the problem—you policing languages in a multicultural country is. This isn’t the confrontation you think it is. It’s just xenophobia,” wrote X user Clare.
“Surely typing ‘morning all, I’m a little bit racist’ would have been much easier?” another asked sarcastically. “Why shouldn’t people speak a different language when they’re talking amongst themselves? And at an international airport too.”
“Urgent, Marks & Spencer. You have multilingual staff working at the world's busiest airport. Please advise,” a third person joked.
(Also read: 'Deport them all': British woman snaps at Indian staff at Heathrow airport for not speaking English)