Following Queen Elizabeth II's death last week, the UK has entered into an official mourning period. This has led to many people and businesses to make changes to their regular plans as a mark of respect.
But some choices made by certain individuals, businesses and organisations have been questioned, including a decision surrounding the beeps at a major supermarket's tills. Morrisons said it has turned down the volume of the beeps along with its in-store music as a mark of respect.
However, taking to Reddit, one user expressed their initial frustration after a trip to their local store two days ago, saying the beeps had gone. Writing on the social media platform, u/Willyamsss said: "I was standing in the queue for the self service in front of others for what felt like an eternity as everyone in front of me struggled. I did what all brits do and patiently became impatient wondering why everyone was struggling to scan, 'how hard can it be' I thought!
Read more: Carol Vorderman backs King Charles III to be 'superb monarch'
"It wasn’t until it was my turn and I found that they had turned off the beep! One of the assistants came over when I inevitably upset the machine, so I said I think people are struggling as the beep is off'.
"She said 'DID YOU NOT KNOW WE ARE IN A PERIOD OF NATIONAL MOURNING??? WE HAVE TURNED OFF ALL BEEPS AS A SIGN OF RESPECT!', as if I was meant to know this! I still don’t think I understand…"
Asking what those reading thought, the user added: "Do you think Liz would be upset over a self service beep? Rest in Peace."
The post, which was posted into the r/britishproblems subreddit, has since attracted nearly 500 comments. One user, Traditional-Lack2049, claimed in the comment section: "I work at Morrisons and have had two shifts now in complete silence and we can’t even use the tannoy. It’s ridiculous!!"
Joe64x replied: "Both tannoy and the beeps were running at my local Morrisons at around 1pm today. Then again, I am in Wales so..."
It seems that Morrisons is not the only supermarket said to be changing its operations as a mark of respect. Astro_liam said: "We’ve had to remove tubs of celebrations from the foyer entrance of my store as it could be seen as distasteful and we have to take down the Asda rewards bunting as a mark of respect."
"Oh this makes sense then as M&S tills we’re the same yesterday," said MyNewAccountx3. "I thought the till I went to had something wrong with it, now I’m guessing it was for the queen. It was annoying and I don’t understand how this has anything really to do with paying respects"
"OMG IS THAT WHAT IT WAS?!" wrote Elliefaith. "I thought I got a duff checkout.
"So annoying. I was scanning for what felt like forever."
A Morrisons spokesperson said: "Our checkout beeps are not off. They have just been turned down as our music and tannoy announcements have been switched off in stores."
Since the confirmation of the Queen's funeral date, a number of supermarkets have announced their closure on Monday, September 19, as a mark of respect for the late monarch. Sainsbury's, Waitrose, and Morrisons are anticipated to close their doors for the day, which has been declared a bank holiday, whilst Asda and Tesco are reportedly still deciding what to do, The Mirror reports.
Read more:
King Charles III's Coronation: Bank Holiday decision to be made 'nearer the time'
Call for Brits to clap for the Queen like they did for the NHS during Covid
Ellis Genge more than a returning hero as Bristol Bears' win over Bath went beyond derby joy
Funeral Bank Holiday rules - will you get a day off and what are your rights
