MY FAMILY and I do our grocery shopping at the FairPrice supermarket in Sembawang as the staff there are usually very helpful and family-friendly.

But last week, one unpleasant incident happened which traumatised my wife so much that she now refuses to step into the supermarket.

She had gone to the supermarket with our two-year-old daughter, together with a few relatives and their children.

My daughter told my wife that she wanted a new toothbrush, and my wife agreed to buy her one. So, my daughter took one from the shelf and held it in her hand while my wife continued shopping for other things.

While queuing with my wife at the cashier, my daughter got bored and joined her cousins outside the store - they had already finished their shopping and were waiting outside the supermarket.

My daughter, and my wife, forgot that she was still holding onto the toothbrush. My wife left the store after making payment and then saw my daughter holding the toothbrush.

She quickly went back to the cashier with my daughter to pay for it.

A supervisor arrived and told my wife not to queue up at the cashier but to follow her to a room.

While in the room, my wife told my daughter that she should not take unpaid merchandise outside a store, but the supervisor interrupted her and told my wife that it was not my daughter's fault but my wife's fault instead.

She started telling my wife that it is her duty to teach her child. At the same time, she kept questioning my wife as though she were a thief.

She asked for my wife's IC number, our home address and my name.

If my wife had really been a thief, she would not have gone back to the store to queue up and pay for the $3.50 toothbrush.

I hope the management of FairPrice is aware of the supervisor's behaviour, and that it would do something about it.

Mr Arnel Martinez Encarnacion

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