Co-Op complaint: 11 am Saturday 24th December 2021

This is my local store which I visit most days. At the moment, virtually all the customers are wearing masks, but about half the staff at any one time are not, About a week ago, I asked the assitant at the checkout why she wasn’t wearing one, and she told me she was exempt. I explained that I find the high number of staff not wearing maks worrying, and suggested a badge might reassure cutomers, She agreed, but said she hadn’t transferred it when she changed overalls, All this was perfaectly polite.
Today it was a youngish male assistant at the checkout. He greeted me as ‘Darling’. I replied that i was not hs darling, especially when he wasn’t wearing a mask. He then flew into a rage and began shouting at me that he was exempt because he was subject to panic attacks and he was behond a screen, although he was actually shouting directly onto my face. I tried to suggest, as before, that this was worrying for customers, and a badge would be reassuring, but he shouted that he didn’t have to wear one. In the end, he said i wa shouting at him, though it was more that I was struggling to get a word into the tirade, and he yelled that he couldn’t serve me, and flounced off.
The other assistnats at the checkout didn;t apologise in so many words, but they were very kind and helpful, and the customer next to me advised me not to worry.
This was all the more upsetting because this sootre was a lifeline during lockline, and almost all the assistants are kind and caring.
Perhaps I should add that I am 71 years old.