‘Sari aunty’ quarrel video goes viral

A LAW student has deleted her Facebook account and is keeping a low profile after her post about her rough shopping encounter with a Reservoir Hills “sari aunty” went viral and sparked a slew of memes.

In the 20-second video, which has since been removed, a middle-aged attendant at the Indian garment boutique store appears to have had enough of the young customer and the two are seen having a go at each other.

Several times, the woman says: “I will show you”, and the customer replies each time, “show me”.

The heated exchange followed the attendant’s alleged refusal to take back an outfit that was returned the same day it was bought after the customer realised 31 decorative beads were missing.

Getting no joy, she uploaded a cellphone video clip of the incident on Facebook, but the move backfired, with hundreds of people commenting.

Jannon Naicker, who said he witnessed the incident, posted: “OMW! I seriously can’t believe this girl has taken it to this extent.”

He said it was unfortunate that only a portion of the video recording was uploaded to Facebook.

“The girl went on to scream and shout (with her mom present). She even told the aunty ‘I’m a lawyer and I deserve respect from a poor person’. Then the aunty got upset and told her she shouldn’t speak that way to an older person and then she told the aunty she is a b**** and it went back and forth for a while… And yes after a lot of provoking the aunty lost it… as any normal person would.”

Naicker added: “I was in shock at this young lady swearing and speaking to an elder that way… From where I stood it looked like rich kid, poor aunty… so does this give you a right to degrade or undermine a person due to your financial standing? #moneydoesnotbuyclass”

Calling the incident unfortunate, management at the store said in a statement they had immediately contacted the customer and given her a choice to exchange her purchase for something more expensive or for a refund.

The customer opted for the full refund and accepted the store’s apology.

According to the statement, the staff member has since been placed on leave for a few days and thereafter will undergo a period of retraining.

A variety of memes on social media poked fun at the situation.

One, over a picture of the girl, read: “When your eyes look like you can find things better than Google Maps but you can’t find 31 beads on your sari.”

And another: “I’m studying law so poor ppl should respect me.”