In article , Martin
writes
Is it just me or are NR station staff outside London complete arseholes?
[...]
When I was
at Staines today
[...]
Why are people like this employed?

I think you're being unfair.

Assume that he hasn't been trained on the presence of Oyster and what to
do with them. How would you expect him to behave when presented (from
his point of view) with some oik claiming that this blank lump of
plastic entitles him to a discount on his ticket?

He seemed
almost annoyed that I had the receipt.

At this point I suspect it's human nature - he's been so sure he was in
the right and you were trying it on, and then he turns out to be wrong.
Some people are interested in learning, but most just get annoyed.

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Clive D.W. Feather, writing for himself | Home:
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In article ,
(Clive D. W. Feather) wrote:
I think you're being unfair.
Assume that he hasn't been trained on the presence of Oyster and what
to do with them. How would you expect him to behave when presented
(from his point of view) with some oik claiming that this blank lump of
plastic entitles him to a discount on his ticket?

He's pretended, over six months after they started, that he's never seen
one of them before.

Training or not, I think you're being extraordinarily generous to an
obvious grumpy jobsworth.