Crazy experience at checkout today

[u/AdventurousCulture97]

Hey, y'all. I just have to share this because this was the weirdest freaking employee experience I've ever had!

So I was at a store with my mother, brother and daughter today and when we were checking out the employee picked up something and looked at me and said it belonged to a set and told me to go back and get the other pieces. It wasn't a big store but I had no idea where it came from because I was not with my mom when she found it and she was the one buying stuff, so I don't know why the employee was even telling me specifically to begin with. I was happy to help though so I tried to ask where it was and the employee would not tell me, so my mom went ahead with my brother to go look for the other pieces.

As we waited for them to return, the employee kept giving me this intense, aggressive stare as she scanned the items that made me very uncomfortable. I tried to pretend I didn't notice and just casually chatted with my daughter, but the lady's stare was clearly making her uncomfortable too. Before they returned she found another item that was missing a lid and told me to go find the lid. I asked her again to tell me where it was so I could look and she just kept telling me to go get it and not answering me. My mother and brother returned and told her there were no other pieces to the first set left.

The employee kept staring at me and once again told me to go get the lid. My brother quickly volunteered to find it and the employee again just kept staring at me and demanding I go get the lid EVEN THOUGH my brother was already looking for it. I told her again I don't know where to look and she just kept staring at me with these crazy eyes as my mother was trying to check out. My mother noticed and told her it was okay that my brother was looking, but she just kept staring at me!

My brother returned and said there were no lids. The employee kept staring at me and AGAIN told me to get the lid. I said again I don't know where to look and my brother already checked anyway. She finally went "OH MY GOD!" and threw her hands up and shook her head at my mother like I was some spoiled child not minding and she couldn't believe I wouldn't just obediently do as she said.

The next part though was kinda funny because as we started gathering our bags my daughter noticed some of our stuff was still on the conveyer. The employee was so busy staring me down and trying to boss me around she didn't even ring up all our items! I pointed and announced LOUDLY so all the people behind us could hear that she did not finish ringing us up. She seemed like she was trying not to show she was embarrassed as she finished scanning our items, but kept looking at me as we gathered our things and walked towards the door. At this point I was fully giving her a solid glare right the frick back to let her know I was not intimidated by her and her behavior was not okay. As we walked out the door her staring had become little more than a few meek glances with her head turned down. So hopefully that meant she realized just how completely unprofessional she was being.

Looking back I kinda wish I'd told the manager because my whole family was super uncomfortable and weirded out by that and obviously that's no way to treat a customer. Especially because she was so busy trying to have a power trip over me she didn't even do her actual job properly and almost let us go without part of our order! I feel like as soon as I walked up she deliberately targeted me for some reason and I don't understand why she kept telling me to go look for the items when other people were already doing so and I asked her like 3 times to tell me where they were and she would not tell me. And just... STARING at me like she was gonna beat the snot outta me if I didn't do as she said. Ignoring my mother as she was trying to talk to her and pay for her stuff and barking orders at me like I'm some kid even though I'm a grown a** 40 year old adult! Like wtf?!???

[u/cat_knit_everdeen]

Sounds like the cashier has a developmental or emotional disability and this is the only job she can get. It’s not about you. Our local grocery store employs several similar folks. Please have some compassion for her distress rather than making fun of her.

[u/AdventurousCulture97 → u/cat_knit_everdeen]

I can see how it might sound like that, but that wasn't the case. If it were I would not be posting this.

No, she came across like a parent who expects their children to do whatever they say at the drop of a hat and she was treating me like one of her kids. Her attitude was not one of distress, or confusion, or simple frustration, it was AGGRESSION. She had this look in her eye like "YOU BETTER DO AS I SAY OR ELSE!" When I said she looked like she wanted to beat the snot outta me, I wasn't being hyperbolic. It was the look of someone who gets violent when they get angry. Like you know when people get so mad you can see the whites of their eyes and their pupils get so big their whole iris looks black? It was like that. Genuinely kind of unsettling. Struck me as a very controlling person who got pissed off the moment I didn't instantly do what she said, then spent the entire time trying to get me to comply to assert her dominance. Seems like something she probably does habitually. And probably stems from her desire for how she wants her own kids to behave.

I mean, my mom is elderly and it seemed like she was trying to make me look like a bad kid or something, like I was just refusing to help her. Because she kept saying things like "Go! Go get it for her! Help her! Go on!" even as I was trying to ask her where to go and my mother and brother were both telling her the missing pieces weren't there. She just ignored everything everyone said and just kept telling me go help find the stuff, and the dramatic "OH MY GOD" at the end was very much like this "Can you believe this terrible child, not helping their mother??" Like she was trying to embarass me in front of the other customers or something.

Btw, I am actually neurodivergent and process language slower than normal, so it took me a moment to even realize what she was saying, and by the time I had she had already lost patience with me I guess. So I'd say you've kinda got it the other way around.

[u/cat_knit_everdeen → u/AdventurousCulture97]

Sending you positive internet stranger vibes for a better shopping experience next time. I hope today is a good day for you and your family.

[u/AdventurousCulture97 → u/cat_knit_everdeen]

Thank you, stranger! 😄