I was just trying to get some things done at the big grocery store. My cart had a few items in it already. I was over in the produce part, looking at the big piles of fresh fruit. I needed some bananas for my smoothies. I was picking out a nice bunch of yellow ones when this person came up to me.
They got real close, their voice kind of sharp. “Excuse me,” they said, “can you tell me where the frozen waffles are? I can’t find them anywhere.”
I turned around, surprised. I was just holding my bananas. “Oh, I’m sorry,” I told them. “I don’t actually work here. I’m just shopping like you are.” I pointed toward the back wall, where I thought the frozen stuff generally was, just to be helpful. I had on my comfy old sneakers and a faded green sweatshirt. Nothing about me looked like an employee.
But they didn’t seem to hear me. Or maybe they didn’t care. Their eyes got a little narrower. “What do you mean you don’t work here? You’re right here in the aisle. You’re supposed to help customers. I’m in a hurry.”
My stomach felt a little lurch. This was already getting weird. “No, really,” I said, trying to be polite, “I’m just a regular customer. I don’t have a uniform or a name tag. I don’t know the exact layout of the store. I only know where my favorite things are.”
They scoffed. “Oh, please. Don’t be lazy. You’re just trying to get out of helping me. I need those waffles. Go find them for me right now.”
A little heat started to creep up my neck. I just wanted to get my groceries and go home. This person was not letting up. “I can’t go find them for you,” I said, trying to keep my voice even. “I told you, I don’t work here. I can’t leave my cart and go searching for something that isn’t mine to search for.”
They threw their hands up in the air. “This is ridiculous! I’ve never had such terrible service. Are you going to help me or not? Because if you don’t, I’m going to talk to your manager. This is unacceptable.”
My jaw started to ache a little. My patience was wearing thin. I decided the best thing to do was to find an actual employee. “Look,” I said, trying to sound calm, even though I was starting to see red around the edges of my vision, “I’m going to go find an actual employee of this store, and they will help you. That’s the best I can do.” I started walking away, heading towards the front registers where I knew there were usually people.
But they weren’t having it. “You stop right there!” they yelled, their voice echoing a bit in the wide aisle. “You are not going anywhere! You are going to help me right now! You’re going to lose your job, I swear! I will make sure you get fired for this!”
My heart was pounding now. My muscles felt tight, like I was ready to spring away from a threat. I ignored them and kept walking, looking for someone wearing the store’s bright blue vest. I spotted a young woman stocking shelves with juice boxes. She had the vest on, so I headed straight for her, the other person still yelling behind me about how rude I was and how I deserved to be disciplined. My head was starting to throb with a dull ache.
“Excuse me,” I said to the actual employee, “this person back there needs help finding some frozen waffles, and they seem to think I work here.”
Before the employee could even fully turn around, the other person was right there, their face all twisted up. “This worthless employee refused to help me find anything! She’s lazy and she needs to be fired immediately! I demand you do something about her attitude!”
The young woman in the vest looked from me to the angry customer, her brow all furrowed with confusion. She probably gets yelled at a lot, but this was different, I could tell.
Just then, another person came around the corner. They had been pushing a cart with a child in it. “What’s all the commotion, dear?” they asked the angry customer, their voice calm and steady.
The angry customer spun around. “This person, this useless employee, wouldn’t help me! They just stood there, refused to do their job, and now they’re trying to get away with it!”
The new person, who I guessed was the angry customer’s partner, put a gentle hand on their arm. “Alright, alright, that’s enough. We can find the waffles ourselves or just ask someone else. Let’s just go.” They started to pull the angry customer away from me and the young employee. The angry customer was still muttering about how I was terrible and needed to be fired, but they let themselves be led away. They kept looking back at me, but their partner just kept guiding them down the aisle and out of sight.
I just stood there for a second, feeling completely drained. The employee gave me a small, tired smile. I just shook my head and pushed my cart towards the checkout, the pounding in my head finally starting to ease up.
