Unfiltered Story #148160

(I’m the bad customer in this one. I have to go to the grocery store, but because of putting it off without checking when they close, I don’t get there until 9:47 pm, and see on their sign that they close at 10 pm. I have worked food service and have always despised when customers come in so soon before closing. Feeling terrible about doing the same, I rush in, grab a basket, and start speedwalking towards the section I need, when I am suddenly stopped by an employee. I am immediately irritated that he is delaying me, if only by a few seconds; and I am also pre-emptively irritated because I assume he is about to advise me that they close soon, and one of my personal flaws is that I hate being told something that I’m already aware of.)

Employee: *gesturing to my basket* “Excuse me, miss. I can take your basket if you don’t need it.”

(I am even more irritated now that I was on guard for a false alarm, and that he assumed I didn’t need my basket. I also have a fleeting thought that this is actually his subtle way of suggesting I should be on my way out.)

Me: *crossly* “I *do* need it.”

(I continue my speedwalking, but it is only a few seconds later that I realize how rude and ungrateful I just was to someone only offering to help; that his tone was purely helpful and had nothing to suggest he was trying to shoo me out; and that it was perfectly reasonable to assume that someone rushing in the general direction of the exit, with a frantic expression and an empty basket, ten minutes to closing time, might be fretting over where to put the basket away. And I was short with him just because I was in a rush so as not to inconvenience the employees! In trying not to be one type of bad customer, I became a different type of bad customer. And I usually pride myself on being kind and understanding with employees. Good job, me…)