Unfiltered Story #180402

(It is my last day working as a cashier at a large big-box retail chain. An older woman and what I presume to be her grandson get in my line, and the boy, about 8 or 9, is throwing an absolute fit – screaming, crying, the works. She ignores him and places her only item, a plastic container of bubbles, on the conveyor belt. While we chat, the boy goes quiet and disappears from view.)

Me: “Is that going to be everything for you today?”

Grandmother: “Yes it is.”

Me: “Okay, your total is -”

(Suddenly I feel a burst of pain in my back and my breath is knocked out of me. I turn around in shock to realize the boy has walked behind my till and, for absolutely no reason, punched me as hard as he could in the back with his fists.)

Me: “Oh my god!”

Grandmother (sounding unconcerned): “Oh, it’s okay. It’s okay. Ooh, you’re gonna get it when you get home, [boy]. It’s okay.”

Me: “Actually it’s not okay. That hurt pretty bad.”

(The other customers around me are shocked, but no one says anything and she leaves with no other incident. She came back later and tried to give me money, which I refused. I was extremely shaken up about being assaulted for no reason by a child and had to go to the break room for a bit to recover. At least it was my last day!)