Does Not (Day)Care About Anyone Else

When this happened, I was working as a checkout worker in a supermarket. It was between one of the COVID Lockdowns in Australia, when non-essential stores had opened for a bit.

I was at a shopping centre in H&M getting some of the basics I’d been needing to replace (new pair of jeans, singlets, etc.) when an entitled mother (mask down to her chin), whom I sadly recognised as being a regular annoying customer at my store, marched up with her little boy.

I had worked at the same supermarket for several years and had seen this boy grow from a normal kid to an entitled brat.

Customer: “Hey, I just need to grab a few things. Could you watch my baby for a quick sec?” *Turns to walk away.*

Me: “Sorry, no, I can’t. And, you may not have noticed, but your mask isn’t on quite right.”

I was getting very sick of reminding customers about this at the time, but I couldn’t help it.

Customer: *Storms back over.* “Have you got something better to do?”

Me: “That doesn’t matter—”

Customer: “—Don’t you work here? I’m a paying customer, and you need my business!”

Me: “No, I don’t work here, but that wouldn’t matter. This is a clothes shop, and people here are working, so no one can babysit.”

She said a few more things before storming off, dragging the boy, who had begun pulling things off the rack.

At my next shift, I was dreading the encounter when she came up to my register (the boy was screaming in the trolley about wanting fast food), but she didn’t act any differently. I guess she hadn’t recognised me and just assumed that all retail workers look the same and exist to do her bidding.