The Goodwill Goblin

Before Halloween, I was shopping at a thrift store for pieces of my costume before a party. As I was sifting through the pants, a middle-aged woman burst through the doors and began screaming so loud that the entire store could hear. She pointed at a poor woman who was checking out items and accused her of stealing her clothing.

Apparently, the woman had left a blue striped blouse and a pair of pants hanging off the side of a shopping cart before she left the store for a few hours. She didn’t ask the cashiers to hold her items, so they were up for grabs at that point. After wagging her finger in the poor customer’s face and trying to take the clothes by force, the woman decided to harass an employee about it.

Woman: “THOSE WERE MINE! I CLAIMED THEM AND SHE STOLE THEM! GIVE THEM BACK!”

When the employee told her that she couldn’t claim the clothes if she left the store without paying, she began to stomp around and went ballistic. I happened to be looking her way, and being the first person she saw, the woman decided to harass me.

Woman: “ARE YOU SEEING THIS? MAKE HER GIVE THEM BACK! STOP WORKING AND GET MY CLOTHING BACK!”

I calmly told her that I wasn’t an employee, but she didn’t stop.

Woman: “YOU CAN STOP THE THIEF AND YOU’RE STANDING THERE? I WILL CALL THE COPS IF YOU DON’T TAKE MY CLOTHES BACK! DO YOUR JOB!”

The lady checking out the “stolen clothing” yelled:

Cashier: “She doesn’t work here!”

At that point, the store manager told the woman that she needed to leave the store immediately as she was causing a disturbance. The woman was resistant but eventually left after having a conversation with the manager. The employees apologized to me about the incident.

At least I got the pants.