There Was No Need To Be So Mouthy

I was browsing the toy section at a large store. I was looking for one specific toy, and the aisles were very narrow.

A little way ahead of me was a woman and her husband. The way they were standing kind of blocked the aisle, but I wasn’t quite ready to speak up and ask them to move as I was still looking at the shelves right next to where they were. I also have sufficient anxiety that speaking to strangers is hard, and I tend to put it off until I absolutely have to, so I was kind of hoping they’d notice they were blocking the aisle before I had to speak.

As luck would have it, just as I was about to speak up, the husband noticed and let his wife know she needed to move. I gratefully passed by, and everything was fine until the lady snarked:

Lady: “Doesn’t she have a mouth?”

Despite my anxiety, I was angry enough to speak up.

Me: “Yes, I do have a mouth. I also have social anxiety, and speaking up is very hard for me.”

She made some comment about feeling like she was rude for blocking the aisle; she might have been, but not badly, considering how narrow the aisles were. But the big problem was that she wasn’t actually rude until she made that snarky remark about my not speaking up sooner. I’d used up what little courage I had already by then, so instead of explaining that, I just went around the corner and cried.