Will Need Something Sweet After That Bitter Encounter

(I’m at an amusement park with my parents. I am eleven years old. They let me loose for a minute, and I decide to hit the strip of stores outside the park. I spot a chocolate shop. I pick up a candy bar and head to the checkout.)

Me: “One chocolate caramel bar, please!”

Cashier: “Where are your parents?”

Me: “Oh, they aren’t here right now.”

Cashier: *cutting me off* “Oh, my God! It’s people like your parents that ruin this place, letting these heathens loose to run amok around the park! And you should know you need an adult to buy candy! Well, you would if you weren’t raised by idiots.”

(A woman walks over to me from the display next to the register.)

Woman: “Jimmy!” *not my name* “There you are! I’m so sorry we got separated in the crowd. Let me pay for that candy bar!”

(My “mom” paid for the candy bar and took me to the exit. I thanked her a bunch and gave her half of the bar. I had a wonderful rest of the day.)