Working On A Wholesome Mistake

I was a nineteen-year-old college student in a university under the Hospitality course, majoring in Culinary Entrepreneurship. Every week, each member of our group was assigned to buy certain ingredients for our cooking or baking projects.

After class one day, I went to the supermarket to buy my ingredients. The only ingredients that were assigned to me were heavy cream and powdered sugar, so I went to the dairy and creamery section first. As I picked up the cream and placed it in a basket, an old lady came up to me.

Lady: “Excuse me, sir.”

Me: “Yes, ma’am?”

Lady: “Can you help me find butter? The one I bought yesterday was margarine. It gives my cookies a weird texture.”

Me: “Sure, ma’am.”

As the creamery and dairy sections were close to each other, I went on suggesting items for her.

Me: “If you want the cheapest one, this brand is a good unsalted and salted butter for you. But if you want quality, I recommend this for you; I use this when I bake some myself.”

Lady: “Thank you, young man. May I ask for your assistance with finding more baking items that I need? I might need your suggestions on this one.”

Being a good boy, I helped her as I also got my second and last item.

Lady: “Thank you so much, young man. I can take care of the rest now.”

Me: “You’re welcome, ma’am.”

I decided to buy a soda and snacks for my trips back home before going for checkout. As I finished shopping, I saw the same lady with the manager talking about a nice young man who helped her and demanding that they give that person a raise. When she saw me, she approached me, pointing in my direction.

Lady: “That’s him! That’s the young man I was talking about. I would like to ask that you give him a raise for helping me.”

Manager: “Ma’am, I appreciate your good feedback, but I’m sorry, he doesn’t work here.”

Lady: “Wait, you don’t work here?”

Me: “Sorry, ma’am, but I am only a student — here is my ID. I think you’ve mistaken me for an employee due to our similar uniform.”

Lady: “Oh, how embarrassing for me to ask a complete stranger and waste a manager’s time.”

Manager: “It’s fine, ma’am. If he actually worked here, I would convey your comment to him.”

Me: “It’s fine for me, too, ma’am. I am not that busy anyway, and I’m just helping when I can, even if I don’t work here.”

Lady: “I’m sorry again. Thank you very much for helping me.”

Me: “You’re welcome again, and I’m happy to help.”

And then we went on our way.