Everyone has a bad day here or there. But not everyone makes their bad day everyone’s bad day.
This man unknowingly hopped onto an emotional rollercoaster and had no issue saying he wanted off.
He shared his story with Reddit.
I was at a bookstore last night after work.
When I got to the register, it was empty. A moment later, an employee came back around with another customer.
The other customer got in line behind me, while still chatting with the employee.
Despite having a new customer to tend to, another customer followed an employee up to the register.
I could tell the employee was a little uncomfortable as she called me forward.
The other customer stood literally right behind me as the employee kept doing the brush off of “yeah” “oh really?” “Wow”.
The other customer was talking about how she had recently been diagnosed with cancer, going into details about the treatments she’d need, etc.
Finally, she was quiet when it was clear the employee was focused on my transaction and trying to ask me the whole “do you have a rewards card, do you want one, etc.” spiel.
When the crying customer realized the cashier was brushing her off, she decided to start telling the new customer her story.
That’s when the other customer turned to me and started giving the same story.
I said I was sorry to hear about her diagnosis and went back to speaking to the employee.
The customer still kept talking, right in my ear, saying “yeah, I’m so angry, why’d this have to happen to me?”
The woman’s lack of self awareness for the stranger and the cashier overwhelmed the man.
Finally, I told her “you need to back up and give me some space. Stop interrupting our conversation.”
She started saying “I have cancer, I need to vent”.
I said “again, sorry to hear that but we are not your therapists, back up”. She backed up and went silent. Employee looked relieved.
I told my wife what happened and she told me I was rude. The woman was clearly going through something.
I said as a former retail worker, I despised people who unloaded their days on me and she was clearly making the employee uncomfortable while also standing right next to me.
Wife said I was still wrong.
AITA?
Readers of this story were on the man’s side. They agreed the other customer had crossed a line.
One person said they felt bad for staff workers who can’t leave during situations like this.
Another reader wanted to know what the wife would have done in her husband’s shoes.
This person had empathy for the distraught woman but agreed that, at the end of the day, you can’t unload on strangers.
Hopefully the crying customer has moved on from cashiers and strangers to a certified therapist!
If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.