When checking out at a grocery store, sometimes you have to deal with a newer employee who isn’t as fast as you would like.

What would you do if the customer in front of you started yelling at the cashier for making a small mistake, causing the cashier to cry?

That is what the customer in this story witnessed, so she stepped in and told off the rude customer, which made her and other people upset.

AITAH for telling off a lady in a supermarket after she made the teenage cashier cry?

So, this happened yesterday, and I’m still wondering if I overreacted. I (35F) was doing my usual weekly grocery shopping at a local supermarket. It was a busy afternoon, and the line at the checkout was pretty long. I was waiting patiently when I noticed the woman in front of me (probably mid-50s) becoming increasingly agitated as the teenage cashier, who couldn’t have been older than 17 was scanning her items.

You have to be patient with employees, especially when they are young.

The cashier seemed a bit flustered. I could tell she was probably new, making a few mistakes here and there, but nothing serious. The older woman, however, was not having it. She started muttering under her breath, rolling her eyes, and tapping her foot. Finally, when the cashier accidentally scanned an item twice and needed to call for a supervisor to void it, the woman lost it.

What is wrong with this woman?

She started berating the poor girl, saying things like, “How hard can it be to do this job? You can’t even do basic tasks, You’re wasting people’s time.” She just kept going on and on, and the more she yelled, the more flustered the cashier got until she started tearing up.

I stood there for a second, hoping the lady would cool down, but she didn’t. The poor cashier was clearly trying her best to keep it together. That’s when I stepped in.

Good for her!

I said to her, “You don’t have the right to treat someone like that. She’s doing her best, and it’s just a mistake. If you’re so unhappy, maybe you should try working like her for a day and see how easy it is.”

The woman looked stunned and told me to mind my own business. I replied, “It is my business when you’re making a kid cry over something as stupid as groceries.”

The cashier’s supervisor had arrived by then and stepped in to handle the situation, and the woman stormed off still muttering and cursing.

Nah, those people were jerks too if they thought what happened was ok.

After she left, the cashier thanked me with teary eyes, but a couple of people behind me in line gave me looks like I was the one who had done something wrong. Now I’m second-guessing myself.

So reddit, AITAH for telling her off?

Nope, some people need to be put in their place from time to time.

Let’s see what the people in the comments think about this.

These jobs can be very difficult.

Retail workers have to put up with a lot.

Yup, she did the right thing.

This commenter says it will make people think twice before acting like this woman.

This person says the cashier was likely grateful.

People behave poorly because they are never called out on it.

This woman stood up to the bully and shut her down.

Well done.

If you liked that post, check out this one about an employee that got revenge on HR when they refused to reimburse his travel.