Sometimes the real problem is just… you.

What would you do if you accidentally asked a complete stranger for help in a store, only to realize you were the confused one all along? Would you recover with grace? Or would you mumble your way into a new level of embarrassment?

In today’s story, one Dollar Tree shopper finds herself in this exact situation. Here’s what she did.

Hi, it’s me. I was the problem.

Went to Dollar Tree this morning, running late and in a bit of a hurry.

I don’t go there often and don’t really know the layout all that well, which led me to make a critical error: I kept my prescription sunglasses on so I could read the signs on the aisle endcaps and find kitchen stuff more easily.

I found what I thought was the right section, and started looking for the one thing I came in there for, rubber gloves.

And I don’t see them. What do I see? A person with a name tag is putting items back on a shelf.

Here’s how their conversation went.

Me: Excuse me, do you have rubber gloves?

Person, looking confused: What?

Me, a little louder because I have a soft voice, and thought she couldn’t hear me: Do you have rubber gloves?

Confused person: I don’t work here!

Me: What? Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!

Then, she realized what she had done.

And then I realized what was going on.

I still had my sunglasses on. After removing the dang sunglasses, what looked like a Dollar Tree employee to my dim vision was actually an innocent bystander wearing scrubs and trying to do some shopping, no doubt confused about why some lunatic was asking about gloves outside of her work.

I babbled some incoherent nonsense in my apology, then slunk off to another aisle, thoroughly embarrassed.

Eek! That must’ve been totally embarrassing!

Let’s see what the folks over at Reddit have to say about what happened.

This person explains that everyone makes mistakes.

Here’s a similar thought.

According to this person, their friend had a similar experience.

This reader explains how the sub works.

This is certainly a nice change!

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.