Many retail store employees don a recognizable uniform that helps differentiate them from customers. At Home Depot, that’s an orange apron.

So one office worker was rightfully surprised when they were flagged down by a fellow shopper, all while not wearing a single shred of orange.

You’ll want to read on to find out how this one played out.

Am I wearing a bright orange apron I didn’t notice?

This was quite a few years ago when I was just out of college.

One evening, I was heading home from my crappy office job and needed to stop at Home Depot to pick up some screws or something.

To him, it was very clear that he didn’t work there.

I was wearing typical office worker attire—polo shirt, khakis, brown shoes. Certainly nothing fancy.

But not everyone agreed.

As I’m standing in the hardware aisle looking over the products for what I needed, some lady walks up to me and says, “Excuse me, where can I find some superglue?”

At first he tried to be helpful.

I try to be helpful and say, “Uh, I don’t know, I think maybe the paint department?”

She says something to the effect of, “What do you mean you don’t know, don’t you work here?”

Now, I did happen to work at a different Home Depot as a cashier a few years earlier, but even then I had trouble remembering what department had exactly what products in them.

But her ignorance began to irritate him.

That said, being a former employee, I was familiar with Home Depot’s employee guidelines—specifically the fact that EVERY employee is required to be wearing an apron when in the stores. This was true all the way up to the CEO.

To him, this was a very obvious mistake.

I reply back, “Uh, no, all Home Depot employees wear bright orange aprons. It’s kind of their whole brand identity.”

She just kind of stared back at me and said something like, “Oh, I thought you were a manager.”

I just said, “Nope,” and walked away.

You know what they say about assumptions…

Redditors chime in with their thoughts.

Orange does not always equal employee.

Some customers truly have zero common sense.

Cases of mistaken identity are apparently all too common at the Home Depot.

He left the store shaking his head, but at least he could save the questions for someone actually on the payroll.

Do you see an orange apron? No? Then keep movin’!

If you liked that story, check out this post about a group of employees who got together and why working from home was a good financial decision.