The dreaded “Karen” is anyone’s worst fear when working in Customer Service nowadays. And more recently, it seems it’s the same way even for those who DON’T work in Customer Service.

One person recently took to Reddit to share a truly wild story about a strange case of mistaken identity while shopping at a thrift store.

Check it out.

Missed opportunity to recognize your mistake, but okay

I’ve worked about 5 or so years in department store retail, and I learned pretty young that I have what I called “Resting Approachable Face”.

“Resting Approachable Face”, that’s a new one.

I guess I just always look like I know where stuff is and am knowledgeable on products…even if I’ve never set foot in that particular store before.

I have plenty of stories that would belong in this sub. Here’s my most recent one.

Always wild to see how many people have shared this experience.

My gf and I enjoy thrifting together, and our town has lots of thrift stores.

We were cruising through the clothing section together, on opposite sides of the same rack so we were facing each other, chatting with each other the whole time, and occasionally holding up pieces to show each other.

Typical “we are shopping here” behavior, I thought.

The store we were in has something of a uniform, and neither of us were dressed in any way that could’ve been mistaken for that uniform.

Certainly sounds pretty innocuous on both of their parts.

All of a sudden, our vibe is interrupted when I notice over my gf’s shoulder that this lady is standing by the fitting room and waving in an annoyed manner, and seems to be looking in my direction.

I assume she’s trying to get the attention of someone behind me, so I ignore her and continue chatting with my gf.

Oh boy, definitely see where this is going.

Then I hear a demanding “EXCUSE ME.”

I look up, and the same lady is still waving, and looking in my direction.

This time, I do a double-take, then even look behind me to see if there’s an employee she’s trying to get ahold of.

There isn’t.

Ignoring a Karen is a very dangerous move.

So I make eye contact with her again, and see she’s clearly peeved.

Then she kinda nods at me with an “are you stupid” facial expression, and I hesitantly point to myself and raise my brows at her like “are you for real talking to me?”

She aggressively nods again and says, “YEAH. Can I get a fitting room?”

Uh, weird. What’s with this lady?

Her tone is rude and condescending.

At this point, I am baffled that she still hasn’t realized I’m just shopping, same as her. “I…don’t…work here??”

I respond, incredulous as to why she’s so adamant.

If it wasn’t so weird, it would almost be funny.

Then she just huffs an exasperated sigh, doesn’t even apologize, and turns away.

Like girl, even if I did work there, (and I still don’t understand how she assumed that) your attitude is not gonna make me or anyone else want to assist you.

Maybe she thought she could ask literally anyone?

And you can’t be mad at me just because you made an incorrect assumption about whether I work here.

What the heck, right?

Bizarre. The nerve of some people. This lady seems like she needs a reality check.

Let’s see it Reddit agreed.

The enthusiastic feedback was overwhelmingly positive…and also pretty snarky.

Other commenters suggested some hilarious tactics that they would have taken instead.

And also took the time to emphasize how ridiculous the entire situation was.

Then piggybacked off of the original story by sharing similar anecdotes of their own experiences.

I guess she could still always demand to speak to a manager?

She probably will.

If you liked that story, check out this video about a Dollar Store cashier who has had it with customers who argue over $4 products.