Customer service jobs can stretch people to their limit, especially on understaffed shifts.

One cashier was barely holding it together when a miscommunication with a pickup customer spiraled into an emotional standoff.

But when the rude customer broke down in tears instead of doubling down, it made the cashier question everything.

Read on for the full story.

I made a rude customer cry and it made me feel worse

I was the only cashier tonight due to people calling out, and I had a long line that I was getting through as quickly as I could.

But then a customer came in who couldn’t be kept waiting.

This lady came in for a pickup order, but for whatever reason, instead of getting in line, she hovered off to the side. I think she expected someone to come out of the kitchen with her order and make a beeline over to her.

So I’m finishing up the last customer in the line, and she finally comes over and says she’s trying to get her pickup order.

The customer makes their anger quite clear.

I get her name and open the ticket, I’m about to give her the total, and she just starts laying into me about how unacceptable it is that her order isn’t ready, and her sick elderly mother is in the car, and can I please speed this up somehow.

So finally all the stress from the shift came out all at once and the cashier snapped.

It had been a really stressful shift and I pretty rudely snapped back that I was trying to ring her up and angrily told her the total. Then I turned and grabbed her order that was right behind me and made her drink.

But the cashier didn’t expect the customer to break down in tears.

I think that she realized that she was in the wrong then, because when I turned back around she had tears in her eyes and stammered out that she was really sorry.

I immediately felt terrible, because we were both taking out our day on each other, and as much as customers tick me off, I hate upsetting someone like that.

Even after the woman left, she couldn’t shake off what had happened.

I told her I was sorry too, and that I hope her mother feels better soon.

I felt awful about it all night.

Sounds like everyone lost in this story.

What did Reddit think?

All things considered, this interaction could have gone a lot worse.

There’s a lesson to be learned here for both of them.

Everyone makes mistakes, especially on a bad day.

This situation may have actually been pretty cathartic for both of them.

Both people were ultimately just trying to survive a hard day.

At least they both knew they weren’t alone in their struggle.

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.