Imagine going shopping with a family member, and you call the family member by a nickname or pet name instead of their actual name. If a stranger overheard and misunderstood the situation, would you correct them or put them in their place?

In this story, one man is shopping with his daughter when a stranger decides to criticize him. When she doesn’t let him explain, it’s his daughter who has to put the stranger in her place.

But then the dad joins in the fun.

Let’s read the whole story.

“I don’t call him his name either !

Last night my daughter came home from her job (she works retail in a nearby shopping plaza) with the sad news that their neighboring store which specializes in kitchenware is having a going out of business sale.

It was tragic news in our home, as my wife and daughter both share a passion for baking and cooking and shop there often, so much so that the owner, my wife and our daughter are on a first-name basis.

Ever since my daughter was little, she was Mommy’s helper in the kitchen. It’s been a running gag in our house the past few years that we give her a 5 pound bag of flour among her Christmas presents.

Now 17, she enjoys flying solo in the kitchen, and her pierogis are food not to be eaten, but experienced.

He agreed to shop on behalf of his wife.

My wife is feeling under the weather, so she gave me a list of things to look at, plus a surprise item (more later).

I agreed to meet my daughter at the store when she finished work.

My daughter had gotten there a little early, and I was a little late leaving the house, so she had already been in the store by the time I arrive.

That’s when the fun begins.

Time to shop!

Our cast: SD: Sweetheart Daughter (spoiler: foreshadowing) OL: Obnoxious Lady NSO: Nice Store Owner

I arrive at the store and find SD chatting with NSO, commiserating over the store closing.

NSO was feeling sad and ⠀appreciated SD’s sympathy, so I decided to shop for a bit and let them finish their conversion.

I had barely made it 20 feet before I was overwhelmed by some of the choices.

Another customer insisted on correcting him.

Nearby stood a middle-aged woman who even with a mask, you could tell wore a perpetual scowl that curdled milk in a 5 mile radius. So I turned towards SD and said, “Hey Sweetheart, I have a question …”

OL: “SWEETHEART! That’s not how you address a woman!”

At this point, SD hears the kerfuffle and sprints over, knowing that the gene that allows one to suffer fools gladly is only present in my wife’s DNA.

NSO wasn’t with her, apparently having just begun ringing someone up.

She wouldn’t even let him explain.

ME: “But she’s…”

OL (talking over me, raising her voice): “YOU JERK! SHE HAS A NAME!”

ME: “Yes, I know …” I was going to point out I gave her that name (after my grandmother), but she continued raising her voice.

OL: “YOU ADDRESS HER POLITELY AS (emphatically) MISS, OR USE HER NAME!”

His daughter explained.

SD (now arriving, putting her hands up): “Look, it’s OK …”

OL (turning to SD): “No, it is NOT OK. You should NOT have to put up…”

SD (raising her voice): “IT’S OK. I DON’T CALL HIM BY HIS NAME EITHER. I CALL HIM DAD.”

It’s obvious that the embarrassment is now further exacerbating OL’s rage, and were I not suffering-fools-gladly-challenged, I’d have just let things go, but as I mentioned, I lack that gene.

He was really enjoying this!

Me: “This is the part where a reasonable person apologizes”

OL just glares at me, determined not to give me the satisfaction before turning and walking away.

Me: “Yeah, I knew our little exchange was one reasonable person short. C’mon (with emphasis) SWEETHEART, let’s finish (with emphasis) MOM’S shopping list”.

We worked through the rest of the list filling our basket and ferrying up the larger items to the counter (there are no shopping carts). Thankfully OL had gone by the time NSO began ringing us up.

Ah! This is so sweet!

Me (to NSO): “Oh, I forgot one thing.”

This is where the aforementioned surprise comes in.

I hurriedly returned with the deluxe KitchenAid Stand Mixer that elicited a puzzled look from my daughter, as we already have one. Turning to my daughter, “This one’s for you. Mom and I figure that someday when you have your own place, you’ll have your first appliance.”

Cue misty eyes from my daughter.

NSO gave us an extra $50 off which was yet another nice surprise.

This is such a great story. I love their family bond.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This person loved his comeback.

Here’s more praise for how they handled it.

It could’ve been worse!

Someone who likes to bake shares their perspective.

They really do seem like a great family.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.