Misunderstandings in public are always awkward, but some cross the line into downright absurd.

When a woman mistook a wheelchair user for a lazy employee, her attitude turned from rude to invasive in seconds.

Keep reading for the full story.

Lady, I’m about the same height as their freezers, I really don’t work here.

I’m in a wheelchair, but I’m not paralyzed. This is relevant to the story. I can stand and walk for brief and often painful periods, but mostly I’m in a chair.

Today I was in my local town at a shop that specializes in frozen foods. It’s set out with rows of large freezers and shelves above those. The tops of the freezers are about level with my shoulders, and I can’t reach anything on the shelves.

They wear a uniform that’s red and black with the shop’s name on it. I’m wearing jeans and a blue T-shirt.

The shop is, understandably, colder than outside, and I have frozen food in my bag.

Soon she catches the attention of another shopper, but since she didn’t actually work there, she assumed the shopper was talking to someone else.

Random Woman: I need some help here.

The staff are doing some kind of large restocking, so there’s only someone at the checkouts when there are people to check out. She’s just come up to the checkout and hasn’t been noticed yet. I assume she’s talking to one of the staff.

Random Woman: [Louder] Hey. I need to be checked out.

Me: [Still playing on my phone]

The shopper soon made it clear that it was her she had her eyes on.

Random Woman: Stop playing on your phone and start helping me.

I look up, and there are approximately zero staff in sight. Also, she’s looking at me.

Me: What?

The woman doubles down on her rudeness.

Random Woman: I don’t care if you’re on your break, it’s unprofessional to just sit there and play on your phone when there’s a customer.

Me: I don’t work here. [Gesturing at my chair and my shopping bag]

Random Woman: Well, why would you be sitting there if you didn’t? Do your **** job.

By this point, she decides to match this woman’s energy.

Me: I don’t **** work here, and I’m in a wheelchair. I don’t think they’d hire me when I can’t reach the **** shelves.

At that moment, my phone goes off and I’m thanking a variety of gods I don’t believe in for an excuse to leave this stupid woman.

My little bag goes on my lap, my brakes go off, and I turn to leave.

But that’s when this rude lady really crosses the line.

She storms over and grabs my handles.

Rule 1 of dealing with people in wheelchairs: don’t touch the chair. If it’s life or death, or they’ve asked you to push them, that’s OK. Otherwise, don’t touch my **** chair.

Especially not when I’ve been shopping and my bigger shopping bag is hanging between the handles, so my balance is a little different.

I slam my brakes back on, and there’s some awkward squeaking between my tires and the floor.

Random Woman: You’re not leaving until you do your job.

Luckily, others had taken notice of the woman’s aggression.

This commotion has, thankfully, attracted someone who actually does work there.

Staff Member: Are these yours? Do you still want them?

Random Woman has left her items on the checkout to come and assault me.

Me: Look, someone who actually works here. Now you can **** off.

Random Woman: I want to see a manager. I want her [gesturing at me] fired.

The employee is pretty flabbergasted by this, but luckily, she was able to escape before the other woman got any madder.

Staff Member: I… she… we… [Poor kid was probably trying to articulate that they probably couldn’t hire someone in a wheelchair to stock shelves.] She doesn’t work here.

There’s a horn honking from outside, and my friend is there, so I wheeled off as fast as I could and left the poor staff member to argue with the random crazy person over whether I was employed or not.

Who knows—maybe I got fired just to placate her.

This shopper came for a few frozen items, but left wondering how people like this woman even function in society.

What did Reddit think?

If this other woman is going to make a scene, why not make one back?

It doesn’t matter how right this customer thought she was — she crossed a major line here.

This lady should face real consequences for what she did.

Wheelchairs are extremely important — and expensive — so they deserve to be treated with care.

She may never get an apology from this rude woman, but honestly, escaping was reward enough.

You can’t argue with someone who’s already decided that reality doesn’t apply to them.

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.