Imagine wearing a uniform for work that looks similar to a police uniform, but you’re not a police officer. What would you do if you stopped at a store after work while still wearing your uniform and another customer assumed you were a police officer? Would you correct them or play along?

In this story, one woman is in that exact situation, and she technically has to correct someone if they mistake her for a police officer. But that’s much easier said than done.

Let’s see how the story plays out.

EP steals my badge and risks jail time over a gallon of milk

A little background to start off. I started a new job with the county about a month ago. I was hired to be a juvenile correctional specialist.

It’s not a glamorous job, but I absolutely make sure my clients are safe, afforded every right they are entitled to, and I treat them with respect and dignity.

That being said… i don’t live in a great area and my uniform looks a lot like a police officers uniform, so I never wear it outside of work if I can help it, just because I don’t want to deal with potential issues (which seems to be the right call after this incident).

There are big consequences if she lets someone believe she’s a police officer.

It is also important to note that during my orientation, my training officer spent a literal hour explaining the many ways that are appropriate and inappropriate when it comes to representing oneself.

For instance, in our county, I am considered and therefore legally allowed to refer to myself as an officer of the peace, an officer of the county, an officer of the court and a correctional officer.

At no point and for no reason am I ever legally allowed to represent myself as, or even imply that I am an officer of the law, a police officer or any other title of that nature.

If someone assumes I am a cop, I legally have to correct them or I could potentially lose my job, be fined, or even arrested based on the situation.

I will point out however, that my uniform and badge carry the same legal obligations and repercussions when it comes to damage, theft, etc because it’s all considered county property.

One day, she couldn’t change clothes after work.

So yesterday I get done working a double and get ready to leave work. I hadn’t expected the forced overtime so I hadn’t checked the weather for the evening shift.

Lo and behold, I had left my windows cracked through a rainstorm and my extra shirt and jacket had gotten soaked.

This would have been fine bc it was dark so I wasn’t worried about someone seeing me go from my car to my house, but we were out of milk and I really needed to stop at the mart of walls.

Normally I’d just take off my uniform shirt and badge and throw on my extra shirt, but I didn’t feel like donning a soggy top or going into the store in the tank top I wear under my uniform shirt. Plus it was 15 minutes till close and I was just running in and out, so what’s the worst that could happen?

For starters, it took longer to check out than OP had hoped.

I ran in, grabbed the milk, grabbed some ice cream bc why not, and headed to self check out.

The line was pretty long and wrapped around towards the entrance so I was in the entitled lady’s direct line of sight when she stepped through the doors.

While she didn’t fit the mold of the traditional unruly customer, I think she still counts. She was an older woman, probably in her 50s in heels and a rather low cut sun dress. Fake tan, fake hair and other work was done too.

Of course, she wanted to talk to OP.

I clock her making a beeline straight for me in my periphery and continue staring straight forward bc something about her seemed a little off.

Maybe it was the odd gait with the slight stumble every few steps, or the fact that she was kind of mumbling to herself, but I had a feeling she was under the influence of something.

She got about 5 feet away and I could smell the alcohol emanating from her. She then reached out and firmly tapped my shoulder.

The following is our conversation, nearly word for word as best as I can remember.

The conversation started out with a question.

EP: Excuse me, I’m so glad I made it before they closed!

Me: That’s great (continues staring forward attempting to ignore her)

EP: Well I just came in because I really need milk for my kids’ breakfasts tomorrow. Do you think you could help me out a bit?

Me: Sure, the milk is on wall at the back of the store, just head straight back down that main aisle and you’ll walk straight into the dairy section.

She looks at me dumbly for several seconds.

EP had a very unreasonable demand.

EP: Well that’s not really what I meant. You see I noticed that you have the same kind of milk that my family drinks so I thought maybe you could let me have it that way I can get home to my kids sooner.

Me: No thank you. I’m good.

EP: Wait, what does that mean? I can’t have the milk?

Me: That is correct. You can take three minutes to walk back and get your own milk, just like I did. That’s how groceries work.

She incorrectly assumed she was a police officer.

Again she stares at me for several moments, trying to process the situation through the haze of intoxication.

EP: You are being incredibly rude and you shouldn’t even be in here!

Me: How do you figure that?

EP: My tax dollars arent supposed to be paying for the police to go shopping while on duty! Now give me that milk, and I want your badge number so that I can talk to your superiors about your inappropriate behavior.

She had to correct her.

Me: Ma’am, I am not a police officer and I am not on duty. I just happen to be coming home from work and still have my uniform on.

EP: (now starting to shreak and attract attention) You are obviously lying! I can see your badge right there! I won’t let you get away with lying just to protect your job!

At this point she begins to claw at the badge shaped patch that is sewn onto the upper right shoulder of my uniform shirt.

Not wanting to escalate things further, I took a step back and grabbed my real badge to show her.

Again, she corrected her.

Now it’s not like a metal badge or a jacketed ID like cops or detectives carry. It’s literally just a laminated card in a clear pouch attached to a retractable clip on my belt.

The pocket also contains my electronic access card to the jail itself (the whole jail, not just the juvenile side), which was about to become a HUGE deal.

Me: (holding up badge) See how it says “corrections specialist”, not police officer?

Bold as anything, this crazy drunk reaches out, snatches my badge out of my hands and rips it off my belt.

Now, everyone was watching.

Now at this point the bystanders that had been nervously standing and muttering amongst themselves went silent because like most sane and rational human beings, they realize that it’s never a good idea to take the badge of someone in a uniform whether they are a cop or not.

I myself took a moment to respond because I truly could not understand the idiocy of stealing anything, let alone a badge, over a gallon of milk.

I would have been within my rights to grab her and force her to give it back, but again, I didn’t want things getting out of hand so I decided to reason with her.

EP finally understood how serious the situation really was.

Me: Ma’am, I don’t think you realize the consequences of what you’ve just done. That is the badge of a county officer and stealing one is a misdemeanor if you’re lucky. However, behind that badge is my swipecard for the jail. You’ve literally just stolen a key to the county jail, which is a felony with a potential 10 year sentence (this is absolutely true, by the way). I think you should probably hand it back to me right now because I don’t think a gallon of milk is really worth a decade of your life.

EP: (Now starting to look a little nervous) That’s not what I meant to do. (Looking at the bystanders for support) You saw how she was being rude to me right? I was just trying to get her information and she wouldn’t give it to me. I didn’t do anything wrong, right?

Unbeknownst to either of us, one of the customers ahead of us was either an off duty cop or retired, I couldn’t tell which. He piped up with “Ma’am, I’d do as the officer suggests if I were you. I can’t slap cuffs on you right now but I’ve got a few guys on speed dial that would happily do it for me, and since they patrol this area, I’d say you’ve only got a couple minutes to make your choice.”

And with that he pulled out his phone and started swiping.

OP learned a lesson as well.

All the color drained out of EPs face and she basically flung my badge at me as she jerkily rushed out of the store, ranting/mumbling loudly something about how it was just a gallon of milk.

I thanked the older guy and told him not to bother calling anyone.

Everyone got through the checkout like responsible adult human beings, and I got to go home and enjoy my ice cream, having learned that I should really just do my shopping on my days off.

That is a lot of drama over a gallon of milk. I can understand why OP wouldn’t want to go anywhere in uniform.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This is a good point.

Here’s a similar comment.

This person’s fiance would be able to relate to this story.

That was a lot of drama over a gallon of milk.

Thought that was satisfying? Check out what this employee did when their manager refused to pay for their time while they were traveling for business.