Have you ever been shopping at a store when another customer incorrectly assumed you were an employee? If this happened to you, would you correct them or play along?

In this story, one man is in this situation, and he corrects every single person except the last one. What really baffles him is why they think he’s an employee.

Keep reading for all the details.

The dress code must be pretty lax around here.

Last summer was the height of my increasingly defunct lifting bro days (also, I need to get back into this.) On this day, I had just finished my workout and, because I am gross, decided it might be fun to stop by the local Target before returning home to shower and go to my second shift job.

My post workout attire included dirty running shoes, shorts with no pockets (meaning I was doing the phone/keys/wallet trifecta in my hands), and a sweaty tank top under a black hoodie with a picture of the TARDIS on the back (a Doctor Whoodie, if you will.)

Apparently, not everyone knows that Target employees wear red shirts.

The first time I was stopped that day, the nice older lady wanted to know if they had any of the jeans she was carrying around in her size.

I politely informed her that I was not an employee of Target, and scoffed in amazement that I could be mistaken for one in my present state.

The second woman, who was younger and with her children in the toy section (I was LEGO hunting), had a question about a promotion the store was running on dolls in the next aisle.

She did not argue with me when I told her I don’t work here, but I was beginning to become seriously perplexed and a little vexed by the whole experience.

One customer explained why she assumed he was an employee.

As I made my way toward the exit, the third woman who tried to stop me finally offered some resolution.

When I answered her request for help by pointing to my midsection and saying the word ‘Hoodie’, she explained that I was wearing red and so looked like an employee.

I checked myself, and surely enough I found some red. A single, horizontal stripe of it, poking out from beneath my black Whoodie and over my workout pants, unevenly darkened by the still evaporating sweat. Just enough.

There was one last customer interaction.

Now at the exit, an older gentleman called to me, “Excuse me sir, where can I find the…”

I did not stop, and did not acknowledge.

As I left the building, I could hear his wife calling after me to threaten me with a supervisor visit for being so rude.

The mark of the peon is strong.

That’s crazy that so many people assumed he was an employee!

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

One person shares a similar situation.

It would be interesting to see what happens.

Another person comments on the hoodie.

Never, ever wear red to Target!

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.