April 6, 2026 at 10:49 am

Cashier Stood Outside Telling Customers The Grocery Store Was Closed After A Power Outage Shut Everything Down, But One Shopper Still Tried To Come Inside Anyway

by Heather Hall

Empty shelves inside a grocery store with no power

Pexels/Reddit

Some customers can hear the phrase “we’re closed” and still think it doesn’t apply to them.

Imagine the grocery store you worked at lost power, and as you’re turning customers away, you encounter someone who wants to enter anyway. How do you handle it? Do you entertain her idea? Or do you let her know the best thing to do is check back later?

In the following story, one grocery store cashier finds herself in this predicament and can’t believe it. Here’s what happened.

Lady wants to shop anyway

I work for a grocery store that lost power today. When this interaction occurred (and actually quite a bit before I got there) we didn’t even have back up generator power. Just the emergency lights.

We were completely closed.

Me: (stationed outside to tell customers we’re closed)

Lady: (approaches the front doors)

The lady wanted to go in anyway.

Me: Hi, sorry, we’re actually closed right now, we don’t have any power.

Lady: Oh, that’s too bad. But I don’t mind shopping in the dark (gets closer to try to edge past me into the store when the doors won’t even open).

Me: Ma’am, even if I could let you in, which I can’t due to it being a safety hazard, our registers are all off, and we can’t check you out.

Lady: Oh. Well, that’s too bad. You’re really closed.

Finally, she left.

Me: Yes, you can call back in a couple of hours to check if we’re open again.

Lady finally leaves.

Co-worker approaches.

Me: Oh, he–, oh, it’s [co-worker], you can come in, but we’re closed.

The lady made a snarky comment.

Lady: (as she’s walking away) How come she’s so special she can come in?!

Me: She works here.

Something tells me the lady wasn’t joking.

Wow! That’s some awful entitlement.

Let’s check out how the folks over at Reddit feel about what happened here.

This person has had similar situations at a hair salon.

Want To Shop 3 Cashier Stood Outside Telling Customers The Grocery Store Was Closed After A Power Outage Shut Everything Down, But One Shopper Still Tried To Come Inside Anyway

When this person’s work is out of power, they still have to serve customers.

Want To Shop 2 Cashier Stood Outside Telling Customers The Grocery Store Was Closed After A Power Outage Shut Everything Down, But One Shopper Still Tried To Come Inside Anyway

Here’s someone who’s dealt with power outages at work.

Want To Shop 1 Cashier Stood Outside Telling Customers The Grocery Store Was Closed After A Power Outage Shut Everything Down, But One Shopper Still Tried To Come Inside Anyway

Sounds like they still need this.

Want To Shop Cashier Stood Outside Telling Customers The Grocery Store Was Closed After A Power Outage Shut Everything Down, But One Shopper Still Tried To Come Inside Anyway

Some people just aren’t rational.

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.

Heather Hall | Contributing Writer, Life & Drama

Heather Hall is a contributing writer for TwistedSifter specializing in internet culture, workplace conflict, and viral customer service stories. With over a decade of editorial experience in digital publishing, Heather excels at curating trending online discussions and providing insightful commentary on the daily dramas that capture the internet's attention.

Since beginning her career in 2011, she has developed deep expertise in SEO-driven digital content, having written for a wide array of publications covering lifestyle, business, and travel. At TwistedSifter, Heather focuses on synthesizing complex social media threads into engaging, highly readable narratives that highlight the human element of viral news.

When she isn’t analyzing the latest internet discourse, Heather is a dedicated mother of three sons who takes family gaming nights entirely too seriously—whether she is dominating in Mario Kart, exploring The Legend of Zelda, or jumping into Roblox.

Connect with Heather on Facebook and LinkedIn.