Most people have thought about getting even with a rude customer at one point or another.

But this cashier did more than think about it after a woman threw a package of pepper seasoning at him and covered both the register and the surrounding area in spices.

Instead of arguing with her or calling a manager, he decided to get even by adding a few extra dollars to some of her items.

At the time, the decision felt satisfying, especially since he had to clean up the mess and deal with the pepper irritating his nose for the rest of the shift.

However, after looking back on the incident a year later, he started wondering whether he had crossed a line.

Read on to see what you think.

Aita for up charging a rude customer

About a year ago, I (19f) worked in a local grocery store as a cashier. It was pretty big and had a lot of produce and imported products.

It also is throwback-themed. Always playing a throwback station, and it had these retro registers.

Each item in the store had a different code of like 4 numbers. I had to manually key in each item, and I could also key in whatever price for anything I wanted.

The pepper got all over him.

Well, this old woman only spoke Spanish, so I rang her daughter’s(?) items up, as they were in line together.

The old lady had a little ripped package of some pepper seasoning, idk. She was mad as ****. She chucked this package at my chest, and it got all over my register, the little table I had, my apron, the floor, etc.

I’m like, “***!”

He added extra charges onto several items.

It didn’t get on my face, but it was night, so I was the only open register. I just stood there like, “***.”

She put her other **** on the belt (mostly household items). I scanned it and charged her like 5 extra dollars on a few random items. I said nothing, and she went on with her day.

I didn’t gain anything from it other than the little mean guy in me having his satisfaction.

His mom thinks it was wrong of him.

I had to clean the pepper **** off the ground. I remember it making my nose run like crazy the rest of the shift.

But thinking about it right now, I feel like maybe that’s not cool of me. Because she was pretty ******* old. I’m talking 70-80, wearing a headscarf, with arthritis.

I told my mom, and she told me I should have just customer-serviced my way out of it because theft is bad. But, like, I did customer-service my way around it, kind of.

AITA?

Eek! It’s easy to see why his mom thinks that, but the lady was pretty rude.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a thrift store employee who refused to play “guess the price” without seeing the item in question.

Let’s see how the readers over at Reddit feel about what he did.

This reader thinks the lady got off easy.

Good point.

It is tough.

She did throw something at him.

It’s easy to understand why this cashier reacted the way he did in the moment.

Having someone throw something at you while you’re trying to do your job would make almost anyone angry.

At the same time, the fact that this still weighs on his conscience a year later suggests he knows he crossed a line too.

In the end, everyone involved probably could’ve made better choices.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a cashier who was rudely confronted by a teenager, only to have the teen’s father step up in an unexpected way.