Some conversations work a lot better in theory than they do in real life.

This man learned that after he decided to compliment a young cashier while buying a bagel.

He thought he was being friendly, but the employee clearly didn’t see the interaction the same way.

In fact, the conversation became awkward almost immediately.

Now he’s wondering whether he did something wrong or whether the cashier overreacted.

Read on to see what happened.

AITA for complimenting a cashier?

I was buying a bagel on Thursday and noticed that the cashier was rather pretty. She had a tattoo, so she was probably at least 18. She looked around 19-20.

After I made the order, I complimented her, saying, “You know that you’re gorgeous, right?”

To my shock, she gave me a blank stare, and she looked kind of disgusted.

She was not impressed by his complement.

I tried to make conversation with her, as I own boats, and asked her if she had ever been on one, etc.

She told me, “You’re done with your order, right? I think we’re done here.”

She didn’t even give me a thank you. And she gave me a nasty look.

I really don’t think I was crude or nasty with my compliment, and her reaction was shocking.

His sister didn’t like it either.

I told my sister about it, and she said that it was weird for me to give any sort of compliment on a girl’s looks considering that I’m 58.

But I wasn’t flirting with her. I was just complimenting her.

She then proceeded to tell me that I shouldn’t make comments like that to workers because they’re in an awkward situation.

AITA?

Eek! Comments like that are usually best left unsaid.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a teacher who learns a lesson of his own from his student’s essays about personal responsibility.

Let’s check out what the readers over at Reddit think about it.

According to this comment, it was a pickup line he used.

Here’s a breakdown of what compliments people like vs those they don’t.

This person thinks he was wrong for it.

This is probably true.

This man knew exactly what he was doing.

If he had simply paid a compliment and moved on, that would be one thing. But, he immediately followed it up by trying to make conversation about his boats, which makes it pretty clear he was trying to pick her up.

The cashier wasn’t at a bar or some social event. She was at work trying to earn a living.

And when you’re nearly 60 years old and hitting on someone young enough to be your daughter, you probably shouldn’t act surprised when the reaction isn’t what you hoped for. Wow.

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