You never know what’s going on in someone else’s life. That’s why judging people based on their appearance usually isn’t a great idea.

Today, we meet a man who was simply trying to grab breakfast before heading to work when he stopped at a gas station in a small town.

He expected to be in and out in a few minutes.

But, instead, a cashier took one look at him and decided she already knew everything she needed to know.

Unfortunately for her, he wasn’t about to sit there and take it, and neither were some of the customers standing in line behind him.

Read on to see what happened.

Cashier assumes I’m on welfare

I’m a rather tall and heavy-set black guy who lives in the ultra-liberal capital of WI.

My city has a large social justice warrior base and a minuscule conservative base. So, if so much as a whisper is heard supporting our governor, our streets are flooded with rallies.

This means that the conservative folk who need to live relatively near are pushed to smaller ancillary towns miles outside the metropolitan area limits. Despite my liberal sanctuary, where most people are pleasant, the surrounding area isn’t.

Dressed for work, he stopped by a gas station for food.

Anyway, I had a job where I needed to travel daily all over the southern part of the state. I don’t have a car, so I would check out our branded company vehicle to get where I’m assigned.

I had to wear red scrub tops and black scrub bottoms and keep my badge on display at all times from the time I picked up and dropped off the vehicle. So I swing by a gas station that’s very popular in one of these small towns.

Decked out in my gear that usually garners very positive community support. Except… I walk in,  and look around. I’m starving, and they have these amazing-smelling donuts that just came in. I grab a couple and a Nos Energy Drink. It’s gonna be a busy day.

I stand in line patiently, and when it’s my turn, I hear the cashier scoff.

Right from the start, the cashier had a bad attitude.

Cashier (eyes my food): Are you sure you need this?

Me: I’m sorry, come again?

Cashier: Don’t you think that’s a bit… much for the morning?

I assume she’s talking about my energy drink.

Me: Hahaha, no, I just don’t like coffee.

Then, he asked about payment.

Cashier (with a visibly annoyed face): I meant the donuts.

She rings me up as I fake smile. It’s not the first nor last time someone will make that comment.

I’m used to it, but I’m hungry and I don’t care. Carrots won’t do it.

I dig through my wallet and don’t see any cash. That’s cool, I’ll just use my card.

Me: Just checking, you take cards, right?

The woman jumped right to the wrong conclusion.

She gives me the most disgusted look.

Cashier: I’m sorry, but we don’t take EBT.

Me (with a brief pause): What?

Cashier: We. Don’t. Take. Food. Stamps.

I slowly pull out my debit card.

Finally, she eases up a little.

Me: I meant Visa…

Cashier (easing off on the attitude): Well, why didn’t you say so? I knew you all weren’t poor [referencing my badge].

I give her my card, and she swipes it on the register.

Me: Debit, please.

Cashier (motioning to the PIN pad): Go ahead and put in your PIN.

And then she gets right back to being rude.

I was a bit flustered, so I accidentally missed a number and the card was declined.

Cashier: Maybe you are. Figures.

At that point, I just put my stuff down and walked away. I wasn’t hungry anymore.

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While I was walking out, I saw some of the customers behind me (I didn’t realize I was holding people up) put down their things and walk out as well. I got to my car and just sat there for a second.

Thankfully, another customer stepped in.

I’m trying to look on my phone for any other places nearby where I can find food, and that’s when I hear a knock on my window.

Apparently, one of the customers complained to the shift supervisor, and she came out to apologize. She told me to take the stuff for free and that she didn’t mean for any of that to happen. I thanked her, and she thanked me for being so positive about the situation.

I drove away after she thanked me one more time. When I got to my location, I ate my food and slammed my Nos. It got me through the day, which wasn’t as busy as I thought it would be. Nameless shift supervisor, if you’re reading this, thanks for making a bad situation pretty pleasant in the end.

Wow! It’s nice to see there are still good people in this world.

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.

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

This person knows what being judged feels like.

Here’s someone whose family is mean about people like that, too.

According to this comment, we need more compassion in this world.

This person is a cashier as well.

This cashier was completely out of line. Her job was to ring up the customer’s order, not judge what he was eating or make assumptions about how he planned to pay.

The worst part is that she kept doubling down every time she had a chance to back off. Even after the customer pulled out a debit card, she continued making comments instead of simply admitting she had been wrong.

Thankfully, the other people in line saw exactly what was happening.

Hopefully management took the situation seriously. Nobody should have to deal with that.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a customer complaint that led to them losing their VIP status.