Good deeds don’t always lead where you expect them to.

This mother thought she was doing something nice when she let an elderly woman with just a couple items move ahead of her in the checkout line while she waited with a full cart and a toddler.

However, things became a little awkward when the cashier mistakenly assumed they were shopping together and offered the woman a small discount.

The mother decided to correct the misunderstanding, even though nobody else seemed particularly bothered by it.

Now, looking back, she can’t help wondering whether she should have simply left it alone.

Read on to see what you think.

AITA for correcting a cashier so an old lady wouldn’t get a discount because of my toddler?

My toddler and I were in the checkout line at Target with 40+ items when this older lady (I’d guess at least 75) asked if she could go ahead of us in line.

She had one banana and some kind of baked good, which was probably her breakfast. I told her sure, go ahead of us, which she did.

As the cashier was checking out her stuff, I heard her say to the lady, “You get a [some small amount of money] discount for a child,” and I realized that the cashier thought the three of us were all together.

She let the cashier know it was her child.

I waited a few seconds for the old lady to say something, but she didn’t. She did seem to be aware of what was going on (as in, I don’t think she was senile or anything) because she was taking money out of her wallet.

I didn’t know if it would cause problems for the cashier if she wrongfully gave someone a discount (I’ve never worked in retail), and I didn’t think the old lady needed to get a discount she wasn’t eligible for, even if it was barely any money.

I’d already done something nice for her by letting her go ahead of me in line. So I smiled at the cashier and said, “My baby, not hers!” (which I could have phrased better – maybe “we’re not with her.”)

She tries to redeem herself a little.

The cashier told the lady, “We’ll pretend you’re a kid” and gave her the discount anyway.

The lady left without any noticeable reaction and the cashier and I had a short, pleasant conversation about all the cake mixes I was buying.

And FWIW, maybe 30 of the 40+ items were for a drive at my daughter’s school that gives small presents and cake supplies to lower-income kids for their birthdays.

AITA?

Yikes! It sounds like it may have been a little awkward.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee whose dietary restrictions caused the whole office to turn against her.

Let’s see how the readers over at Reddit feel.

Or pay more if you don’t have a child.

This reader thinks there may’ve been confusion had she not said something.

Couldn’t agree more… when the deserve it anyway.

According to this comment, the woman should’ve spoken up.

The mother didn’t really do anything wrong by speaking up and correcting the misunderstanding.

However, there’s no limit to how many good deeds you can do in a single day or for the same person.

Next time, she might be better off pretending she didn’t hear it and letting the elderly woman enjoy her tiny discount.

After all, there’s a good chance that woman was once a tired mother standing in a checkout line with a young child of her own.

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