Few things upset shoppers faster than being asked to pay for something they used to get for free.

For one cashier navigating a newly enforced bag fee, two grumbling customers decided to make their frustration everyone’s problem.

But while refusing to buy bags, they soon learned there’s a cost for convenience.

Keep reading for the full story.

Customer doesn’t like bag fees

I used to be a cashier at a grocery store, and all the stores in our area charged 5 cents for a bag except for us. It had been like this for years, and then our store decided to start charging for bags too.

We were also about the only store that bagged the groceries instead of just leaving them on the counter for the customer to deal with.

Customers didn’t like this change one bit.

Needless to say, customers were outraged. We heard no end of complaints about it, along with threats to shop elsewhere, even though every other store had been charging for bags for years.

Many customers decided they didn’t need a bag and ended up trying to carry a bunch of items loose in their arms, dropping things along the way to the parking lot.

One day, I was ringing through a larger order with price matches, and a couple of old guys got in line behind my customer. They could have gone to express, but they would have had to walk an extra 40 feet to get there.

These customers had a rotten attitude from the start.

They immediately started chatting loudly to each other about how long I was taking, how slow I was, and that they should have gone to another line—even though I had suggested the express lane and they declined.

It got to a point where, when my current customer was done, she turned and told them they were being rude and that I was one of the faster cashiers, since I didn’t have to look up codes and was also good at packing.

It was really nice of her to do that, and I thanked her.

As the transaction progressed, they continued to be difficult.

As I reached for the first item, I asked the old guys if they wanted to buy bags and got the whole “I already pay for groceries, the bags should be included,” which I took as a no—they didn’t want bags.

So I started scanning and leaving the items for the customer to deal with. Then they got upset because I wasn’t bagging.

One old guy decided he would take a bag after all, but only one bag, and I’d better make sure it all fit, because he wasn’t buying two bags.

Challenge accepted!

I’m really good at packing. Like, really, really good at it.

He had a mixture of cans, boxes, glass jars, plus some fruit. I crammed every last item into that one bag.

Nothing was crushed, so he couldn’t complain about bruised fruit. The bag had to weigh 25 pounds and was so full that the handles barely reached each other.

But soon the customer started to change his tune.

He saw what I was doing and started to bluster about how he could buy a second bag.

I looked at him and said that he seemed to feel very strongly about using less plastic, so I was just doing what he had requested.

I offered to charge him for a second bag, but he would have to repack his groceries at an empty checkout since the lines had gotten pretty long. I didn’t want his groceries mixed with the next person’s groceries, and I was trying to go faster to help more people.

The customer tried to get out, but ended up just embarrassing himself.

He decided to just take his bag and leave, but he had to carry it awkwardly since the handles didn’t meet, and he was trying to keep a hand underneath to support it.

The person behind him was a regular who had seen the whole thing and was trying hard not to laugh until he left.

She was great, and we had a good chuckle about how well I could pack a bag full of far more than it should hold.

And I didn’t charge her or the first lady for their bags.

Efficiency had never been packed so tightly!

What did Reddit think?

Do customers really think the employees care about their empty threats?

This commenter reveres this cashier’s professionalism in the face of utter absurdity.

Why not just bring a reusable bag?

Cashiers aren’t the ones making the rules — they just have the misfortune of enforcing them.

This cashier only gave the customer exactly what he asked for.

Thought that was satisfying? Check out what this employee did when their manager refused to pay for their time while they were traveling for business.