AITAH for telling off a lady in a supermarket after she made the teenage cashier cry?
A female shopper watched as an elderly patron harshly criticized a young cashier for small errors, causing the cashier to cry. Unable to remain silent, the shopper intervened, protecting the cashier and reprimanding the older woman for her actions.
The irate patron stalked away, but some other customers appeared to disapprove of her actions, making her wonder if she had gone too far.
‘ AITAH for telling off a lady in a supermarket after she made the teenage cashier cry?’
This occurred the previous day, and I am still unsure if my response was excessive. I (35F) was performing my regular weekly grocery run at a nearby supermarket. The checkout queue was quite extensive due to the busy afternoon.
I was standing by calmly when I saw the woman ahead of me, likely in her mid-fifties, get more and more worked up as the young checkout worker, who looked no more than seventeen, scanned her purchases. The cashier appeared somewhat disconcerted.
It was obvious that she was likely inexperienced, committing some minor errors, but nothing too bad. But the older lady wasn’t tolerating it. She began to murmur quietly, rolling her eyes and tapping her feet.
When the clerk mistakenly scanned something two times and had to get a manager’s help to fix it, the lady blew up. She started yelling at the poor cashier, saying things such as, “How difficult is it to do this job? You can’t even handle easy things. You’re holding people up.”
She continued her tirade, and the cashier became increasingly agitated with each shout until tears welled up in her eyes. I paused briefly, wishing the woman would calm down, but she didn’t. The cashier was obviously struggling to maintain composure. That’s when I intervened.
I told her, “You can’t speak to people that way. She is trying her hardest, and it was simply an error. If you’re so dissatisfied, perhaps you should attempt to do her job for a day and see how simple it is.” The woman seemed shocked and ordered me to stay out of it.
I responded, “It becomes my concern when your actions cause a child to weep over something as trivial as food.” By that time, the cashier’s manager had appeared and intervened, and the woman angrily departed while continuing to grumble and swear.
After she left, the cashier thanked me with teary eyes, but a couple of people behind me in line gave me looks like I was the one who had done something wrong. Now I’m second-guessing myself. So reddit, AITAH for telling her off?
See what others had to share with OP:
GrumpyLump91 − NTA. F**k that miserable b**ch.
SteampunkHarley − If I were that cashier, I’d have been so grateful for you. I worked retail for way too long and the abuse we get is terrible
BlueGreen_1956 − NTA Karens keep being Karens because nobody stands up to them.. Good for you. My favorite Karen story of all time goes to my 80-year-old widower neighbor. Back at the tail end of the pandemic lockdown, my neighbor was in the grocery store shopping, wearing his mask and minding his own business.
This lady, sans mask, walked up to him and began screaming about how his mask was pointless and ineffective. My octogenarian neighbor calmly responded, “Of course it does. Wearing it prevents me from smelling your nasty pussy.” Needless to say, he’s my idol.
flyingsolo943 − You did the right thing. Those people looking at you funny are probably ashamed of themselves for not speaking up.. A little kindness goes a long way, and the cashier will remember you for it. Kudos to you for having their back. 👏👏👏👏👏
Admirable_Lecture675 − NTA. You helped the cashier and will make others think twice about remaining quiet when s**tty people need to sthu good for you. And it is your business. It’s called being a good person.
Herdnerfer − NTA, people that are dicks to retail workers are the worst people on the planet. You know they never had to work a job like that in their life. Anyone who had would understand that mistakes happen and there’s no need to yell at another human being over it.
Significant_Rule_855 − People really underestimate how hard it is to do those jobs. They seem simple but dealing with the general public is horrible. And cashiers are blamed for everything. Something is out of stock? Cashier fault. Couldn’t find something? Cashier fault. Price went up on something? Gotta take it out on the cashier. It’s horrible.
kristalcookies − NTA AT ALL. My karen take down story occurred because of a similar situation but i was distinctly less polite than you! I was going into a train station after a long shift to get my ticket home, and as i entered a karen AND a ken were leaving, and he was shouting at the staff.
From what I could tell, they were denied boarding due to intoxication. Personally, they didn’t appear all that inebriated, but then again, there are 4 different stations downtown and they had the option of simply trying another one.
As they were heading out, I wasn’t paying attention, but they returned and started causing trouble while I was being helped. They yelled at the girl assisting me, and I watched her expression change completely. I didn’t even turn around before yelling, “Could you please just leave me alone!”.
User disorderlycalm
The Ken questioned my statement with incredulity, and I repeated myself at a louder volume, “You understood me! Get lost! I’m too busy for Karens or Kens!!” They then departed without further argument. Following this, the employees inquired as to whether I would consider employment there 😂
savinathewhite − NTA. If more people like you stood up and called out people like that <bleeping bleepidy bleeper maybe they would be less inclined to be insufferable <bleeps .
I can’t stand awful people acting awful, and no one should. Their unhappiness doesn’t give them the right to spread it around in an attempt to feel better.
Old-Pin3212 − NTA—she was out of line, and sometimes people need to be reminded that basic decency isn’t optional, especially when they’re making someone cry over groceries.
Was getting involved the correct decision, or would it have been better for her to remain uninvolved? Let us know what you think!
