First time I got asked for help out of uniform!

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

So a few minutes ago I went to the store I work at to make use of my employee discount while picking up a few things. While I was walking down one of the aisles, somebody must have recognized me, because they asked my where the dish soap was.

And here I am, in a t-shirt, fleece jacket, shorts and sandals, looking nothing like a store employee. So she did a double take and said "Oh, I'm sorry, I just see you here all the time working."

I told her "I'm not working right now, but the dish soap is over by the mops and brooms. And I'm telling you this as a customer." If I were working I'd have had to walk her over there.

I just couldn't tell her to find somebody else; she was really nice about it. It was the least I could do.

Meh. Idecided

[Knightmare]

At least she was polite. AND apologized. 20 seconds out of your time to help someone, and who knows? Maybe it made her day a bit brighter too.

I say, good on yer!

[Dips]

I had mixed feelings too when it happened to me, although I wasn't at my own workplace...

The only time I've ever been mistaken for an employee was on a cruise ship a couple of years ago. The woman wasn't happy that the FREE tampons in the ladies room were Tampax and not HER brand and she felt I needed to do something about it. This was despite the fact that we were anchored about 3 miles from civilization and even Superman probably wouldn't be interested in flying ashore to fetch another brand of tampons for her.

I suppose I could have filled her in that I wasn't an employee or refused to help, but instead I amused myself by pretending to misunderstand that she was addressing me as an employee: instead making the kind of helpful suggestions that another passenger passing on useful travelling tips might and waiting to see how long it took her to catch on.

To her credit, she DID figure it out eventually, even though she took NONE of my helpful suggestions. To her discredit, she then expected me to agree with her about how HORRIBLE the cruise line was for not providing her preferred brand of tampons for free.

I declined to play and she eventually left, utterly defeated.

I just made sure to avoid sitting in any chairs she'd been in.

[RammsteinGirl]

I just made sure to avoid sitting in any chairs she'd been in.

And that's all I'll say..