Some people are just jerks who feel entitled to belittle others without any consequences. And the responsibility to teach them better usually falls onto nice people because who else is going to do it, right?
Like in today's story, when a man from the boomer generation belittled an innocent cashier for "slacking off" and justified it with his First Amendment rights. When a nearby customer revealed they knew his boss and this outburst might cost him a job, the man ended up apologizing and hopefully fixing his actions in the future.
Some people are just jerks who sometimes need harsh lessons to learn how bad their behavior is
Image credits: Kampus Production (not the actual photo)
The author got stuck behind an entitled man from the boomer generation in a grocery store's self-checkout line
This rude man, who was buying plenty of alcohol, threw a tantrum when the cashier didn't check his ID before he scanned all the bottles
Image credits: Dom J (not the actual photo)
He belittled the cashier, who refused to check his ID, and called the manager, while the man started rambling about his First Amendment rights
Image credits: pin add (not the actual photo)
This is when the author chimed in to point out that the First Amendment didn't have anything to do with this situation and that the man was being a jerk
Image credits: Kampus Production (not the actual photo)
They also let him know that they knew his boss and if he didn't apologize to the cashier, the boss would be informed about the behavior of the man, who was still in his work uniform
Image credits: Karsten Winegeart (not the actual photo)
When the man didn't apologize, the author actually went to his workplace, intending to stress him out and make him think that they would tell on him
Image credits: Efrem Efre (not the actual photo)
Image credits: metalslug53
They met the man and got an apology from him with a promise that he would apologize to the cashier as well, which shows that their plan to stress the man out worked
When the OP was doing their quick grocery shopping in Walmart, they ended up stuck behind a man from the boomer generation, dubbed Eric in the story, who is the main antagonist of today’s story, and his wife. The couple had many bottles of alcohol, which meant they had to show an ID in self-checkout after scanning them.
The problematic situation started when the man didn’t scan these bottles and started to stare directly at a cashier responsible for self-checkouts so she would come to scan his ID. When she didn’t respond in nearly a minute, he started shouting. The employee came, and he continued shouting at her that he was sick of people standing around and not doing their jobs.
People working in customer service often become easy targets for customers' meltdowns, so this likely wasn't the first time the woman was talked to this way, so she knew what to do. The employee refused to scan his ID and said he could talk to the manager instead. The boomer started rambling about how he was just expressing his First Amendment rights.
The First Amendment in the United States Constitution guarantees various freedoms for the country’s citizens: religion, expression, assembly, and the right to petition by prohibiting Congress from making any restrictions on these rights. For example, Congress cannot promote one religion over others or restrict an individual’s religious practices. It also doesn’t let Congress restrict the press, individual freedom of speech, or the citizens’ peaceful assembly.
So, when the boomer Eric mentioned his First Amendment rights, the OP chimed in. He told him that the First Amendment wasn't going to protect him from the consequences of his belittling words toward an innocent cashier. After all, these employees often experience abuse from customers, which results in as many as 71% of them admitting to struggling with their mental health. So, why make it even harder for them, especially when they didn't even do anything wrong?
And when it turns into racism, like in this situation when the boomer started spitting it, it becomes an even bigger problem. Then, when the manager came, the man lied about the cashier being rude to him. Yet, the original poster told the manager the truth.
Image credits: Mike Mozart (not the actual photo)
And that wasn’t the only thing he did. As the boomer was wearing his work uniform, the OP realized he worked at a company whose boss was their family friend. So, a perfect way of revenge basically presented itself. They told the man that they were planning to go to their place of work and tell their boss how he was acting in public while representing the company with the uniform unless the man apologized to the cashier.
Unfortunately, the man didn’t do it. Instead, he flipped off the author and left. So, the OP went on to realize his promise and visited the boomer’s workplace.
While waiting there for the owner to arrive, Eric and he noticed each other, which kind of spooked the man. Then, to the surprise of the OP, the story’s antagonist came to him and apologized for his actions the day before and explained why he acted that way. He also added that during his lunch break, he planned to apologize to the cashier as well.
This confused the original poster on what to do. He apologized, so continuing with his plan seemed kind of brutal. So, he ended up not doing that and instead simply told the man that kindness is free and he should practice it more often.
But it soon became apparent that the boss knew about the incident in Walmart. The OP guesses that either the cashier or the manager reported it. Either way, he hopes that the whole situation ends up being a good lesson for the entitled man, and maybe next time before tormenting shop employees, he will think twice.
Many people in the comments under the post had the same hope. Yet, some of them were a bit more negative as, in their eyes, Eric’s explanation about personal issues doesn’t justify his racist comments.
Well, as the OP pointed out in some of the replies to the comments, racism is definitely not justifiable, but at least he is trying to own up to his mistakes by apologizing. As it was said in the TV show “The Good Place”: “What matters is if they’re trying to be better today than they were yesterday.” So, apologizing and making the first step toward being a better version of yourself is always a good thing, even if that comes from unpleasant situations.
In the end, the author, along with people online, hoped that the whole situation taught the man to act better in the future
Image credits: metalslug53
Image credits: Vinicius "amnx" Amano (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Giorgio Trovato (not the actual photo)
Image credits: metalslug53
Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
