Hello, do you work here? No? Well, maybe you could still help me with something, please?
There, that seems like a pretty easy way to be kind when you confuse someone as an employee. If they say they cannot help, then thank them for their time anyway and move on. It really isn’t that difficult. And yet, some entitled people decide to choose the spicy route. Snapping at strangers should not be your go-to move. If you are doing that, then I’m sorry, you might be a Karen…
In the case of Redditor u/Curious_Reference_82, they turned that stranger’s sass into a chance to teach a valuable life lesson. They are complete book nerds; they know their local bookstore pretty well. So well, in fact, that they might be accidentally dressing similarly to the actual employees… On a particularly busy day at the shop, a stranger came in and started talking to them as if they worked there. They told them they are not an employee, and the stranger had the audacity to give them sass. Like, it’s their fault they don’t work there. Huh?
The Redditor’s initial response was to just ignore them and walk away. But after they did their shopping and returned to the scene of the crime, which happened to be near the long checkout lines, they noticed the stranger was still standing there looking confused. He supposed they were actually never able to find an actual employee to help them.
Instead of being petty and thinking, “That’s what they get!” the Redditor decided to help. Because he actually did know where the book this stranger was looking for. So he showed him kindness and empathy. And guess what? The stranger’s demeanor totally changed, and he turned into a nice person! Sometimes it just takes kindness from a stranger to change a person.




