Worst BF Experience happened today...pls comment

I went to my local grocery store to purchase about ten items. I had a cart with me so my feet we somewhat shielded just in case.

When entering the checkout, a younger construction worker (maybe 28?) walked by me and said "Bud, you don't have any shoes. You can't come in here"

Below is the conversation. I was a reporter once so I have a good memory of what occured.

"Who are you? Do you work here?"

"Yeah, I do work for them."

"How is this your business?"

"It is"

"No it's not so shut the hell up."

As I am checking out, he come to the line with a case of water. Clearly, he doesn't work there. We are now separated by an older woman in the line.

"That guy doesn't have any shoes," saying to the woman in line.

"How is this your business?"

"It is. It's against the law."

"No it's not. There are no laws."

"Yeah there is. It's on the door"

"Again, how is this your business?" I then cut in front of the woman and approach the guy face to face.

"I don't want to be in the middle of this," said the old woman

"How is this your business? Do you have anything else to do? What if I don't like people with hats shopping here?"

"SUPERVISOR TO CASH. SUPERVISOR TO CASH"

"Just keep your mouth shut," I said.

My friend, a supervisor, came out. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing Tammy. Everything's fine"

'You sure?"

"Yeah, apparently someone can't keep their opinions to themselves"

"Ok," she said and went back to her office.

As I went to my car, the guy comes out, drops the case of water and says, "Do you want to GO? Let's GO MAN, RIGHT HERE!"

"Dude, get out of here. You're wasting my time."

"ZEIG HEIL!!", pounding his chest giving the Nazi salute.

"HAHAHAHA" I said, laughing at him


Ok, is there any way I could've handled this better? I do have minor anger management problem, so keep this is mind.

 

I don't think you overreacted. They were being rude and making too big of a deal that you were not wearing shoes. You weren't breaking any rules and if you don't want to wear shows you don't have to.

His Nazi salute was weird though, I would have laughed at him too.

 

Thanks! Thought I did, but realized I was up against someone who hadn't evolved from the primordial ooze yet.

Hoping to hear from others!

 

Thats happened to me in a grocery store. One of the cashiers whose line I never seem to be in and just keeps repeating herself so I figure she is dogmatic at best. This guy wanted to start a fight inside the store and when he got shut down he wanted to continue. And yeh the salute is weird.

 

Crazy guy obviously had issues of anger beyond you. You were harassed, it's abuse and not acceptable.
He sounds like the kind of guy who would have picked on anyone displaying any sign of subversion or difference.
He's the one having a bad day, don't let it upset yours

Sx

 

+1 comment.

 

Perhaps a bit early to go with shut the hell up. It's only the 3rd thing you've said to him. You need to be superficially polite and keep smiling. Let them be the one to lose their temper first and you'll look good to anyone standing around, including the shop staff, who, if they see someone getting angry at a customer who's remaining calm will gravitate towards your defence.

here I wouldn't have jumped in so readily. The woman turned out not to want to get involved which is quite common. When someone talks to someone else about me I always wait to hear what the other person has to say - it's very useful to know which way the other person is leaning before you turn it into a three way conversation.

Don't rush into playing all your cards so soon. I get the impression that no-one else in the shop really fancied getting involved so you could quite easily have ignored the rest of what this person said. Once you've made it clear that you don't see how it's any of his business and he's disregarded what you have to say it's not going to go anywhere else.

Always be overly civil when you talk to complete strangers, it frustrates them because it looks like they're not getting to you and they will get angrier and angrier and look stupid while you just pretend nothing's happening. Remember that since you're not doing anything wrong you have to act that way. It's not good getting defensive because it looks like you have something to defend. Try to be patronising if you can. Treat it as an opportunity to educate someone patiently. It'll really wind them up which is a bonus, but the main aim is to demonstrate that going barefoot is a perfectly valid choice built on sensible logic and people are free to enquire about it, and if they're rude then you can just ignore them. You don't want to give the impression to innocent but curious bystanders that you're not approachable.

Remember when you go barefoot it's the most memorable thing about you to anyone who doesn't know you, and people will associate you with what it means to be a barefooter. So if you're out barefoot and you do something positive people will remember you as the barefoot chap who did something positive and you will win friends more easily than someone who blends into the background. Not only that but every subsequent barefooter they see, they will pre judge to be a good guy because of your actions. And the opposite is true. If you come out of a situation not looking your best then you'll be remembered and it'll negatively impact people's future impressions of all of us.

We're all in it for each other.

 

Yes, Sax Machine...this would've been a much better approach. Having said that, my anger does get the best of me when my integrity is being questioned.

Looking back on this, I should've handled it by being more subdued.

Trust me, I;m sure this won't be the last time this happens this year;

Hopefully, I won't run into another Neo-Nazi. LOL!

Thanks for all your feedback...and more is always welcome.

 

I probably would have snapped on him way worse.
Basically my feelings are, stfu and mind your own business.

 

if you've got an anger control issue then youre keeping it at bay alright. way better than me anyways.

 

thinking again about the last nazi saluting part, i wonder what if you actually replied the nazi salute pretending you were a fucking nazi, too. just to keep the nutcase on his toes. in a progression of mindfuck one could pull out the argument that afaik only some talmud sect deemed being barefoot as inappropriate and beastlike... and call him a jew in disguise.
now THIS should have driven that guy batshit for good!

 

Then again, if other people observe it, you both lose.

 

Yes, the Zieg Heil threw me for a loop, and I'm a white guy!!!

 

He was probably upset that you were happy. It appears his life sucks.

 

I was trying to explain what happened to a co-worker...saying that if you went into a Dairy Queen with no shirt...and some guy said, "Hey, you got no shirt on...you can't come in here". He agreed it was kind of stupid.

Now, if I wasn't wearing any pants.....

 

I didn't read all of the post but next time, if it isn't law where you are at, then tell him you have neuropathy in your feet and can't wear shoes some days. If he asks what that is tell him it's a nerve disease and he should mind his own business. Bets are he won't fight it with you but will feel he stepped on the wrong toes, so to speak.
An old woman passed by me once and we clicked elbows, she turned to look back at me as I was about to say "sorry" and she came up with "how rude!" as if it was all my fault.
I came back with, "Sorry, I have no feeling in my prosthetic arm" she said "I'm so sorry" Sometimes a white lie is all it takes to bring em down hard, hahahaha. My friend said "Sometimes your such an ass" as she laughed her ass off.

 

I disagree. You have no obligation to justify what you do and making excuses suggests that you agree it's not ideal. It also implies that those without such special circumstances should be criticised for choosing to go barefoot freely. Better to be honest and say you prefer it and you've been doing it long enough to know better than some nosey twunt who's never tried it. Or of course you are free to say nothing at all if you prefer.

 

You can disagree if you like but OP asked is there another way so as to avoid a confrontation like what happened. Sometimes lying to a nosy person puts em at a disadvantage and they got nothing left. Not like that one person is going to tell the world he now thinks it's ok for disabled but not others just because you lied to save a situation.