A mum was in tears after venturing into Greggs to buy some sausage rolls when she was accused of not paying.
The mum-of-three, who is in her 40s, visited the popular high street bakery chain with a pushchair in tow and after getting her coveted pastries, she popped the cash on the counter before turning to attend to something in the pram. Once sorted, she picked up the sausage rolls to leave but a staff member told her she hadn't paid for them.
Feeling embarrassed, the mum was sure she'd put the cash on the counter and pointed this out to the member of staff, who insisted the sausage rolls had not been paid for. She then started to cry and before long, was "properly blubbering".
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Wondering if her emotional reaction was out of the ordinary, she took to Mumsnet's popular Am I Being Unreasonable (AIBU) forum to seek advice. In a post titled "would you have cried?", she penned: "Went to Greggs to buy sausage rolls, counted out the cash and put it [on] the side, turned away to sort something in the buggy, picked up my sausage rolls.
"She says you haven't paid. Not rude just politely firm, I insisted I had as I'd paid cash, remember putting it on the counter. She maintained I [definitely] hadn't as till hadn't opened. I'm checking the buggy in case I've put it back my pockets, my bra the lot. No cash. So I'm saying but I must have, I don't have it any more and start getting upset.
"She calls a colleague over, someone offers to pay and by now I'm properly crying because I'm embarrassed someone might think I'm trying to steal sausage rolls. Someone else offers to pay, staff again refuse to take the money and basically put it through the till as paid. But by now I'm properly blubbering and saying I'm sorry and that I don't want them to think I'd try and steal it etc. They were [very] kind, reassured me it was probably a customer who'd picked it up and offered me a cup of tea.
"Humiliated enough I thank them and leave. But as I'm walking through town looking like I've just cried it occurs to me again that this isn't a proportional response, and that everyone must think I'm weird to cry so easily and that at 40 with three kids I should do better. Is it reasonable to say that I'm being pathetic and need to toughen up already and anyone else would have breezily just laughed it off? Or am I being unreasonable to myself and my response to stress is normal?"
The mum's post was met with a flurry of responses from fellow Mumsnet users, keen to share their thoughts. One said: "Aww don't worry, I think I'd cry too, it sounds embarrassing and uncomfortable, and who wouldn't feel a bit s*** at being sort of accused of attempted theft?"
Another said: "I would prob have cried too". A third suggested: "Don't know how I'd react to be honest, it would probably depend on my mood. Most days I think I'd just laugh it off, if I was feeling low though it might be the thing to tip me over the edge. It's likely the shop has CCTV so the incident may have been recorded. If you're happy to pay an admin fee of maximum £10 you can demand a copy of any CCTV footage that you were captured on. Just supply them with a photograph so they know who you are and give them the date/time/location."
A fourth commented: "Last time I heard about something like this (though not in Greggs, in a Premier Stores!) it was a staff member who was taking the money. I think you should ask for the CCTV footage because you've been robbed."
And another said: "I'd have been very distressed by that. A horrible lesson learned that people are dishonest and will steal money left on the counter. You always put it in the sales persons hand."
One Mumsnet user said: "I think something that seems superficially minor could be the tip of the iceberg, or the last straw, if you are already stressed, upset or depressed. Don't beat yourself up about it."
Another added: "Oh bless you. Honestly, no I don’t think I would have cried in that situation at this point in my life but I know at other points in my life I would have cried. Those times would have been when I was feeling more vulnerable for other reasons - whether financially insecure or just not in a great place emotionally. So I suspect your reaction may be because of how you are feeling generally".
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