Man Who Got Supermarket Employee Fired For Giving His Wife His Number Wonders If He Overreacted
Did he do the right thing?
novak.elcic / Shutterstock.com A man and his wife in their early thirties were shopping at their local supermarket when the husband noticed a young man following them throughout the store. After purchasing their items and heading to the car, the husband noticed a note on their car that had a number on it, leading him to go into the store and figure out that it was the man from earlier.
The man made a scene, causing the employee to get fired for flirting with his wife.
His wife, clearly upset with the way that he acted, made him feel like he overreacted and might’ve been wrong for causing a scene and leading the worker to get fired. As such, he decided to ask Reddit whether or not he was in the wrong.
After mentioning that he wasn’t sure if the young man was really following them, he wrote that the employee “kept trying to start conversations with her by offering to get her xyz products. I felt annoyed plus the guy was roughly 21-22 so 10 years younger than me.”
So, not only was this guy likely following them, but he was also talking to his wife while he was right there the whole time. After they finished their shopping and headed to the car, the husband explained how he figured out it was the young man’s number on the note.
“[My] wife asked that I throw it away and get in the car but I took the note, walked inside the supermarket and started dialing the number,” he continued. “I wait a few seconds and a phone starts ringing. I look near the register and see my guy standing there with a puzzled look on his face looking at his phone."
The husband admitted that he was loudly and openly talking to this man about the situation, who denied it the whole time.
“I demand to see the manager while the guy keeps denying saying he had no idea how his number got there,” he continued. “The manager comes in minutes later and I tell him everything. He apologetically agrees it was inappropriate, unprofessional, and borderline harassment. He then tells the guy to go to the back and then tells me he'll take care of it then further apologizes to my wife.”
He later finds out that the young man was fired, causing the man and his wife to get into a dispute about the situation and the way he acted.
“I said she was being unreasonable to think I made him lose his job,” he explained. "She said no but I could've tossed the note instead of making a scene and causing this college student (how did she know?) to lose his income when it's a frequent thing for guys that age to act like that.”
Most people agreed that the husband's reaction was called for.
A lot of people argued that he ignored his wife’s wishes to let it go and not do anything else about it, but it goes deeper than that. That young man was following them through the store, talking to the man’s wife, and left his phone number in a note on her car. Aside from the context he gave earlier that she often frequents that supermarket, how in the world would the young man know that was her car without having followed her before on another occasion?
Others noted that this was likely not the first person to experience this situation, which could progress to something worse like following someone home instead of just around the store. In fact, according to the Stalking Prevention, Awareness, & Resource Center (SPARC), this employee's behavior does, in fact, meet the official definition of stalking.
The right thing to do was to call him out on his behavior and get the attention of his higher-ups, however, one person noted in an edited comment that perhaps the situation could've been taken care of privately rather than making a scene at the store.
Photo: Reddit
“Having a calm conversation with his wife when they got home him discussing why he thinks they should report it and letting her say her piece in a more private quiet place where she likely would’ve felt safer than in front of the guy," they wrote. "Generally the employee can eventually learn more about the exact details of why they were fired if they push it far enough, but if he’s doing it to other women he’s unlikely to realize who it was who reported him by a statement like 'you’re being terminated for your conduct with female employees.'"
This could've allowed the woman to distance herself from the situation.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics.