ma’am, for the third time, I don’t work here…
I was inside an Adidas outlet store just shopping for shoes. I don’t work for Adidas, let alone at the store I was shopping at. I was there in joggers (not Adidas), a sweatshirt, and Nike sneakers. A woman came up to me with a box of shoes as I was trying to shop and asked me if they had it in a specific size. I said “oh I’m sorry I don’t work here,” to which she responded “oh I’m sorry you just look so athletic.”
I thought it was funny and kind of just brushed it off. Maybe because I work retail I made some sort of eye contact with her that she mistook for me wondering if she needed help? Anyway, I just kept shopping. I went into another aisle and she approached me yet again with the box of shoes, and asked if the store had it in another size. I said “ma’am, I don’t work here.” She laughed and apologized again and walked away.
I cant even make this up… she approached me a third time just minutes later and said “I cant find anyone to help me. I just want to know if these shoes are available in another size.” I was a little annoyed and told her I would like some space and that she should find an associate. She just kept standing there looking at me and I ended up walking up to the cashier and asking them to find someone so I could shop in peace.
Truly I’m not sure why she was so fixated on me helping her but I haven’t been back to that Adidas since.
update: there’s a few of people saying that she was hitting on me… I was a 19-20 y/o girl and this was an older woman, probably in her late 40s. I think she was commenting on my outfit being athletic rather than me, based on the context. While that would be flattering I just don’t think that was the case! By calling me athletic I think she was explaining her logic in approaching me.