A woman shared a story on Reddit about being mistaken for a Target employee while shopping and then being confronted by a store manager who accused her of breaking dress code rules. The post was shared on the subreddit r/IDontWorkHereLady by a user named Agile_Worldliness238.
According to the post, the woman said she is often mistaken for a store worker at places like Costco, Walmart, Target, Meijer, and Woodman’s. She said she does not wear colors that match employee uniforms and often does the opposite, but people still ask her for help finding items.
The incident she described took place at a Target store last month. She said she was in the beauty aisle, moving body wash containers around to find her preferred scent, when a woman approached her and, in a rude manner, asked where an item was located.
Customer accuses the shopper of ignoring her request for help
The woman said she was wearing a red shirt at the time, which may have added to the confusion. She told the other shopper she was not sure where the item was. Before she could clarify that she did not work at the store, the woman cut her off and said it was her job to look up the item.
She said she responded, “that’s not my job,” to which the other woman scoffed and said her manager would hear about it. She then clarified, “look I don’t work here, so I can’t help you.” The woman scoffed again and walked away.
After paying for her items at self-checkout, she said she was heading toward the exit when someone called out, “Excuse me!” She kept walking but was then stopped by someone yelling, “Where do you think you’re going!?”
She turned around with her receipt in hand to show she had paid for her items. Other Target customers have also had unusual run-ins with the retailer, including one shopper who heard her license plate called out over a loudspeaker only to find her car had been damaged.
The person who stopped her was a Target employee who appeared to be a manager. According to the post, the manager said, “You realize you are not in proper uniform! You do know that’s grounds for termination?!” The manager reportedly looked her up and down while she was wearing a red shirt and shorts.
The woman replied, “I didn’t know I needed a uniform to shop here?” She said the manager responded, “You think you’re so funny don’t you!” She then told the manager, “well I don’t work for you so I don’t know why it matters.”
At that point, the manager reportedly looked at her again and noticed she was holding her purse, car keys, a bag of purchased items, and her receipt. The manager said, “I am so sorry. That woman pointed you out and I thought you were someone else.” The original customer who had approached her, whom the poster later referred to as “Karen,” reportedly watched the exchange from near the store’s doors.
The woman said she told the manager, “maybe you should pay more attention to what your actual employees look like so the next time Karen comes and tries to get fired you don’t try to fire someone who doesn’t work here.”
She said the manager nodded and walked away, and a man near her own age who witnessed the exchange laughed as she left. She ended her post by saying she went to a Michaels craft store afterward.
The post received attention on the subreddit, with many commenters sharing similar experiences of being mistaken for store employees. Retail hiring practices at Target have also drawn scrutiny elsewhere, including a case in which a job applicant said she was turned down for a shelf-stocking position and questioned the reasons behind the decision.
One commenter wrote, “I feel your pain. I have been accused of working in almost every store I have ever shopped in. Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, Best Buy, Petsmart, Target, and the most random stores you can think of. I am never wearing the colours.”
Another commenter questioned the manager’s actions, writing, “What kinda manager doesnt even know what their personnel looks like.”
One user pointed out a possible issue with how the manager handled the situation, stating, “Even if this woman did work there, what was the grounds for termination? It sounds like the Target employee was just caving to this demented Karen’s demands without even having an actual reason to fire someone.”
Another commenter added, “Man, even if you did work there, that manager doesn’t get to bark at you and treat you like a child.”
Responding to a comment, Agile_Worldliness238 wrote, “This literally describes my life!!! I have been in small businesses outside of my home state while on vacation and asked about stock levels if they have a certain item and have to say ‘So sorry but I’m actually from Illinois so I have no clue’ for the other person to apologize to me.”
Published: Aug 11, 2026 01:30 pm