(My mother has recently had both knees replaced, and is taking a while to heal. She’s able to walk, but when she knows she’ll be doing something that requires a lengthy amount of time on her feet, she prefers to use her personal motorized scooter. I have agreed to go shopping with her two months after her surgery, so I can push the cart for her. We have just finished checking out when she decides to visit the bathroom.)

Mom: “[My Name], sit in my chair while I’m gone.”

Me: “Why? I can watch the chair and the basket at the same time while sitting on the bench.”

Mom: “Just trust me. Sit on it. Otherwise, someone will try to take it.”

(Her chair doesn’t have a basket or the store’s logo anywhere on it, so it shouldn’t be mistaken for one of their carts, which is designed completely different from hers. However, I sit on it, and not even a minute goes by before I am approached.)

Woman: “I didn’t know lazy was a handicap. Get up; I need that cart.”

Me: “Excuse me? I’m not getting up. The store’s carts are at the front, with the buggies.”

Woman: “They’re all out. Get up. Looks like you’ve checked out already, anyway. Your fat a** can walk your buggy out of here.”

Me: “This is my mother’s personal scooter. F*** off.”

Woman: “B****, get your stupid, fat, lazy a** off! Before I get a manager!”

Me: “Okay, A: I don’t work here. B: This belongs to my mother. C: If we’re going to judge someone by looks alone, you seem to have walked around the store well enough by yourself to come all the way in from one side to the other, just to yell at me. You are not getting this chair!”

(My mother came out of the bathroom and, when I got up to let her sit back down, the other woman tried to sit in it. My mother yelled at her angrily, “Get out of my chair, you hag! I just had double knee replacement surgery!” It shocked the woman enough to hop out of the chair and scurry off. I still don’t understand why she was rude and trying to take a chair that didn’t belong to the store.)