Do you hate when people break "script" or challeng

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I like trying new foods, it is one of my hobbies I guess you could say.

A few times in a hole in the wall ethnic place that clearly caters to expats I have been ordering or whatever, and the employee will stop and ask me something like "why do you want this?" or "why are you here?" obviously because I'm not from the country the food is from.

I absolutely HATE that, I freeze and don't know what to say, I don't have any script for it. I feel put on the spot and uncomfortable like they called me out. I honestly don't know if they realize how rude they seem to me, or how much it bothers me. They might honestly just be curious but argggh I hate being confronted like that just for trying to buy something someone is offering for sale.

Does anyone else feel like this? I have heard women used to get this treatment at hardware stores, or anywhere you stick out from the usual customer stereotype.

EDIT:I also can remember when this happened to me in a hobby type store/model car/airplane store, I was new to the area and had some free time so I just thought I'd stop in to see what they sold. As I was looking around within five minutes an employee asked me what I wanted and I said I was just browsing. He said I've never seen you before and I said I am new to the area(it was a very small rural town) and was just browsing. He gave an odd look and said why would anyone come in that shop unless they had something in mind to buy? It made me so uncomfortable not knowing what to say I left, which was a shame they had some really cool remote control airplanes I wish I had more guts to stay and shop!

Yes this happens to me many times, I just say that I'm interested and/or had a few minutes to spare so so decided to experience it.

Works for everything, from standing behind a fence at a construction site looking at what they are doing to being totally out of place at a cultural event.

Yes - I've walked out of stores when people in the store have treated me like that. Just turned around and walked right out, never to return.

This is weird because something similar to this happened to me yesterday outside the supermarket -- someone saying something odd and script-breaking, to which I was completely taken by surprise, and I wound up being very brusque and cold because I didn't understand the situation.

I had gone to my usual supermarket to get my weekly food shopping. I have a thing about the shopping cart -- I can't stand it when it has a bad wheel and you have to put in extra effort to keep the cart running straight ahead.

I also have a chronic muscle inflammation that is hugely painful, and I simply CAN'T push a bad cart all around a store; I need to find a smooth-running one.

So, I picked a bad cart, and as soon as I realized it was listing to one side, I turned around and pushed it back out to the row of carts, with much pain.

Suddenly this man, older, maybe 60, stopped me and asked in a very cold, almost angry, challenging manner:

"Why did you bring that back??"

It was such a weird moment that I was completely confused -- did he work for the store? Is he staff -- did I do something WRONG? Why the hell can't I bring back a shopping cart and choose another?

So, I was so confused by this unexpected question, that I went on the defensive -- I'd already had enough of people and was fed up with my day, plus the enormous pain in my muscles.

I said to him as coldly and hard-faced as he had spoken to me:

"It's listing to the side, and I HAVE A MUSCLE DISORDER." I don't often manage to stick up for myself, but I was tired and hurting and pissed off.

The man seemed to see my defensiveness because he then explained he only wanted to know because he had been about to use it.

I just rolled my eyes and walked away with a different cart.......

But it was just his weird demanding tone, and he was staring at me in the eye -- I seriously thought "what is he, staff, and why am I being asked this??"

If he'd just been relaxed and said "Oh, hey, is something wrong with that one?" I probably would have realized it was just a person looking for a cart that ran properly too. But instead this guy was so aggressive! "WHY DID YOU BRING THAT BACK?" It just freaked me for a minute.

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