Once in a while I visit a liquor store.  During Covid, they were handy for picking up some grain alcohol to make my alternative hand sanitizer, but they also have plenty of less toxic and tastier offerings.  My most local store never seemed to have any problem with my feet for years, but then they recently hired a couple of newer people and that's when the issues started.  However, these were quickly laid to rest because I fought back and escalated.

As I came up to the counter, the guy behind it started in with "next time you're in here, can you wear some shoes, mumbledy mumbledy health code, yadda yadda."  I told him I don't wear shoes, and the whole "health regulations" thing is a myth and an old 1960s-era lie which he could affirm for himself with five minutes on the internet.  Then it was "there's broken glass and you'll get hurt", which I also debunked and commented that their floors were more pristine than in my own house, and that I lead hikes in the woods, etc.  Then he had the balls to say something like "Don't give me a hard time, I *am* serving you."  So who was giving *who* a "hard time" in the first place?!  Ya gotta love these ignoramuses who start an argument and then say they don't want to have an argument.  Since I wanted to just finish and get out of there at the time, I just paid and left.  The guy was being such a dick about it and essentially threatening to kick me out empty-handed, this needed addressing.  Because this had NEVER happened in this store before I was quite taken aback at the time, and wanted to let it percolate in my mind before further action.

I called the place the next morning and asked if the owner was there.  Now, I wasn't sure if the guy in question was the (new?) owner, since the store had some personnel shifts recently and he could have been.  The fellow I reached on the phone said "this is he", so I opened with "did you and I have a conversation yesterday about footwear?"  He just seemed confused, "footwear?"  "Yes, footwear, like *shoes*."  "No, I don't know anything about that..."  So I quickly determined that I was talking to a different person, which exactly was what I had hoped for, and related the whole interaction from the previous day.

The owner seemed genuinely concerned, saying "we shouldn't be doing that, we just serve our customers" and saying he'd find out who the employee was and put an immediate stop to this problem.  I reassured him that there is a lot of prejudice around the topic and the employee likely just didn't know the facts to begin with, but to start bullying a good-faith customer over harmless lifestyle choices?  We agreed, not acceptable.  I mentioned that according to google-maps information, some of the smallish chain's location info mentions "LGBTQ+ friendly" which would be a good indicator of diversity acceptance, and why shouldn't that easily extend to anyone?  He agreed, we chatted a little more about various things including the fact that I lead hikes [unshod] in a nearby woodland park every week, and it was all very positive and told me that the offending employee was now in a spot of trouble once the owner figured out who it was.

So, problem solved, or in the process of being solved.  If the outcome hadn't been like this, on tap I had something like "I can just go farther afield, where I already know I'm freely welcomed in like any other customer, so why do you have to be the exception?"  But I didn't need to play that card, which I greatly appreciated.  We ended the call on very good terms.  Maybe before the next tech event where it's appropriate to contribute a good single-malt, I'll go back there and throw more money at them.  That, along with unhampered future presence in their store, is the double meaning of them "getting the green"!  This should stand as an important lesson for the right way to conduct a retail business.