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Woman Berated By Karen Over Her “Shameful” Outfit, Watches Her Audacity Change To Embarrassment
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Woman Berated By Karen Over Her “Shameful” Outfit, Watches Her Audacity Change To Embarrassment

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You never know when you might meet your doppelganger and what situations such an encounter might lead to. For this redditor, bearing an uncanny resemblance to someone else led to a lecture from an elderly lady at the store.

The latter took the redditor for an employee and demanded to talk to the manager about her clothing. But when she did, she was only proven to be wrong—the woman indeed wasn’t an employee of the store; but Linda was.

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    Work attire might require people to dress according to certain rules

    Image credits: Dasha Kvitka / pexels (not the actual photo)

    The OP’s clothing was too revealing for work, because she didn’t work at the store where she met a shopper convinced otherwise

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    Image credits: Kampus Production / pexels (not the actual photo)

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    Image credits: Gustavo Fring / pexels (not the actual photo)

    Image credits: anon

    Uniforms can help customers spot the employee easier

    Many stores require their employees to wear uniforms, the purpose of which—among other things—is to help people distinguish them from fellow shoppers and avoid situations such as the one the OP found herself in.

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    During the pre-pandemic times—before we made pajamas the official work attire—quite a few businesses seemingly required their employees to wear a uniform; a 2018 study in Australia found that roughly half of employed individuals did. And the majority of consumers seem to support such a decision: 94% of them say that it helps them distinguish the workers in a mass of people and nearly as many believe that smart uniforms reflect well on the brand. (Maybe that’s why only 1% of those surveyed said they wouldn’t take a job at a workplace where a uniform is mandatory.)

    As for the reasons employees themselves enjoy uniforms, they like not having to think twice about what to wear, not having to buy work clothes, the convenience of how practical the uniforms are for the job, and the standing-out-in-the-crowd factor as well.

    Image credits: Amina Filkins / pexels (not the actual photo)

    Certain ways of dressing can even influence our achievements at work

    Not all businesses that have regulations regarding clothing have uniforms, though. In the US, for instance, only roughly 23% of employees wear them to work most days, while the majority—41% to be exact—opt for something that fits within the definition of ‘business casual’.

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    Whether it’s a uniform or a dress code policy, a certain way of dressing can have an effect on one’s achievements at work. Studies show that the clothing we choose tends to influence our mental and physical performance.

    For instance, wearing formal business attire reportedly improves abstract thinking abilities, choosing a white lab coat (or something resembling it, at least) tends to improve people’s focus, and staying away from informal clothing can help them succeed at negotiating.

    But even though all these examples seem to favor the somewhat conventional professional decking out, studies also suggest that people showing a pinch of personality through their clothing—a pair of fun shoes, for instance—can take the way others view them even one step further in the positive direction.

    Image credits: John Diez / pexels (not the actual photo)

    The chances of meeting your doppelganger on a regular day are slim

    Even though uniforms seem to clearly help people distinguish employees from random passersby, in the OP’s case, it wasn’t only lack of one that got the elderly shopper confused; it was the redditor’s uncanny resemblance to a person that actually worked there.

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    The odds of meeting your doppelganger in real life are slim, at best; research suggests that the chance of a single pair of doppelgangers existing anywhere in the world is one in 135. However, running into a lookalike is arguably far more likely.

    According to Francois Brunelle, a photographer and the mastermind behind the I’m not a look-alike project dedicated to taking photographs of similar-looking people around the world, it’s about the sum of the parts rather than one feature. The artist suggested that when seen apart, the subjects of his photographs might look like exact clones, but it’s when you put them next to each other when you really start to notice the differences, BBC reports.

    And that’s what the store manager in the OP’s story did—he called the redditor’s lookalike, Linda and asked her to stand next to the shopper. That’s when the elderly woman realized her mistake, but even then she felt the urge to make one final remark about the OP’s appearance.

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    Image credits: Lucretius Mooka / pexels (not the actual photo)

    Fellow redditors shared their thoughts in the comments

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    Some seem to have encountered similar situations themselves

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    Miglė Miliūtė

    Miglė Miliūtė

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    A writer here at Bored Panda, I am a lover of good music, good food, and good company, which makes food-related topics and feel-good stories my favorite ones to cover. Passionate about traveling and concerts, I constantly seek occasions to visit places yet personally unexplored. I also enjoy spending free time outdoors, trying out different sports—even if I don’t look too graceful at it—or socializing over a cup of coffee.

    Read less »
    Miglė Miliūtė

    Miglė Miliūtė

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    A writer here at Bored Panda, I am a lover of good music, good food, and good company, which makes food-related topics and feel-good stories my favorite ones to cover. Passionate about traveling and concerts, I constantly seek occasions to visit places yet personally unexplored. I also enjoy spending free time outdoors, trying out different sports—even if I don’t look too graceful at it—or socializing over a cup of coffee.

    Gabija Saveiskyte

    Gabija Saveiskyte

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    Hi there! I am a Visual Editor at Bored Panda. My job is to ensure that all the articles are aesthetically pleasing. I get to work with a variety of topics ranging from all the relationship drama to lots and lots of memes and, my personal favorites, funny cute cats. When I am not perfecting the images, you can find me reading with a cup of matcha latte and a cat in my lap, taking photos (of my cat), getting lost in the forest, or simply cuddling with my cat... Did I mention that I love cats?

    Read less »

    Gabija Saveiskyte

    Gabija Saveiskyte

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    Hi there! I am a Visual Editor at Bored Panda. My job is to ensure that all the articles are aesthetically pleasing. I get to work with a variety of topics ranging from all the relationship drama to lots and lots of memes and, my personal favorites, funny cute cats. When I am not perfecting the images, you can find me reading with a cup of matcha latte and a cat in my lap, taking photos (of my cat), getting lost in the forest, or simply cuddling with my cat... Did I mention that I love cats?

    What do you think ?
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    Caro Caro
    Community Member
    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    "How dare you look so young and pretty. I'm jealous." Free translation from Caro Caro.

    Roan The Demon Kitty
    Community Member
    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    yet I get told "shouldn't you dress more feminine?" because I prefer looser clothes that hide my figure. You literally can't win with some of these old hags. I'm literally genderfluid anyway. I've always been androgynous, but can choose to be feminine any time I damn want, and I do. I own dresses, and I own sweatpants. I'll wear whatever the hell I want.

    Manny
    Community Member
    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I noticed a lot of old people have nothing better to do than butt in everyone's business whether it's about how they dress, the music, or just having fun in general. It's almost like they are so old and out of it that they forget how they looked and acted when they were young.

    Load More Comments
    Caro Caro
    Community Member
    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    "How dare you look so young and pretty. I'm jealous." Free translation from Caro Caro.

    Roan The Demon Kitty
    Community Member
    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    yet I get told "shouldn't you dress more feminine?" because I prefer looser clothes that hide my figure. You literally can't win with some of these old hags. I'm literally genderfluid anyway. I've always been androgynous, but can choose to be feminine any time I damn want, and I do. I own dresses, and I own sweatpants. I'll wear whatever the hell I want.

    Manny
    Community Member
    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I noticed a lot of old people have nothing better to do than butt in everyone's business whether it's about how they dress, the music, or just having fun in general. It's almost like they are so old and out of it that they forget how they looked and acted when they were young.

    Load More Comments
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