This happened a few years ago, and I have not gone back to this chain of oil change shops since, but I was curious what others would have done in this situation.
DF and I were waiting for our oil to be changed. There was one other woman waiting in the lobby and an employee behind the desk. The TV was showing the news. A story came on about a social/political issue that is a very big part of my life, so I started to watch the TV. The other woman starting making sniffing and huffing noises and I looked over at her to see what was going on. She was glaring at the TV and when she noticed me looking at her, she started to say that she couldn't believe the nerve of CNN to put such garbage on the news and the whole world was going to hell in a handbasket because of this issue and how dare those people involved hold their opinions, etc. I really did not want to engage in any debate about it as it's kind of a personal issue, but I was pretty shocked that someone would say things like that among strangers, so I just raised my eyebrows and said "hmm" and went back to watching.
She continued on, saying crazier and more hateful things, so I finally said "Excuse me, but I'm trying to hear this." Then she accused me of being a supporter of this issue and started saying that all people involved deserved to die and other very disturbing and violent things. I admit, upon hearing that she thought I should die and how she'd like it to happen, I lost my temper and said "Yes, I am, and you are a vile waste of air." Throughout this, the guy behind the desk was just watching and occasionally kind of chuckling and would not meet my eye any of the times I looked at him. I went up to the counter and asked if they had started service on our car and was told no, so I went outside and told them to stop and that we would be leaving because the woman inside was saying hateful and violent things and had indirectly threatened to kill me over this political issue and the employee inside did nothing but watch and laugh at the situation, despite being able to hear what was being said. The guy I was speaking to at this point was the manager and he tried to convince us to stay and said he would have her leave immediately, but I told him that I was not interested in giving my money to an establishment that allowed customers to talk to other customers like that or that found humor in something like that. In the end, we did leave without getting our oil changed and went elsewhere.
How would you have handled that situation? Was it an overreaction on my part to leave and never go back?
