TIFU by confronting someone about petting a service dog… and then overreacting when he snapped back

Obligatory “not actually today”. This was back when I was working at a very busy convenience store chain at the front counter. I was very friendly with most of our regulars and got consistently good reviews, but unbeknownst to most people, I’m autistic/ADHD and just very good at masking when in Customer Service mode. But sometimes the mask slips and it slips BAD. Like painful for everyone involved.

A regular customer has his service dog with him all the time. This is a legit service animal, not an emotional support dog - he’s extremely well behaved and trained to support this customer for seizures if I remember correctly. Now, if you’re like me, you know that you are not supposed to touch a service animal without asking. Frankly, I don’t think you should ever touch ANY pet without asking, because you don’t know how the animal will react. But if you’re like me, you also know people are idiots and assholes and don’t care about things like that.

On this particular day, I ring up Dog Owner and while I’m bagging his things, Dog Petter reaches down and pets the dog. Not a single word to the owner, no indication he’s going to do that, nothing. Dog Owner doesn’t react and neither does the dog, he’s clearly used to people being asshats. So am I, but on this particular day, I decided to speak up.

While ringing up Dog Petter, I offhandedly remark with a smile, “Oh, did you know you shouldn’t pet service animals without asking? It’s rude and the dog is working.”

I expect Dog Petter to maybe ignore me, maybe apologize if I’m lucky and say he didn’t know. Instead, he doubles down and says, “If the owner didn’t say anything, then it’s fine. Dogs want to be pet.”

I quickly replied, “But you shouldn’t pet an animal that doesn’t belong to you without asking, even if it isn’t a service animal.”

Dog Petter argues back, “If they didn’t want someone to pet their dog, they shouldn’t have it in public. And why don’t you mind your own goddamn business?”

To be honest, I should not have said anything. I should have let it go, because it was not technically my business, but I have a very strong sense of right and wrong and I was upset that this person was committing what I saw as an injustice against a disabled person’s service dog.

However, I also feel my emotions very strongly, as in a physical reaction, and I’ve had a history of hurting myself when those emotions are too strong. Things like shame, guilt, and embarrassment feel like uncontrollable panic attacks. (I have, since this incident, gotten better about it and have healthier outlets) This is necessary information to explain what happens next.

I paused what I was doing, said “I’m very sorry,” and promptly slammed my own head down into the countertop in front of me.

It was very loud. I ended up on the floor and there was a lot of commotion, and then I was further embarrassed because I genuinely hadn’t meant to do that - there was no conscious thought between the apology and the impact. Then I had to explain to my boss who was screaming at the customer that no one else did that to me, I had done it myself, and then I had to explain the same thing to the paramedics, and then I got carted off to the ER because I admitted to harming myself. Typical Tuesday at that point in my life. Like I said, I’ve gotten better and do not do things like this anymore. (I’ve switched to running my hands under cold water or putting ice in my mouth when I feel a panic coming on.)

Apparently the Dog Petter went back and apologized to my manager, but stopped coming to our location after that. I’m still embarrassed by the entire thing to this day, some four years later. But I hope that guy remembers not to pet service animals without asking. (Side note: I’ve petted lots of dogs, service or otherwise. But you have to ask politely first!)

TL;DR: Guy pets service dog, I tell Guy not to pet service dog, Guy snaps at me and I slam my head into a counter out of embarrassment.