the weird guilt of leaving a shop without buying anythingeveryday life•5w ago

walked in just to look. found nothing i wanted. now have to walk past the staff empty-handed like i'm doing something wrong. make awkward eye contact with the worker who greeted me enthusiastically ten minutes ago. they look disappointed. i feel bad. neither of us needed this interaction. sometimes i'll buy something small i don't want just to avoid the awkwardness. they've won. the system works.