I, too, have been mistaken for an employee because I will pick up or straighten up in a store. I learned this from my mother. My son works retail and he recently had an "elderly" (don't know how old he was.)man being rude to him, so my son told him that wasn't nice and to not do it. Can't believe he still has a job. He said that the man did stop being rude. Of course this is just a seasonal job. He now has a whole new respect for retail workers. I have tried to teach him to be nice to the retail workers because of all the other customers that are so rude to them. They do appreciate the kind, considerate ones that come along.