I have been having trouble with fluid in my ears. It makes them ring, roar, or pop and then hurt intensely. The otolaryngologist told me to chew gum when that happens. He said it helps drain some of the fluid.

We were in a floor covering store getting floor covering and shower tile. A lady helped us with the shower tile and was a wealth of information and very nice. She got called to the front, and another guy helped us with the flooring. It took a long time. Music was booming over the loudspeaker, and they cut in constantly and extremely loudly, paging people, and the store was very cold. Between the loudness and my teeth chattering, my ears were beginning to hurt. I put a stick of gum in my mouth to keep my teeth from chattering and hopefully stop the noises and pain in my ears.

The lady at the only cash register that was open was the nice lady who had helped us with the shower tile. When we walked up I put my gum in the trash can behind us. She just went off about grown people who chew gum. It kinda shocked me, but then she just went off on me. I mean went off and it just kept going. Loudly. She went on about how rude it was, and only low-life people would chew gum...

When she paused for a breath, I apologized. She then apologized and told us that her dad wouldn't let them chew gum and would take a leather belt to them if he ever caught them, and she just couldn't stand people chewing gum. Said that she had made a mistake and had to start all over because my having gum upset her so much. She started another tirade. I apologized again and went to the car.

When my husband came out almost 30 minutes later, he said she totally messed up the ticket 4 more times, screaming that it was my fault because every time I dared to chew gum around her. The manager finally had to come over, check him out, and send her home to calm down.

Other than not chewing gum in public ever again, even on a doctor's orders, what would you have done in this situation? It left me in a bit of shock and feeling very dirty. Since it was Memphis, I kept watching her hands because I didn't know if she was going to pull a gun on us or even come around (over) the counter at me. It was like meeting Jeckle and Hyde in person. She went from being so sweet to us to completely unhinged, not because I was chewing loudly in front of her or anything; I got rid of it as I walked up to the counter. She was just irate that I had it and was not going to shut up about it. It is still bothering me. I don't know if I could have handled it better or done something different to stem it. I hate to think of the poor lady so upset, but I also am still a bit in shock over how she acted. I guess perhaps I set off some PTSD but how do you handle that? Just one more reason that I go out less and less these days here.