Tired and Cranky

A customer--I'll call her Regina--came through my line the other night around 11:30. The countdown had started and I only had a 1/2 hour left! It had a been a pretty normal night all the way around. It had been a Goldilocks night--not too busy, not too slow, just steady. The customers hadn't been rude, they hadn't been too friendly (is there such a thing? Yeah, probably) And I hadn't been in a great mood but I wasn't in a bad mood either. So yeah, everything was alright--but around 11:00 it hit me that I was pretty tired. During that time I definitely don't think I was rude to anyone. I might have been "quick" with people--a fast smile, trying to hurry them through the line just because I was tired. Then Regina came though my line. She's a regular (and I admit, not one of my favorites because she never, ever helps bag her groceries) She always buys pretty heavy stuff (cases of soda, bags of dog food) and watches it get loaded it her cart without ever lifting a hand to help. Tonight she had a bag of dog food (as usual) and a case of water. Trying to avoid having to lift them I told her she could leave them in the cart and I could come around and scan them with the hand scanner. She said o.k. I rang her groceries and went over to scan the stuff in her cart. I might have sighed as a walked over and shifted the bag of dog food to find the bar code. Again, I wasn't in a good mood. I wasn't in a bad mood. I was just tired. I finished bagging her groceries and she paid. As she was walking away she said, "I don't know if your anger was directed at me or not but you have the worst attitude of any checker in this store." I have to say this really caught me off guard. I sort of widened my eyes in surprise and opened my mouth to say something. But what was I going to say? Did I explain to her that my attitude wasn't directed at her personally and that I was really just tired? No, I decided I didn't owe her an explanation. And I know I have never been overly friendly to Regina but I really don't think I have ever done anything to her that would lead her to say something like that to me. She almost said it like it had been something she was thinking for a while and tonight I had done something that had somehow pushed her over the edge. In the "real world" I think I am a friendly, patient and rational person. I think. At least I try to be. I try to be friendly when I go into work too. Most of other people I work with are really nice and friendly, too. Actually, I think generally most people who work in customer service are there because (well, besides the fact that they get paid to be there) they enjoy working with people. But we are all human. Sometimes you catch someone on an off day or they are going through something difficult or stressful in their personal life. Or they have been at work for hours already and are just waiting to get out of there are tired and cranky. So generally, if I'm not friendly to a customer it's almost never anything personal against the customer I'm just BORED OUT OF MY MIND! Although, I admit, sometimes it is personal and you have done something that bothers or offends me and I am deliberately being a bitch to you and yes, I know it. I think what bothers me most is that Regina has made a judgment about my character without knowing anything about me. She sees me in 5 minute windows of time once or twice a week and based on a few interactions with me she has decided I am a mean, nasty person. Thankfully, I haven't seen Regina back in the store since she said that to me because I don't know what I would do if/when I have to face her again.