Rude Comments in the Supermarket

A few days ago, I went grocry shopping at a store to which I havn't been to in a while.  While nosing around for what I needed, my mind began to wander, and I randomly remembered an event that had taken place a few months before that disgusted me.

A few months back, I was in the same store, grocry shopping.  While waiting in the check out line, an older woman was infront of me, giving the cashier a hard time.  It's not that the cashier was mean, or that she was snooty.  No, the thing that the older woman had to complain about, was the cashier's nose, and lip piercing.  The older woman wasn't even trying to be mature about it either.  She kept baggering the cashier, putting her down relentlessly, and the cashier couldn't be mean to a customer, so she let the woman say what she needed, while trying to do her job. 

I rolled my eyes at the woman's comments, especially how over the top rude she was to the cashier.  It's one thing to not to like a person's piercings, but to complain about them in the  most rude way, in public, is just immature.  I seriously felt bad for this person, she didn't deserve to get a lecture, wihle doing her job, about something that shouldn't be a huge issue. 

Now, I like piercings just as much as the next person, and I can understand that if the cashier was dressed poorly for her job, or have too many distracting piercings, but she wasn't dressed badly, and she only had two piercings.  I know that not everyone is going to be respectful of everyone's way of expressing themselves through the ways of fashion, but it was just rude how the woman expressed her dislike for what the cashier looked like. 

When it was my turn to check out, I apologized about what the lady said.  It wasn't my fault, but I felt as though the cashier needed a little encouragement.  I complimented on her appearence, because to tell you the truth, her piercings were pretty cool.  She seemed to be in a slightly better sprits after I talked to her, though after a rude interaction with someone like the old lady, I can understand why she was still a little annoyed.

 I never had an older woman be rude to me by the way I looked (though, the only piercings I have, are in my ears, but that's my choice), except for my peers, but that was in a different situation. 

 I want to know that if a simular story did happen to you, then how did you handle it?  What was said?