help/discussion: am I overreacting?

Hi everyone! This is my first time posting in this subreddit so pls forgive me for not using the right tags/other stuff. I just really need advice about something that happened today so I’m here. Today, I (16f) was working at (unlabeled pharmacy/convenience store) and I met a customer who really made me uncomfortable. I’ve only been working with the company for a couple weeks tops. Most time I’ve spent there so far has been online training in a back room. They finally allowed me on the register last week and I was just happy to be out of the cold, empty back room.

I’ve been learning the register for a couple days now, and I can navigate around basic purchases pretty fine. Usually, I’m not left alone at the front (for obvious reasons) but today, during the incident in question, I was. For reference, today hadn’t been the best whatsoever. I had multiple customers up my ass for things I couldn’t control. I.D checks, yada yada. I have relatively tame social anxiety but once people start getting peeved, I panic, cry, the works. getting back on track, today specifically was a really bad day, and I went about most purchases with shaky hands and trembling breaths.

It was close to the end of my shift, maybe 30 minutes before I could leave? maybe 20? I saw two guys, maybe siblings, walk in the door. I didn’t really pay them any mind. I continued ringing out people and saw the two guys again. Mainly the tops of their heads poking over the top of the shelf next to the registers. I figured they’d be done shopping any second now. Around that time, the person behind the counter with me (R) went to the bathroom. The bathroom is all the way in the back of the store OR on the top floor. So either way, he wasn’t close to me at all. The two guys come up to checkout. One of them goes over to the self checkout kiosk and the other comes to me. The exact details of what happened are a bit fuzzy. I said my lines, asked what I needed to, scanned his stuff, tried to be polite and act like I wasn’t freaking out internally. The whole time, this guy eyed me in a way that made me uncomfortable. Now, I’m not unfamiliar with a creepy gaze here and there, and I’ve had my fair share of creeps trying to “get some”. I know what the looks in their eyes mean, usually. The look in this guy’s eyes wasn’t the usual creep. It felt different, like he came with a darker intention. I can’t describe it well, you have to experience it to really understand. As I was scanning his items, he had his phone on the counter, screen up. As I grabbed a bag, I saw him tilt his phone up (clearly trying to appear normal) and crook his neck back to look at the screen. It looked like he was taking a picture of me. I brushed it off at first but the more I think about it, it was obvious he was.

I rung him out faster than his friend/brother could ring himself out, so the guy walked over and stood by the . I watched the first guy (who I’ll just call G1) whisper in (other guy-> G2) ‘s ear. Then I watched as G2 intentionally put extra weight on the terminal, setting off the little alarm that self-checkouts have. So I begrudgingly plastered on my “public service” smile, grabbed the stupid keychain, and walked over to the kiosk. I scanned the barcode and reviewed the bags they had. Obviously, most self checkouts have the camera that activates when a customer checks out, so as I was reviewing, I glanced up at the screen (showing the camera feed) and saw G1 doing the same movement with his phone toward my butt. I went back behind the counter and by that time R was back from the bathroom. The two left after that.

I truly don’t know if I’m overreacting or if this is a ‘trust your gut’ moment. Either way, here I am, hoping to get advice/someone with more life experience to talk me down.

Also for reference, I’ve had multiple bad experiences with men online. I’ve had men blackmail me with edited pictures of my face and worse. Maybe I’m trying to explain my paranoia, but since those incidents I’m terrified to post my face on the internet or even talk to guys (even if they’re local). Maybe that’s why this is affecting me so much, idk.

Third, I know I’ll probably have some run on sentences or some stuff that’s explained poorly, and i apologize. I’m writing this before I go to bed in hopes to 1: get it off my chest and 2: get some closure/advice. Honestly, anything that’ll help me sleep tonight is appreciated.

If you got this far, thank you. obviously I can’t say the name of my employer because I intend to work here long enough to pay for car insurance/college.

Thank you again

• V <3