My mother and I went to a thrift store. I bought some Xmas cards cheap and there were two women at the register. I said "I'd like to buy these cards" and the one woman, elderly, said loudly "oh well your friends will be surprised by YOU," she was teasing me. It was weird. Everyone (the 2 women, my mom) laughed, and it drew the attention of other shoppers in the store. It made me really uncomfortable. Random stranger says this? Come on. It made me angry. I did nothing. I said nothing. But I really wanted to be like "wtf, that's not funny."

When we left, I mentioned to my mom that I didn't get it and she dismissed me and said "oh she was just being goofy."

What do I do in situations like this?

There was a period a couple years ago where shop or business owners would jokingly say "no" to me as a joke answer to my request. Each time, the person I was with laughed too. Once I ordered something at a restaurant and started with "could I get..." The waitress said "No." But she was "just kidding." It did not seem funny to me. It seemed like bullying. This was on a date. My date laughed.......wtf.

What do I do in situations like this? I want to stand up for myself. I know that everyone has different senses of humor but how can I react to protect myself, respect myself, and also say something appropriate when someone uses humor to tear me down? I don't ever say anything back usually.

I think its also important to say that I threw those cards away when I got home and my mother dismissing me (and laughing with them) made me feel much worse. I know throwing the cards away probably sounds extreme. Whatever. I threw them away.