What were my options?

Well, it was a small store, he was both the owner and manager and he went out of business so he probably was stressed about the store not doing well enough to stay in business and ended up snapping at you that day. You were young and you were in no position to understand "his" stress level which could have been overwhelming him as he may have been very worried about all the things he was responsible for that he was not able to keep up with.

When we are young we simply don't have the capacity to put ourselves in the shoes of someone else because we simply don't have enough life experience to have that ability. That man was not really thinking about you, he was clearly thinking about his own problems probably noticed a box that had not been broken up and vented about it as he was already in an angry mindset.

Now, if you noticed your original question and then how long you went before finally adding that you continued to work at this small store but it was owned by someone new that was nicer, consider what you left out when you explained what happened and asked others what your options were to respond to how that manager/owner treated you that day.

What you left out was what you did not know that day too. And you probably did not think about what I mentioned to you in my post until I mentioned it to you right?

Actually, your response that day was fine. What was "off" however is "why" that manager would treat you that way. He was not thinking about you, he was self absorbed and stressed and angry/frustrated and just happened to vent some of that anger out at you. If you had really known "his" true problems that day and that he was simply blowing steam and frustration, you probably would not have been so disturbed by his anger that day.

It's always good when recalling these situations that upset us or challenged us when we were younger is to think a bit further then we were capable of at the time. Sometimes, and more often than not "not" reacting is better than reacting. And, also, when you revisit, try to put as much as possible into perspective.

His behavior towards you was bad, and it upset you. You can "self comfort" that experience by stepping back and thinking about that situation including all the other things that took place and in that often you can include the "why" to the other person's behavior, even if the behavior was mean/rude.