A scalper bullied me at a vending machine and now I want to quit the hobby
I am an autistic girl in my 20s. I don’t live in an area with pokemon vending machines so I don’t really know the etiquette (visiting family in an area w machines). Yesterday I was at a vending machine and there was a group of people there waiting, everyone was nice, and everyone got a chance to buy something in the order they arrived. So I assumed that’s the “rules”. This morning I go to a vending machine and figure I’ll wait 5-10 mins by it in case something loads while my partner picks up coffee. Scalper comes in, I tell him I’m waiting, he pushes past me and taps the machine and of course that’s the exact moment something loads. An etb and a few other smaller items (packs, tins). He goes to buy out the machine. I ask him if he’s serious because he knew I was here first. I say I only want the etb and he can have the rest but I was here first. I tap my card and buy the etb. He starts calling me names and taking pictures of me. I’m sure he would have started a physical fight if I wasn’t a 5 foot tall girl. He says he’s going to post the pictures online because I stole it from him. I take the etb and run over to where my partner is in the coffee shop and have a full sobbing breakdown in the coffee shop. Idk if I did something wrong or not. I was just following what I thought was the generally accepted “rules” of the vending machines based on my experience yesterday. I wish I just let the guy have the stupid etb if I knew he’d have a reaction like that. Now it’s been a couple hours and I’m just staring at the etb and I don’t even want to rip it because I feel so gross. It makes me so sad because I’ve been in the hobby for a year and have met some really nice people and before I got into this hobby my communication was not very good and talking to strangers was really hard for me, but being in this community has helped me with talking a lot. I’m definitely never going to a vending machine again and this experience has just really left a bad taste in my mouth about the hobby as a whole. Anyways, just wanted to vent and look for support. Please be kind ❤️