Humiliated supermarket worker with Asperger’s syndrome finds support on Facebook

This week, thousands of strangers have offered words of support for a bullied supermarket worker with Asperger's.

Chris Tuttle, 28, has been working at the Wegmans supermarket in Clay, New York, for seven years.

He has Asperger's syndrome.

On Saturday night, Tuttle, usually assigned maintenance duties, was asked to help out at the register. One customer was not happy with Tuttle's performance — he was checking her out too slow, she claimed — and ended up rattling the man with her loud complaints.

Tuttle's sister, Jamie Tuttle-Virkler, shared the story on Facebook:

"[Yesterday] at Wegmans, a customer yelled at him and then in the middle of her transaction, left to complain loudly to a manager, came back to his line and he was so shaken, dropped a candle she bought on the ground and it shattered. Luckily the manager took him off register immediately because clearly he was upset," she wrote, adding that the customer "yelled at him, the manager and anyone else who would listen."

Tuttle-Virkler explained that her brother, usually "the happiest guy you will ever meet," was finding it difficult to move on from the upsetting event:

"What this woman doesn't know is that 10 hours later, Chris told me the story as if it just happened, he was just as stressed and just as upset. She has no idea how damaging her actions were...to one person. Part of Asperger's is the inability to move on, to not be able to wrap his mind around the fact that this woman isn't worth it. To hear him tell the story, your heart will break. He doesn't understand why someone would be so nasty to him and for him, he takes it personal."

She emphasized that the store has always been supportive of her brother:

"Hugs and kisses to Wegmans for employing him for 7 years, for giving him a chance, for giving him a life, a job to look forward to everyday and understanding managers, despite his disabilities."

Tuttle-Virkler asked people on Facebook to give her brother a "shout out" to let him know how much he is appreciated for all his hard work at the grocery store.

Her post went viral. More than 22,000 comments of support poured in for Tuttle.

"I don't actually know Chris — but I know him as a Wegman's employee —and he is ALWAYS friendly, helpful and courteous no matter what job he's doing. Our society has become so rude and intolerant ... Tell Chris there are many many customers that appreciate him," wrote one Facebook supporter.

In an interview with the Syracuse Post-Standard, Tuttle spoke about becoming a local celebrity, being approached by kind strangers with words of support.

Tuttle told the Syracuse Post-Standard that when the angry customer left the store, he told her, "Have a wonderful day."

"You to have to kill 'em with kindness," he said, smiling.

The Syracuse Post-Standard story inspired an additional 200-plus comments of support for Tuttle.

On Monday, Wegmans publicly responded to the story:

"Wegmans is proud of Chris and the other Wegmans team member in the way they handled a difficult customer interaction," Wegmans spokeswoman Evelyn Carter said in an email. "We support all our employees in their efforts to provide incredible customer service."