The employee was unnecessarily rude in return. The whole thing, including this post, could have been avoided if the OP had just politely asked for help when he needed it. The whole thing didn’t start out respectfully.

My favourite is being called from across the store like I’m an animal or being asked questions when I’m clearly helping another customer and they get mad that I tell them I will help them when I’m done with my other customer.

Customers equal sales… which equal money for wages.. what has happened to our culture where people that are hired to provide assistance feel they don’t have to do their job.. this employee job where their aren’t dealing with the public

A retails workers job is to assist customers. If they wanted a warehouse job they shouldn’t have gotten a retail job.

The employees aren’t going to have much else to do if they can’t navigate customer interactions better. No need to stock shelves it there are no customers.