People who are/have been rude to retail workers, have you got any stories where you went back and apologised?

Oh my god, I can answer this! I SWEAR I didn't mean to be rude: that was never my intention. But absolutely I came across like a dick, not only to the waitress, but to the people around me. I've been a waitress before, I know what it's like, and with all customer service roles, I only give feedback if it's positive and if something goes wrong, I'm very apologetic about it as if it was my fault. I place a lot of importance on being an positive interaction because life it hard for all of us and the more appreciation we can get, the better. But once, I accidentally came across as rude and it's followed me for 13 years. So, it was the morning after our friends' wedding and we were all staying at the hotel they got married at. My husband's ex's brother was there and I was super insecure about him at the time and he, his partner, and the gang they were all friends with before I entered the fold were in this little room where breakfast was being served. My husband was hanging and still in bed, so I went into this room alone and it was so fucking awkward. I sat there for so long without being seen by wait staff that I eventually plucked up the courage to put my hand up when someone was passing, whose attention I caught and they walked in. "Sorry," I said, meaning it, and then I said - meaning it apologetically as to why I had my hand raised, "I've been here for a while." I said that to explain why I had my hand up, not to reprimand the waitress, but... of course, it came out as, "*sorry,* I've BEEN HERE A WHILE." I SWEAR I didn't mean it that way. To my horror, the people around me **laughed** and suddenly it dawned on me that what I said sounded like an jibe, rather than to explain why I had my hand up, which was how I meant it. She took my order and then, to make small talk, I asked the ex's brother's girlfriend what she did for a living and, cold as ice, she spat, "I work in hospitality," and it all felt like a horrible misunderstanding where I was the bad guy and ever since then, I feel like I'm the terrible person Reddit talks about whenever the question of 'what makes a horrible person?' comes up and the top answer is 'being rude to wait staff.' I didn't mean to be rude, but the waitress and the people in the room sure as shit thought I was rude. I'm only admitting this because I'm pissed and I will delete this first thing tomorrow because it still spikes me as a cringe moment I wish had never happened. I never meant it to come out like that. I was just feeling extra shy about raising my hand that morning.