I think my experience here today has been one of t...

I think my experience here today has been one of the most offensive experiences I've ever had in any store ever in my life. One of the biggest problems I had here was how almost the entire staff treated me as if I didn't belong in their store but instead in the dumpster out back. I am currently homeless but just because a person who likely had a life very similar to anybody else inside REI today has recently lost their place to live doesn't mean they have lost their job, their sense of dignity or their pride as a human being. I was in the store for around an hour, possibly an hour and a half, and in that time I was asked if "I needed any help" or "What was it exactly that I was looking for?" approximately 15-20 times, some of which were literally less than 2 minutes between each other. Also, I got the full "What could you possibly afford here?" treatment consisting of at least 5-7 employees in uniform that were always near me in the store no matter what section I was in... (By near I mean around 15-20 feet.) Lastly, I wasn't sure if I should of called the police or not because I had a woman who was STARING at me, with no attempt to even mask what she was doing, the entire time I was there while averaging about a 10 foot or less distance from me. If all of this wasn't enough to make me feel extremely unwelcome at the last moment (after I had asked a manager if the stalker was staff) an employee insisted he take my $30 knife and $10 sharpening tool and hold it at the register until I was ready to pay. I already have PTSD and the staff here has literally triggered a minor episode for me to deal with now. This was the last thing I wanted, needed, or expected when I walked into REI today.