Thousands rally around Asperger's sufferer Chris Tuttle

A WOMAN started yelling at a supermarket employee with Asperger's syndrome because he was checking out her shopping too slowly. Then thousands of strangers got involved.

Chris Tuttle pictured with his sister Jamie Tuttle-Virkler. Picture: Facebook

A SUPERMARKET employee with Asperger's syndrome was berated by a customer for checking out her groceries too slowly.

Chris Tuttle was left stressed and upset by the altercation… until his sister stepped in.

Jamie Tuttle-Virkler posted the story of what happened to her brother on Facebook and asked people who know him to leave a comment if he's ever made them smile.

"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," she posted.

"The customer's problem? Chris was checking her out...TOO SLOW and she was furious. She yelled at him, the manager and anyone else who would listen."

The post has attracted more than 77,000 likes and 12,000 comments in a day and has been shared more than 12,000 times.

Ms Tuttle-Virkler, from New York state, explained that her brother suffers from Asperger's and was still stressing about the altercation hours later.

"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."

She added that her brother is usually the happiest guy "you will ever meet".

"I say that because if you know him, if you have seen him at Wegmans, if he has helped you load your car with groceries, if he has helped you find popcorn on aisle 13, if he has checked you out on aisle 12, if he has taken your trash from the cafe or if he has mopped the floor after you've spilt a jar of pickle - then you already know that and I need you to let him know."

Thousands of complete strangers, along with people who know Mr Tuttle, have left him messages of support.

To read the full Facebook post, click here.