Correcting Someone

by A
(Seattle)

I was at a mall today and the there was someone selling Tea. A friend i was with asked the saleswoman a question about tea. The saleswoman obviously had some knowlege about the tea but did not know the answer to the question. I did however know the answer. I tried in a polite way to let them both know the answer to his question. This was not a common knowlege thing, I actualy had spent a lot of time looking into the question in the past. I assumed that as she was a sales person on the subjuect, would want to know the answer.

After we left the sales lady, my friend told me I had acted rudely by correcting her in front of a potential customer and making her feel ignorant. That was not my intention, I figured it was probably a common question but a hard one, and one most people wouldnt know. I thought I was doing her a kindness by letting her know what I had learned.

Would it have been better to let her remain ignorant? Or was there a way I could have said this to make her not feel bad and at the same time helped to broaden her knowlege for her future benefit? Thinking back, I know she is probably working a minnimum wage job and may not care about her product. My intentions were good, but the most harm can come from the best intentions.

What could I have done differently? Would it have been better to let her answer wrongly, and just not tell her?