(I am reading my edition of ‘Romeo And Juliet’ in a coffee shop when the cashier notices.)

Cashier: “Why is the cover funny?”

Me: *bewildered* “It’s my edition from the 1980s. Sorry if it’s a bit scruffy.”

Cashier: “I don’t like liars; you’re not impressing anyone.”

Me: “It is from the 1980s. Is anything wrong?”

Cashier: “You know what’s wrong.”

(The cashier leaves. Later, I am paying at the counter with the manager, when the cashier comes up.)

Cashier: *to Manager* “She’s a liar, [Manager].”

Manager: *confused* “Why would you say that, [Cashier]?”

Cashier: *pointing to my book* “She said her edition is from the 1980s.”

Me: “It IS!”

Cashier: “You’re a liar. And why did you get a book version? Leonardo isn’t even on the cover.”

Manager: *to me* “Unbelievable.”

Me: “Welcome to [Pizza Restaurant]! Did you already have an order?”

Customer: “No. Well sort of; I have a complaint for a pizza I just got.”

Me: “Okay, I’m the manager on duty at the moment. How can I help you?”

Customer: “Well, I just got this pizza, and I bit into it, and, well, there was a tooth in it.”

Me: “I’m sorry, a tooth?”

Customer: “Yeah, it looked like it was cooked. It’s real black.”

(The area I live in has a meth abuse problem, as well as a lower than average annual income, so dental hygiene is not a strength of this particular community. As the customer is talking, I notice he has several rotten and black teeth, as well as several missing.)

Me: “Um, okay. Do you have the pizza and, erm, tooth with you?”

(He hands the pizza and tooth to me. The tooth indeed looks very blackened, though obviously not from cooking. I excuse myself to let the owner know the situation, and I enter his office at the time he is on the phone.)

Owner: “No, ma’am, we don’t have security cameras outside the store. Did you let anyone know you had fallen? So you decided it wasn’t an issue over two years ago when you did slip and fall on our sidewalk, but suddenly it’s a problem for you? Well, I’m sorry, but without some sort of proof that you fell on our property, there isn’t much we can do for you. Very well, you can have your lawyer contact ours. Have a good day.”

(The owner hangs up and looks at me.)

Owner: “Your problem can’t possibly be worse than the lady I just dealt with. She claims she injured herself a few winters ago by slipping on ice on the sidewalk.”

Me: “I think you’d be surprised.”

(I’m helping a user with an issue, and it becomes obvious that I’ll need to connect over to her computer to see what’s actually going on. I start walking her through the procedure to allow me to do so.)

Me: “Okay, you should see a nine-digit number at the top of your screen. It looks kind of like a phone number. I need you to tell me that number so I can connect over.”

User: “I can’t see any numbers on my screen.”

Me: “Do you see anything at the top of the screen, like a little tab? It’ll have the numbers in it.”

User: “Yes.”

(The user starts describing all the icons in the tab, with no mention of the numbers.)

Me: “That’s the one. There should be a nine-digit number in there. Looks sort of like a phone number, with dashes every three digits.”

User: “No.” *pause* “There’s a phone number there, though.”

Me: “Yes, that’s the one. A nine-digit number. Looks kind of like a phone number.”

User: “Oh.” *pause* “Yes, that’s it.”

Me: “Could you read it to me, please?”

*long pause*

User: “Do you need me to tell you what it is?”

Me: “Yes, please.”

(Two techs have food poisoning today, so it is just me, a new girl, and the vet. We are in the middle of surgery when a very well-dressed customer and her blue heeler dog come in.)

Me: “Hi, I’ll be with you in just a minute.”

Customer: “Nobody else is here, so you should help me now!”

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but we are in the middle of surgery and we are short-staffed today. So if you could please take a seat, I will help you when we are finished.”

Customer: “You are being rude! I am a paying customer!”

Me: “Okay then, ma’am. What is the problem today?”

Customer: “My dog is pregnant. I want to know how many puppies there are.”

Me: “Okay, and what is her name?”

Customer: “HIS!”

Me: “Excuse me?”

Customer: “HIS name is Bandit.”

Me: “Ma’am, I’m sorry, but male dogs can’t get pregnant.”

Customer: “F*** YOU! YOU DONT KNOW S***!” *storms out*

Me: *sigh* “It’s only 9:30.”

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(I work at a federal airport operations center, answering the phones.)

Me: “This is the TSA Coordination Center for [Airport]. How may I help you?”

Caller: “This is the federal government calling to tell you that you’ve won a $5000 dollar grant.”

Me: “The federal government?”

Caller: “Yes, you’ve won a $5000 dollar grant!”

Me: “This is the TSA coordination center; a government operated center. Who is this? What’s a good call-back number?”

Caller: *hangs up*

(The phone line for the next number in sequence starts ringing. Guess who it was?)