If there is one true thing I have learned about traveling it is: do not annoy airport staff! They are the people who decide if you get to board or not; being aggressive, rude, or confrontational to them will get you nowhere!

I am traveling to see family in New Zealand and currently going through the bag check. In front of me, I can see an angry, red-faced businessman who seems to be stressed and in a hurry. The security person, an Asian woman in her forties, is checking his luggage and the businessman immediately becomes abusive.

Businessman: “WHY THE H*** ARE YOU LOOKING AT THAT? GET A BLOODY MOVE ON!”

Security #1: “Sir, your luggage was selected for a hand check, so you just need to be patient.”

Businessman: “I HAVE AN INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT LEAVING IN TEN MINUTES! F****** HURRY UP! GOD, I’M SICK OF THIS AIRPORT HIRING THESE IDIOTS!”

Security #2: “Sir… you need to calm down. We are just doing our jobs!”

Businessman: “I travel through this airport frequently, and it gets worse every time because you keep hiring these [Asian slur]s, and I’m sick of their d*** incompetence! Learn to speak f****** English!”

Security #2: “There is no need for that language, sir. You just need to let us do our jobs!”

Businessman: “I have a flight leaving in ten minutes! I don’t have time for this s***! Just give me my bag and let me leave! Why is that so f****** hard?!”

Security now looked extremely fed up with this guy, but clearly, they weren’t done with him yet. I noticed that the staff member did her bag check slightly slower than normal. All the while, the man proceeded to throw a tantrum and acted like a spoiled child.

At long last, he snatched his luggage away and began to stomp off… only to be stopped for a body search! Immediately, he blew his top again.

When I left to walk to my gate, he was still raging and I very much doubt he made his flight.

The moral of this story: while traveling is stressful, it always helps to be patient with staff doing their jobs. Otherwise, you may not make your flight. I’m still baffled about why he was causing so much trouble when he had so little time to make his flight.

Boss: “I need to be nice to you today because I lied and blamed you in a meeting.”

Me: “What?!”

Boss: “I told them that you didn’t complete [task].”

This was a task that she was responsible for and had never asked me to do!

A customer calls our clothing store.

Customer: “How much are your dresses?”

Me: “Can you be more specific about what you’re looking for? We have a large selection.”

Customer: “Just give me the range.”

Me: “Anywhere from $20 to $200.”

My aunt was a stereotypical wild child as a teenager. She partied, drank, and even made explosives and blew up random junk with her friends. Neither of her siblings ever did anything like that, so she drove my grandparents up the wall.

One night, my aunt was getting ready for a party and decided to wear a skimpy crop top and low-rise pants that were popular at the time. She went downstairs to leave, only to be met with my grandfather, who just about blew a gasket when he saw what she was wearing.

Grandfather: “No. Absolutely not. Go put a different shirt on.”

She huffed and puffed but went back upstairs and came down with a different, sufficiently modest shirt. My grandfather didn’t look up from his newspaper.

Grandfather: “Take the shirt out of your purse, [Aunt].”

She yanked the crop top out of her purse and slammed it down on the kitchen table before leaving to go to the party. My aunt is now a nurse and mother of three, and she and my grandfather both laugh at this story, though she still says she doesn’t know how he could’ve known that the crop top was in her purse.

I am at our local Chinese restaurant for some takeout. While my order is being made, a mother and her around-eight-year-old boy come in. Right after she places her order, the mother grabs her phone and starts calling, obviously continuing a conversation.

Mother: “Yes, we ordered [dish]; it’s the only thing he eats.”

The kid goes to the big aquarium and starts tapping.

Mother: “Sweetie, don’t tap the glass. Anyway, [some talk about shoes]. Sweetie, don’t tap the glass. So, as I said…”

She has to ask it four more times before he stops. I doubt he stops because she asked it; he just got bored of it. Instead, he starts playing drums on the empty chairs.

Mother: “Come on, [Boy], don’t be so noisy. So, and then, [more story time]. [Boy], come on. Our order must be done soon.”

Boy: “I want ice cream!”

Mother: “You can have that after dinner.”

Boy: “I want it now!”

The boy throws himself at the ground — not to throw a tantrum, but to just… “swim” on his back, over the carpet, throughout the restaurant.

Mother: “[Boy], get up, please? Come on. People can’t walk like this.”

The mother asks five more times, not moving from her chair and not putting her phone away, and keeps on talking to her friend. And then, she sighs.

Mother: “Being a single mom is so hard…”

I was flabbergasted. Yes, I know being a single mom is hard and you can be very tired after a whole day of struggling, but seriously… put your phone away and get off your butt!