At work today, I was on a till serving, as were a couple of others, and it was busy. As the number of people started to dwindle, the cashier in front of me closed down to serve the last few customers who already had shopping on her belt. I served for a good few minutes afterward and started closing down, too, when I noticed that the number of people on at the next till hadn’t changed.

There were two people left: a guy who had a few bits and an elderly woman who was in front of him. The elderly woman was trying to use a coupon that, for whatever reason, was simply not working but was adamant about using it. I couldn’t hear the details, but let’s be honest: the lyrics may change a bit but the dance is always the same.

At this point, I had nearly served everyone who was left on my belt, and I honestly felt bad for the guy who, at this point, must have been waiting for ten minutes or more. I managed to catch his eye, smiled, and gestured for him to come over to my till. He smiled back, picked up his couple of items, and put them on my belt. I only had one customer left before I could serve him.

The woman I was serving pointed at her bakery items.

Woman: “Those are on offer! Buy two, get one free! I know they are!”

Me: “Sorry, but I’m pretty sure those are not the items on offer.”

Woman: “Yes, they are! I saw the sign! I know those are the ones on offer!”

Me: “I’ll get someone to check for you.”

A minute passed, and I was informed that her baked goods were, in fact… not on offer.

She didn’t say anything.

Me: “So, that’ll be—”

Woman: “What about those?! I know there’s an offer for them!” *Pointing at some other food items* “Get someone to check them, too! I know they’re on offer!”

I was only partway through asking someone to now check for another offer when the guy who I had beckoned across muttered something under his breath and just walked out of the store, leaving his shopping behind.

As he left, I saw the elderly woman still at the next till, now with a manager there, too.

Even though I knew I was going to have to put his shopping back, I honestly felt for the guy.

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, none of the items the lady at my till bought were on offer.

I was working in a small fruit store inside a shopping centre when I found an abandoned trolley in the middle of the store. This would happen occasionally, but on this particular occasion, the trolley was full of groceries from a completely different store — at least $100 to $200 worth of stuff.

We held the groceries until the end of day, and then we had to throw out because there was no procedure for what the h*** to do with the stuff.

It is early at the grocery store where I work. A lady walks in, in a full rage.

Customer: “Get me the manager!”

Manager: *Coming over* “How can I help, ma’am?”

Customer: “The ATM isn’t giving out quarters anymore!”

Manager: “It’s never given out quarters — or any coins, for that matter.”

Customer: “It’s always given me quarters!”

They walk over to the ATM so she can show him exactly where the quarters are supposed to come from. She just stares at the ATM, blinking for a moment.

Customer: “You all changed it! Biden doesn’t want us to have quarters!”

She storms off while my manager comes up to me with a pained look on his face.

Manager: “And it’s not even 7:00 am.”

I started working at a supermarket when I was sixteen. A woman comes up to me holding a selection of pregnancy tests.

Customer: “Could you let me know which of these is the best?”

Me: “Well, I can help read some of the descriptions on the packaging, but—”

Customer: “No, I wanted your personal opinion.”

Me: “I have no experience with them myself.”

Customer: “But you’re selling them! You should be testing them!”

She stormed off whilst muttering about the poor customer service and lack of knowledge.

I am collecting carts when I witness some guy drive his Ford Explorer into a tree in the parking lot. The driver gets out of the vehicle and starts screaming at the sky.

He then storms over to me.

Customer: “The store needs to pay for that!”

Me: “You would need to talk to the manager for that, sir.”

Luckily for me, the manager is outside taking a cigarette break and has already walked over. He introduces himself.

Customer: “You need to compensate me for this! I wasn’t expecting you to have trees in a parking lot! Who puts trees in a parking lot?!”

Manager: “Sir, the store can’t be held responsible for you driving into a tree.”

Customer: “Then I’ll sue! It’s the tree’s fault!”

Manager: “We’ll be sure to tell the trees to get out of the way next time, sir.”

With that statement, the customer realized how ridiculous he was being and stormed off to drive his dented car away. My manager lit another cigarette and casually strolled back toward the store.