This story is honestly disgusting. It happened at my husband’s workplace at a liquor store, before the global health crisis. Some of his coworkers smoked. They would leave their cigarette butts in a corner, on the ground, and at the end of the day, one of them would clean up the mess.

There was a middle school about a block away, and a few “brilliant” teenage boys started to notice that some of the cigarettes weren’t fully smoked. They would PICK THEM UP OFF THE GROUND and light them up and smoke them.

They did this a couple of times before my husband caught them in the act and chased them off. He kept tabs on them, and they came by every school day to see if there were any they could salvage. When my husband called the cops, they told him they couldn’t do anything.

After pondering a bit, my husband got an evil idea and set out a sign that said the following:

Sign: “Attention, kids! One of my employees has hepatitis and is one of the smokers here. You need to talk to your parents so they can go get you tested.”

It wasn’t long before he got calls from a couple of angry parents demanding to know why he had “infected [their] little angel[s].”

Hubby simply told them exactly what they had done, smiling an evil little smile the entire time and even offering to show them the camera evidence of the disgusting behavior. The line would go quiet before they thanked him for bringing that to their attention and hung up.

One man even brought his son in to apologize. 

It never ceases to amaze me the things that some dumb teens will do to smoke.

I work for a well-known, large, and family-owned liquor store in my state. Our uniform is a red polo shirt with the company logo. We can wear any color of pants we want, as long as they’re a solid color with no tears or rips.

My location is next door to a well-known big box store that also wears red shirts. I head over one day during work to grab a quick-frozen meal for my lunch break. I’m trying to decide on something when another customer walks up to me.

Customer: “I need help tracking down some bedding you have here in the store.”

At this point, I’m used to other customers thinking I work at this store.

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but I don’t work here. I work next door at [Liquor Store]. I’m pretty sure bedding is in the other part of the store.”

I don’t have other customers asking me for help every time, but when it does happen, they’re usually very understanding and make jokes about how great it is to work with a huge amount of alcohol.

Not this customer, though.

Customer: “You shouldn’t be wearing red and a name tag in here if you don’t work here! How was I supposed to know you don’t work for [Store]?!”

Me: “The logo on my shirt and name tag said it for me. I just assumed that telling you I didn’t work here — plus that fact — would have made it more than clear.”

Customer: “I shouldn’t be expected to look at your name tag or shirt! I’m at [Store], and that means only people who work here should wear red! I’m going to speak to your manager!”

I’m thinking this lady isn’t really understanding me.

Me: “Ma’am, like I said, I don’t work here. I work next door. You can’t report me.”

Customer: *After sputtering a bit* “Well, I’ll just go next door to your store and report you to your manager! And then we’ll see what happens!”

Me: “Ma’am, for one, I’m off the clock right now and can say whatever I want. And, two? I am the manager that you’ll be asking to speak to. If you need a nice bottle of wine or some information on single-barrel bourbon, I can help you. Otherwise, there isn’t much that I can do for you.”

The customer stormed off.

I never expect anyone to have a full-blown conversation with me at the liquor store, but I do expect people to at least explain what they need. If someone has a disability or speaks another language, I’m still happy to help in any way I can. The two men on these occasions, however, were just jerks.

The first man was a regular whom I had definitely heard speaking on the phone, in English. When it came to staff, however, he became a caveman. We used to have small bottles behind the cash, and a normal person would say, “Can I have [item]?” This man, however, would literally just point and grunt.

He did this a few more times until we all collectively had enough. It came to a head when he did his point-and-grunt at my coworker, who decided to point at every bottle he didn’t want until he admitted defeat and started speaking.

After that, he suddenly had a voice every time he needed something.

Here’s the second story. I knew this man could speak because I had literally helped him find something a few minutes prior. I went to the register, he came to me, and he just… didn’t say a peep.

Me: “Do you need a bag?”

Man #2: “…”

Me: “Do you have a points card?”

Man #2: “…”

Me: “How are you paying?”

Man #2: “…”

He took some cash from his wallet. I finished the transaction and he just stared at me.

Me: “Have a nice day.”

He continued to stare at me. Then, he looked at the bags and then back at me.

Me: “Did you need a bag?”

Man #2: “…”

He stared at me and then at the bags.

Ooookay. I bagged up his stuff and he left.

A few minutes later, he came back and stared at me.

Me: “Uhh… Can I help you?”

Man #2: “…”

He proceeded to slam change onto my counter, and then he stared at me and then at the change.

Me: “Okay? What do you need?”

Man #2: “…”

He stared at me, then at the change, and then back at me. My patience wore off at this point.

Me: “Okay. I need you to use your words now because I have no clue what you even want and this is very rude.”

He grunted that I had given him the wrong change. I corrected this, and he muttered a sarcastic thank-you before he wandered into the sunset.

Related:
Use Your Words, People!
Use Your Words, Especially When There Are Knives Involved!
For The Umpteenth Time, USE YOUR WORDS
Use Your Words!
Didn’t You Learn To Use Your Words In Kindergarten?

A customer comes into our liquor store extremely intoxicated.

Customer: “I want… wishkey… yesh… wish… key.”

He’s stumbling everywhere.

Me: “Sorry, sir, but because you’re in a state we believe to be intoxicated, we’re going to refuse this sale.”

Customer: *Flipping out* “The f***?! You… f****** get me my… f****** wishkey, or I’ll f****** beat you to the ground!”

Me: “Sir, that is a threat, and I will not tolerate it. Leave now, or we’ll call the police.”

He left, but he kicked a display and made a lot of noise. He went down the street to another store, and as he walked back past our store, he yelled some very mean things at us and immediately tripped, shattering the bottle he’d just bought on the sidewalk. It was a glorious sight.

I purchased two bottles of liquor for a party we were having. The price was 465 Norwegian kroner (NOK). I paid with a 500 NOK note, realized I had 15 NOK in coins, and asked if the teller could change it for a 50 NOK note. 

Teller: “Of course! I do appreciate the extra change!”

In a bit of confusion, she handed me the 50 NOK note together with the 500 NOK note. I looked at her for a little while, and she was just staring at me. Being a decent human being and having a history in retail myself:

Me: “I don’t think I should have both?”

Teller: *Now shocked* “Oh, my God, you are right. Thank y—”

She couldn’t finish her sentence before the person behind me started yelling:

Next In Line: “YOU ARE SOOO F****** STUPID!”

She was pointing at me, all red in the face, still yelling:

Next In Line: “That is your money now; she gave it to you. You idiot! You could have had this for free! Workers learn this way! This is how workers learn!“

I was too stunned to reply and just stared at her, dumbfounded. The customer turned to the teller and started on her:

Next In Line: “This isn’t your money anymore. You need to hand it over. She—” *still pointing at me* “—is too stupid to take it, but I’m not. Give it to me now! It’s not yours anymore. It’s mine. You need to learn from your mistakes!”

She kept up this logic until another worker came up to escort her out. She was still insisting that the liquor store owed her for their mistake.

The teller and I shared a gaze and a “wow” before resuming our days.