This happened right at the start of the [global health crisis] closures in my area. I run a small swim shop, and with all of the pools being closed and the rules being unclear about what stores were technically “essential” and what weren’t in my area, we thought it was best to close for the time being. I did take advantage of the situation and decided to do a 100% from-scratch inventory. I figured that I had a couple of uninterrupted weeks of working solo in the store and that I might as well use it to make my inventory perfect. 

My store is right next door to a salon. We’re so close that when it’s quiet we can sometimes hear each other through our shared wall. I was a couple of days into flying solo, and I hadn’t seen any other cars in our parking lot and also knew that the salon was closed, as all of the salons in the area were. I figured that I was completely alone in our complex, so I didn’t worry too much about being loud or anything. I entertained myself as I counted stock by rocking out to music at near full volume and watching and listening to videos all day. 

My favorite genre of movie is horror, and during this time I was on a bit of a slasher kick. I came into work, set my laptop up on the front counter so I could see and hear it as I moved around, and turned on a movie with all the screaming female leads running around panicking. Of course, I had the volume up fairly loud so I could hear it around the whole store. 

I left the movie playing when I went into the backroom for a moment, out of sight of our front windows, just as one of the big Scream Queen close-up moments happened. I heard the scream, and then not long after, I heard a panicked pounding on the front door that was so forceful I thought someone might end up breaking it down. 

It turned out that one of the stylists from next door had gone in with her husband to grab some supplies to do her own hair at home. She saw my car and saw me when she was walking in. Then, she heard the bloody murder screams of the actress in my movie and thought they were coming from me and that I was being attacked, so she sent her husband to save me. When he didn’t see me through the front window, he started to pound on the door. 

We laugh about the situation now. But I have to say, I sure do feel a lot safer working at my store, especially closing solo at night, knowing my neighbors have my back.

Related:
Like A Good Neighbor, Don’t Be A Creep!
Like A Good Neighbor, Stay Out Of My House!
Like A Good Neighbor, Eyes To Yourself!
Like A Good Neighbor, Back Off My Dog!
Like A Good Neighbor, Try Saying “Please”

“Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse” has just come out in theaters, and our venue is PACKED. There are a lot of little kiddies dressed up as Spider-Man or other comic book heroes coming to the screenings, and they’re all adorable.

A mother comes up with two little boys dressed up as Spider-Man. They’re so excited they’re practically jumping up and down. I scan her tickets, and I get a little red beep. I scan again, and the same thing.

Me: “Hmm… Can I get a closer look at your tickets?”

Mom: “Is something wrong?”

Me: “I hope not! Let’s see.”

Straight away, I can tell this woman has made a mistake booking her tickets. She’s booked online at our location with a similar name but in an entirely different state. I explain this to her, and her face goes pale.

Mom: “Do… do you have any replacement tickets I could buy?”

She said, “Buy”. She wants to pay for her mistake, not make us do it.

Me: “I’m afraid we’re mostly sold out for the rest of the day. We don’t have any seats left until later this evening.”

Mom: “I need to get them back before then. We drove into the city to be here today, so…”

We both look at the two boys, both blissfully oblivious to our discussion.

Mom: “I can’t believe I did that! They’re going to be soooo upset.”

Me: “Let me see if there’s anything I can do.”

I radio my manager and tell him what’s happened. Our theater will sometimes keep some seats empty, even in a sold-out theater. Sometimes this is for seats that are easier to access for disabled moviegoers, such as seats near the front. Apparently, we do have plenty of those seats left! I explain this to the mom.

Me: “If you don’t mind being in the front row, we can put you there.”

Mom: “Are you kidding?! Anything is better than my boys having their favorite superhero snatched away from them by their stupid mom’s mistake.”

Me: “Please stop being so hard on yourself! It’s an easy mistake to make! Let me get you settled with your new tickets.”

I escorted them to a ticket machine and got the replacement tickets printed for them. I also swung some popcorn for the boys with Spider-Man-themed packaging that they gushed, “Wow!” and, “Cool!” over.

After the movie, the mom and her boys found me again, and the mom was almost in tears. She thanked me again and explained that the boys came into the city to visit their dad who was in a long-term hospital situation, and this excursion was badly needed for them.

I was happy to try to be a hero that day, even if it wasn’t Spider-Man!

I am a senior video compositing artist for cartoons. Most production companies, after reviewing your reel, test you on a couple of scenes before making a final decision.

I did the test for a company, and I did it well and fast. They liked my work, and the head of the department congratulated me and offered me the job.

That led to discussing my salary and schedules with the production team. Even though I have tons of experience, and the head of the department really dug my work and wanted me on the team, they wouldn’t budge from the ridiculously low, entry-level, junior salary they were offering. I declined their offer as it was about half my regular salary and still about 20% below the lowest I would go for a project I’d die to work on — and this was not one of those.

They called me back a few days later to tell me they really liked some of the things I’d added to the project in my test and wanted to add that to the show. I was pleased because of the ego boost — got to be honest — and also because I thought it meant they had changed their mind about their offer.

I was wrong. They just wanted to tell me that because I did an amazing job on the test, they were going to use it in the show and pay me for the half a day I’d spent doing that work at their ridiculous rate.

At least they were honest.

The British newspaper that my parents get has had many critics over the years. However, there are two instances that have made me dislike them, long before I learned of their more common criticisms. This story is about one of these occasions.

The year was 1994, I had graduated from University, and I was back living with my parents. I was also looking forward to the new “Star Trek” film, “Generations”. As the November release date approached, I did everything I possibly could to avoid spoilers. The Internet was around then, but as I was no longer at University, I had no access, so all those message boards were not a problem for me.

Trailers, TV, and radio promotions were a bit more tricky, so depending on the situation, I would change channels, plug my ears, or leave the room. With newspapers, if I caught a glimpse of anything at all Trekkie, I would close my eyes and turn the page. It helped that these would have big headlines, boldly showing what the article was about.

I was really pleased with myself that it was a week or so before the premiere and I knew nothing about the film other than it having cast from “The Original Series” and “Next Generation”. 

And so, that morning, I did my usual breakfast routine, munching my cereal and flicking through the paper to the puzzle section. As always, I start with their quick quiz.

Question #1: “What is the name of the actor from A Clockwork Orange who kills Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek film?”

Ghuy’cha’!

I have recently begun work at a local family-run costume shop. Our store is relatively small compared to some other bigger Halloween stores, but we have a huge amount of inventory and many loyal customers (who tend to come to us before other stores). I’m the only worker there who really loves horror movies, so I make it a point to know where all our horror merchandise is and what we have.

I’m restocking when a customer approaches me.

Customer: “Do you have any prop knives from the new [Popular Horror Franchise] movie?”

Me: “We don’t have any from the newest movie, but we do have these replicas from some of the older films that might work!”

I show him our display. He shakes his head.

Customer: “No, I really wanted the newest one.”

Me: “Did you see it on our website? We have a lot of inventory, so sometimes things that are listed there will be stored in the back room instead of on the floor.”

Customer: “Oh, no, I just assumed you’d have it since [Online Retailer] does. It comes in a box, if that helps!”

Ah, yes, it comes in a box. Like every other prop knife we sell. The customer left disappointed and I was left scratching my head.