We had a customer who decided, mid-shoplifting spree, that he needed to apply for a hunting license. He used his actual information to apply for the license.

And yes, we did hand that application to the cops when they arrived.

I’m at the fragrance counter of a store.

Me: “I am looking for a flowery perfume for my grandmother, somewhere between fifteen and twenty-five euros.” 

We have an agreement in our family to keep birthday gifts in that price range. 

The saleswoman shows me a lovely bottle of perfume, but I notice it is priced at forty-five euros. 

Me: “Could you please show me something costing twenty-five euros max?” 

The saleswoman gets another fragrance, priced just under thirty-five euros. 

I was willing to go a bit over, but now I am miffed, especially since I know they have plenty of products in all price ranges.  

Me: “No, thank you, this is still too much. I’ll go somewhere else.” 

I left and found a wonderful perfume in my price range at their competitor down the street.

We have a regular customer who we call “Poison Ivy Lady”. She is very allergic to poison ivy, and I guess she came in one time after someone with poison ivy came in, she touched something that they touched, and she had a bad allergic reaction.

After that, she came in a Tyvek suit and gloves. She would only buy cans and would get upset if you touched her things. She wanted sweatpants, and I offered to put them in bags for her, and when I reached over to arrange them so that the cashier could easily see the bar codes, she swatted my hand away.

Me: “Ma’am, maybe you’d be more comfortable shopping online.”

Poison Ivy Lady: “I don’t have a computer!”

I haven’t seen her in a few years. The poison ivy must have finally gotten her.

The store I work for was being renovated, and for various reasons, they decided to close us down until it is complete. All of us employees were shipped off to other stores until the reopen.

I’m working at a store one day that is notorious for being extremely slow, so I am shocked to see that there are six people scheduled on a day that would normally require four. When I arrive, [Manager] is already there and I’m followed in by [Shift Lead]. Before we can get settled, the phone rings. It’s [Coworker].

Coworker: “I’m going to be late. I don’t know when exactly, but I’ll be there eventually.”

We check the overnight call logs and discover that [Trainee] has called off for the day.

Shift Lead: “[Trainee] went home after working forty-five minutes yesterday. Today’s only their fourth day. The only reason I’m here is for training. I’m not feeling well; if I’d known my trainee wasn’t going to be here, I would have stayed home. But I guess since [Coworker] is late, I’ll tough it out.”

[Coworker] comes in almost two hours later and immediately starts complaining to everyone (including customers) about their morning. [Shift lead] is not looking well, but she refuses to leave and tries to keep herself busy stocking so she doesn’t have to deal with customers.

[Manager] gets tired of listening to [Coworker] complain and sends them to clean the parking lot. This is a heavy delivery day and [Manager] must check in all the trucks, so I’m left alone at the registers for most of the shift.

Around halfway through the day, when the sixth employee, [Cook], comes in, we finally manage to convince [Shift Lead] to go home because she looks like death. She doesn’t put up much of a fight.

[Coworker] finishes their outside work and comes in and is non-stop complaining. [Manager] finally has enough.

Manager: “[Coworker], if you feel that way, just go home. I’m tired of listening to this.”

Together, [Manager] and I got through the next couple of hours with little to no issue… until the phone rang. It was [Second-Shift Lead]; they were sick and couldn’t come in. So now, [Manager] was scrambling to find someone to cover while three delivery trucks pulled in, one right after the other. We managed to check them in as second shift arrived, but we had no time to put any of it away.

[Manager] had an appointment after work and could not stay, so I offered to do his paperwork as well as [Shift Lead]’s so that he could take off. However, I was unable to stay to put away truck because I’m an hourly employee who was technically not employed at that store. Second shift was unhappy.

I worked there many times in the months until my store reopened. [Coworker] became known for being late and leaving early. They quit because they weren’t getting enough hours. [Trainee] was let go because they were unreliable. It turned out that [Shift Lead] had picked up a really nasty bug and it spread through everyone in the store. It wasn’t pretty.

When my store eventually reopened, I wasn’t surprised when [Manager] asked me if I would be willing to stay.

I am seventeen, working at a corner shop here in the UK that sells essentials such as bread, milk, newspaper, etc. It’s literally in the middle of nowhere surrounded by fields, one other shop a few hundred yards away, and farms, with a small nearby village.

Man: “I’m here to buy a fridge.”

Me: “We don’t sell fridges; we sell groceries.”

Man: “Well, my neighbour said you sell fridges.”

Me: “Sorry, we don’t sell fridges, but you could try the white goods store just over the bridge next door?”

Man: “No, I was told to come here and that you sell fridges.”

I point out the window.

Me: “You see that building over there? That’s a hardware and white goods store. They sell fridges.”

Man: “Thanks for wasting my time.”

He got in his car and left in the opposite direction. I was confused.