I was working in a shoe store. There were several customers in the store at the time, a few of them further toward the back of the store. I approached a lady that was shopping alone.

Me: “Do you need a hand, ma’am?”

Customer #1: “No, thanks, just looking.”

Then, I turned to a nearby mother-daughter duo and asked them the same question. The mother ignored me completely, but the daughter managed to snap a curt “no” at me.

As I was turning and walking away, I noticed one of the sample shoes had the laces undone — a big no-no — so I paused to fix it. All of a sudden, the mother just glared at me and yelled:

Mother: “You don’t need to keep watching us! We’re not stealing!”

I was completely taken off-guard since that thought hadn’t even crossed my mind.

Me: “I wasn’t watching you, ma’am.”

Mother: *Yelling* “Yes, you were! You don’t need to hover like that. You’re a terrible salesperson and horrible at your job! You’re the reason customers hate salespeople!” *To her daughter* “Let’s go. These people don’t want business.”

She kept up the diatribe against salespeople all the way out the door. I slowly walked to the front of the store and looked at my manager, completely flummoxed.

The first lady to whom I’d spoken walked past me on her way out the door and made a point of pausing to talk to me.

Customer #1: “I like your customer service. I’ll be back another day!”

Another customer, a regular, paused her shopping to come and stand next to me, shoulder to shoulder for a moment.

Customer #2: “Don’t listen to that b****. You are awesome at your job and a wonderful person. Some people are just s***ty.”

That woman almost ruined my day, but the other customers totally made my day.

A woman and her daughter came into the shoe store I work at, five minutes before closing, looking for shoes for the daughter.

Me: “Can I help you two?”

Woman: “No, we just want to browse.”

Fine, there wasn’t much I could do about it since they still had five minutes. After about ten minutes, they finally picked a handful of styles they wanted to try. I went and got the sizes from the stock room.

The daughter only tried on two of the pairs and just kept switching between them. The entire time, they didn’t really speak to me at all. They also both wore their see-through, mesh masks under their noses the whole time, so I kept a bit of distance between us.

Eventually, the daughter made her choice, and we brought the shoes up to the counter. In the meantime, my coworker had turned off our “open” sign and closed the door, and they were waiting to let them out. While the mother was paying by card, her daughter was leaning on the counter and staring straight at me with a slight smirk on her face. She pulled her mask off and then proceeded to use the back of her hand to wipe her nose, then go back to touching the counter, the entire time looking at me with that, “What are you gonna do about it?” smirk.

Me: *Politely* “You need to keep your mask on over your nose while in the store.”

Woman: *Angrily* “You don’t get to tell my daughter what to do! If I think she needs to be told something, I will tell her. I am her mother! You don’t tell her anything! You are not her mother!”

I was biting my tongue so hard to keep from yelling back at her to do her job, then, but I didn’t say another word to her. I put her receipt on the counter so she could take it while I stayed six feet back (to avoid strangling her), and my coworker let them out and locked up behind them.

Then, I blew up. I still get mad every time I think of this. Now, every time I have to remind a customer to keep their mask on, I facetiously wonder if I should call their parent to have them come to the store and tell their grownup child to wear their mask.

My mother and her best friend decide to go shopping at a local strip mall and force me to go along with them.

Our first stop is a somewhat more upscale shoe store. Given that I’m really not a fan of clothes shopping and the minor health issues I have involving my feet, I quickly find a place to sit in one of the less busy parts of the store when a middle-aged man walks up to me.

Man: “Hey, do you work here?”

It takes me a second to process his question, all the employees I’ve seen walking about are wearing nametags and business casual attire. Meanwhile, I’m wearing a band tee, ripped jeans, and a mask with vampire fangs on it while just sitting on a bench playing on my phone.

Me: “Uh, no. No, I don’t.”

Man: “Oh, well, you should!“

I just sat there, wondering what he meant by that, as he wandered away.

Related:
I Don’t Work Here, Does Not Work Here, Part 40
I Don’t Work Here, Does Not Work Here, Part 39
I Don’t Work Here, Does Not Work Here, Part 38
I Don’t Work Here, Does Not Work Here, Part 37
I Don’t Work Here, Does Not Work Here, Part 36

I have signed up for an exercise class that is conducted in a martial arts dojo. To protect the floor of the dojo, we are required to wear only shoes that have never been worn outside. I don’t have any shoes like that, so I go to a discount shoe store, since I don’t want to spend a lot of money on shoes I will only be wearing for a few hours per week.

I find a pair I like, try them on, and notice the price on a tag that is inside the box. It is even less than I expected to pay, so I buy them. When the cashier scans the box, a higher price comes up on the register.

Me: “That’s not the right price. There’s a tag inside that shows that they cost [price].”

I show her the tag.

Cashier #1: “I’m sorry about that.” *To [Cashier #2]* “Can you check the price on these shoes?”

Cashier #2: “Sure.”

He walks away and comes back a few minutes later.

Cashier #2: “The price is ringing up correctly. The tag that was in the box doesn’t match this style; it probably just fell off another box. I’m sorry, but these shoes are already on sale so we can’t give you the lower price.”

I am disappointed by this, but I do like the shoes and the higher price is still reasonable.

Me: “Aww, okay, I’ll still get them.”

Cashier #1: “Wait. You aren’t mad?”

Me: “I mean, I’d rather pay the lower price, but if you can’t do that, then…” *Shrugs*

Cashier #2: “Why are you so calm?”

Me: “If I throw a fit, do I get the lower price?”

Cashier #1: “No, sorry, we can’t.”

Me: “Then there doesn’t seem to be a point to getting angry, does there?”

Both cashiers give each other a “WTF?” look, but we complete the transaction. In the meantime, another employee comes over, wearing a “Manager” nametag. [Cashier #2] explains the situation to him. Another “WTF?” look passes among all three employees.

Cashier #2: “She’s too calm.”

I am not telling this story to show off my ability not to throw a tantrum; I am telling it because of the strange reaction of the employees to normal behavior!

I work in a retail outlet store. A mother has come in with her child and has basically used me as her personal shop assistant since she came in.

Mother: “Get these for me in a size 12.5.”

Me: “Sorry, ma’am, we don’t sell half sizes.”

Mother: “What?!”

She got so mad that we didn’t sell half sizes that she threw her CHILD’s shoes at me and stormed out of the shop.

She came back a few minutes later, remembering her shoeless child.