When I was a kid, we didn’t have a lot of money, so we often shopped at thrift stores. What I loved about it was that you could get five books for a dollar, so I would plant myself in front of the book section and make piles of which ones I wanted to get and then decide after I’d gone through them all.

The older lady owner of the store saw me sitting with my piles.

Owner: “Do you like to read?”

Me: “I do!”

I showed her a few of the books I’d found that I liked. She smiled and then pulled a dollar out of her purse and handed it to me.

Owner: “Have some more on me. Promise me that you’ll keep reading.”

I was so happy and immediately stood up and said that I would. She smiled and walked away, and I went back to my piles, able to pick out an extra five books to take home. 

It was just a small act of kindness for her, but for me, having the store owner encourage my love of reading and making me promise to never stop definitely had a lot to do with my continued love of reading. This was probably twenty or so years ago, but I still think of her whenever I buy a new book.

Customer: *Holding up a dress* “Do you have this in a larger size?”

Me: “No, ma’am. As we’re a thrift store, everything we have in stock is on the shelves.”

Customer: “Oh… not even in the back?”

What did I JUST say?!

Me: “No, ma’am. As I said, everything we have in stock is on the shelves. We don’t keep anything in the back.”

Customer: “So, could you order one in for me?”

Me: “Ma’am, please let me explain. We’re a thrift store where our proceeds go to [Charity]. All of our items are donated. We can only stock what gets donated, so we have no control over what we sell.”

Customer: “Oh… Well, I don’t want to support a charity, so…”

And with that, she just casually drifted out of the store.

While working at a thrift store, we would have all kinds of customers, from the usual normal plain John/Jane to the truly bizarre. This is one of the latter.

I was on registers and the day was about as usual when, all of a sudden, the flow of customers completely stopped like someone had turned off the faucet. Normally, I have enough awareness to see the next customer’s cart to determine if another register would need to be opened, but one of my faster coworkers was already open, so I was hyper-focused on the items themselves. Once the customer was finished, I saw the next customer.

This customer was about six feet tall (maybe taller) so they had a fairly intimidating presence, they were wearing a sundress, and behind their hair, which was covering their face, they were wearing what I could best describe as a mask that was a combination of Mankind and Kane (wrestlers). Every movement was like Jason/Michael Myers in that it was slow, yet methodical.

I let out a small “Oh” and got ready. I asked how they were doing and got no response. Okay, so the silent customer. I sped through the purchase and announced the total. Still without a word, the customer slowly paid for their purchase, slowly grabbed their bags, and slowly left.

Customers started to fill my line after the customer left, and they were all talking about the customer like it was a horror movie.

My only thought was, “Another wonderful day at [Store].”

I go to the local chain thrift store frequently to donate stuff. I usually just drop things off at the counter and never bother asking for the donation receipt they offer.

One day when I go in, there is a table near the entrance with paperback books on it, and the sign says, “Special: five books for $1.00”. I rummage through it but can only find four books that interest me. I take them up to the checkout desk, fully intending to pay $1.00 for only four books, even if she rings it up as 80 cents.

Cashier: “That’ll be $4.00.”

Me: *Pointing* “The sign on the table says they’re five for a dollar.”

She informs me, in a voice that a high school librarian would be proud of:

Cashier: “They’re a dollar each. You have to buy five to get the special price.”

So, I simply walk over to the table and select a book at random to add to the four already on the counter. I am holding a dollar bill, but she informs me:

Cashier: “It’ll be $1.06 because of the state tax.”

I’m now positive she is a retired high school librarian.

There is a penny jar next to her, but she doesn’t offer to pull six cents out for me.

I probably have six cents in my pocket or another dollar bill, but I don’t even check. I take a twenty-dollar bill out of my wallet and hand it to her. She asks me, escalating to a world-class high school librarian voice:

Cashier: “Don’t you have anything smaller?”

Me: “No, ma’am.”

She gives me $18.94 back in change and then turns away from me, not even offering to put my purchase in one of the paper bags that are stacked behind her.

I immediately place the fifth book on the counter.

Me: “I’d like to donate this book. And can I get a donation receipt, please?”

She has no choice but to completely fill out the receipt for my donation and sign it. She values the donation at 20 cents, and I don’t bother to point out that the thrift shop values the books at $1.00. After she gives me the receipt:

Me: *Very nicely* “Could I have one of those paper bags to carry my books out, please?”

She gave me a withering look, so I just told her to have a nice day and walked out with the four paperbacks.

I used to work for a nationwide secondhand store, and there was one manager we had that no one liked. There are many stories, but this one always stuck with me.

This happened right around Halloween several years ago. I was ringing out a customer who shops about once a month and spends at least $250 each time.

Every Halloween, we would get costumes, makeup, accessories, decorations, etc., that we would buy in bulk to sell at the store.

The customer came up to me at the register, and after I scanned all their items, they had one of the masks we bought (originally priced at $6.99) priced for $1.99. I told the customer that I was going to need to get a price check since there were multiple price tags on it.

This customer is always very nice, by the way.

I paged for the manager, and while waiting, I finished bagging all their purchases.

[Manager] walked up to us.

Me: “Hi, [Manager]! I need a price check on this mask. [Customer] says they found it with that tag on the hardline cart. They say that [description of another employee] pushed that cart out.”

[Manager] looked over the mask.

Manager: “It’s going to be $6.99.”

Customer: “But I found it just like that on the cart they just pushed out? I grabbed it when they were just coming through the back. Can you go ask the person that pushed out the cart? Or ask if anyone priced it that way?”

Manager: “No. It is still going to be $6.99. Take it or leave it.”

Customer: *To me* “Just cancel my order. This is ridiculous.”

[Manager] walked away. [Customer] asked me for the store manager’s name and store number, and I gave her all the necessary information.

Me: *Still sort of stunned* “Okay. Have a good day!”

About an hour later, I was called to the office.

Store Manager: “Hey, [My Name]! Can you come sit and close the door?”

Me: “Sure!”

Store Manager: “So, can you tell me about the incident earlier with [Manager] and [Customer]?”

I relayed what had happened and gave [Store Manager] [Customer]’s name so we could find their rewards card information.

[Store Manager] and I are close friends, so they told me their whole plan for what they were going to do.

Store Manager: “…so, that’s the plan.”

Me: “Sounds good. What’s going to happen with [Manager]?”

Store Manager: “Don’t know yet. A conversation, to start. From there, we will see.”

[Store Manager] and I talked more about the situation, what we would have done, etc., and then [Store Manager] proceeded with the plan.

About a week later, I saw the customer in the store.

Me: “Oh, hi, [Customer]! It’s great to see you back in the store!”

Customer: “Yeah, [Store Manager] called me and apologized and offered me coupons to come back. They are the sweetest and nicest person!”

Me: “Yeah, they are.”

Customer: *Pauses* “Is [Manager] here today?”

Me: “No, they are not.”

They were still employed at the store at this point.

Customer: “Good. I felt bad leaving you with all that to put away.”

Me: “No worries; I do it all the time. Glad to see you are back again. Have a good day!”

[Manager] ended up leaving the store for some other reason about a month later.