Unfiltered Story #195944

I used to work the front desk at a spiritual bookstore. There were plenty of kind and interesting customers, but then there were others who caused some tense situations. One day a woman came in with a gourd and was sobbing uncontrollably. Asked her if she was OK and what was going on. She told me that the guord was telling her to do evil things. We took her in the back to calm down and gave her water. She left her gourd in the back (it was rotting) and came back into the front of the store. She grabs the glass containers which contain hundreds of crystals in each and starts dumping out large quantities of them onto floor in front of the desk. People are having to weave their way around her. Gave her some trays which are meant for customers to use to sort out the crystals. It was clearly inconvenient but weird stuff had happened before and you have to be accepting there. Then she jumps up suddenly and runs out the front door. Comes back in with a chihuahua and sits down again on the floor with it perched on her shoulder. Immediately it jumps off and starts running around the store while she continues with her crystals. The culture of the store was open to pets as long as they were leashed or held. But we didn’t know if this woman was OK so we tried to keep the dog preoccupied and it was sweet. Anyway, then things started getting really weird. Another customer was on her phone at a shelf talking a little loudly and the former woman locked her eyes on her. She started making grunting noises softly and stood up. Walks over to the other lady who is facing away and is completely absorbed in her conversation. She wasn’t moving fast and was crouched down while she gets closer and is making louder sounds like a growl or something she gets right up to the lady and I jumped in between them, lady is still chatting away on her phone and ask the woman if she needs help with her crystals and lead her away from whatever the hell was about to happen. She picks some from the mess on the floor and leaves with her dog. It really sucks that I encountered so many people who needed help for what could possibly be mental illness and there’s not anything I could legally do, like say crystals will heal that, and I don’t know healthcare professionals to refer them to or resources. The store was about accepting all people so you couldn’t offend or insinuate, the customer has to open up to you. Which happened too. That situation and others were stressful for me but even though I dealt with some mean people, I realized that there’s such a bigger picture. Everyone’s life is as equally complex as our own. Retail work can suck, I’ve been in many customer service fields, but as a people we should as workers and customers treat each other better. We look at each other like a face to serve or a face with money. Its not difficult to live ethically, its natural.