Adult Learning With Childish Behavior

This customer — a man in his late forties — is notoriously difficult, always fighting about prices, complaining about being the second person in line, and constantly reminding the powerless cashiers that he spends so much money with us, sometimes even going so far as to claim he deserves the most expensive part of his purchase for free because he is a veteran. The manager gives him a hefty discount just to make him leave. Wash, rinse, repeat.

One day, he comes in to sign up for a series of programs. I’m in charge of running the program and I dread having sessions with him, but they are nonrefundable after half the sessions are completed, so I cross my fingers and hope he will behave… or drop out.

Shortly before the lessons begin, he comes in to say he has a scheduling conflict and wants to switch to the other lesson on another day. This puts him in another associate’s class, which I tell him, and he says it’s fine. I write down the information, and he leaves, but not before tossing the paper in the trash.

Still, the day my program begins, he shows up and claims he never switched. As usual, he is an a**hole every class. He shows up late, gets on his phone during exercises, interrupts me, and even leaves early because he’s bored.

At the end, I ask participants to fill out an anonymous questionnaire to see how much they have learned and ask for feedback on how I can improve for the next group. I know exactly which one is his as soon as I see it. Several of the questions are left blank or have childish responses. For example, when asked, “Name one part of these lessons that you would change and how,” my star student drew a man flipping the bird and a woman with a dumb expression and the words, “blah blah blah,” all around her head.

I was later told that he demanded a refund because I wasted his time and he learned nothing. When the manager told him the sessions were nonrefundable at that point, he threatened to sue me, the store, and the corporation. Of course, he was issued a refund.