I work for a clinic. We have a client who always comes in with his case worker. While the client is very sweet, she is always abrasive and seems to be in a perpetual bad mood.

Case Worker: So, after his injection, is [Client] going to talk to his doctor?

Me: Let me check the schedule. [looks, and sees name I think is the client’s] Yes, at 4:15.

Case Worker: No, the appointment is for 2:15.

Me: Let me look again.

Case Worker: Yeah. You do that.

Me, checking the schedule again: Oh! The 4:15 client has a very similar name to [Client]. His appointment is at 2:15. Sorry about that!

Case Worker: Whatever.

Me: ….

My husband and I were staying in a hotel for a weekend trip. I had just started brushing my teeth when I heard the hotel room’s door open. I thought it was my husband bringing coffee back. Instead, I saw a woman standing in the doorway.

Me: Yes?
Woman: Uhh…sorry. (*Turns to leave*)
Me: Excuse me!
Woman: (*Quickly closes the door behind her*)

A moment later my husband comes back. I tell him what happened and he’s just as confused. We go to the front desk.

Front Desk: Hi, how can I help you?
Me: Yeah, a woman just walked into our room.
Front Desk: Oh. The cleaning staff? You can just hang the “Do Not Disturb” sign.
Me: She was wearing regular clothes and she didn’t knock.
Front Desk: Maybe another guest got confused.
Husband: How would another guest get into our room?
Front Desk: You probably didn’t shut the door the whole way.
Me: I know I did.
Front Desk: Then it was probably the cleaning staff and you just didn’t hear her knock.
Me: She did not knock. She was not wearing a uniform. But she got in my room and when I tried to talk to her, she left. So either your staff is not properly trained or your security is lacking. Which is it?
Front Desk: (*Sigh*) I really don’t know what to tell you.
Husband: You can tell us you’re going to refund the rest of our trip so we can go somewhere else.

She argued for a while that we were not entitled to a refund. When I pulled up Yelp and started writing a review about our experience, she refunded the whole weekend.

I get the fun of being the lead technician over the weekend shift, with that in mind, I get to handle the escalated cases that our entry level techs can not handle or have the time to dedicate to resolving.

As I’m going over escalated cases and working on them based on SLA level – 4 being get the issue resolved ASAP to 1 being we have 72 hours to resolve the issue. I see a message pop up on my monitor from one of the entry level techs telling me that he’s having a problem with a customer that’s completely down and he has to open for business in a couple hours.

Today Saturday and the customer opens for lunch soon so he needs to get his system back up and running.

I answer the call and read over the notes in the ticket quick.

Me: I see you mentioned to the other tech that you installed the new memory we shipped to you for your back office computer and now your computer won’t turn on. Is this correct?

Customer: Yes. I got the stick of memory yesterday and thought I’d install it quick this morning since we don’t do breakfast on the weekends, but now the computer won’t turn on.

While the customer is talking I’ve pulled up the Work Order and confirmed we shipped the correct DDR2 memory for the older computer he has in his office.

Me: Can you please walk me through the process you used when installing the memory so I can make notes on my end to make sure we have everything laid out and easy to follow should anyone else have to work on this ticket?

Customer: Okay. I opened the side of the computer tower and I see two slots to put memory in. One has a stick and the other is empty. I put the new memory stick in the empty slot and the computer turned off. Now it won’t turn back on.

Me: Okay (holding back laughter). Let me update my notes, please give me a moment.

I mute the phone and start laughing and I mean laughing hard. I’ve now drawn the attention of the half dozen other techs that work under me, they quickly run over to ask what the issue is. I tell them quick and now all of us are laughing. I have to quiet everyone down so I can get back on the phone with the customer.

Me: Just to make sure I have my notes in here correctly, this is what happened: First, you removed the side panel. Second, you installed the new memory. Third, the computer turned off immediately as you installed the new memory. Is this correct?

Customer: Yes. The computer turned off immediately after I installed the new stick of memory. Do you think the memory is bad?

Me: Based on the steps you’ve told me and I confirmed with you, it sounds like the computer was on and running when you installed the RAM. If that truly is the case, then you shorted out the mother board and your computer won’t turn on anymore.

Customer: What can I do? I’m not close to any computer places, we’re located in the Florida Keys….it’s 2 hour drive to the closest place, like Best Buy.

Even though I had a wonderful laugh at the customer’s stupidity with computer hardware and them breaking their computer, I had a heck of a job a head of me to get them back up and functional. I had to spend the next 2 hours walking the customer through getting a spare computer (which was actually a spare register that had enough HDD space to function as a temporary office computer) plugged into the network, setup for the proper IP configs to get it online and copying over a lot of files to re-install all necessary software.

In my country, for one section of the community, band parades and marches are an important part of their culture, but are often viewed as contentious by the other side of the community (perhaps that’s putting it too mildly, but there you go).

At the time of this story, I’m living in a part of the city where we get a LOT of band parades. Every year, in the area where I used to live, there would be a parade to commemorate the Battle of the Somme. It was always VERY well attended, people came from all over the city to take part, and spectators usually lined the streets – some brought chairs, others sat on the ground or stood. The locals usually leaned on their door jamb and watched. Every year, our church would recruit volunteers from the congregation to give out burgers and hotdogs to the gathered masses. We’d set up a barbecue in the church car park, bring the cooked food into the kitchen where it was lovingly assembled and loaded onto plates, and then groups of us would walk along the parade route offering the food to the spectators. The food was ALWAYS free, because as a church we saw it as a way of engaging with, and serving, our local community.

I always got involved, and I always liked walking up to people, chatting with them, asking if they were enjoying the parade, and offering free food. But there was one thing I could NEVER understand – some people were quite happy to walk over to a nearby burger/hotdog van and PAY for food, but when it was offered for free, they’d politely decline. At this point, I should stress that WE WERE NOT expecting anything in return for the food – this wasn’t one of those things where we’d offer free food and then try to pressure people into joining our congregation. It was just free food! Sometimes, people would hungrily eye the burgers/hot dogs, and when I’d offer they’d reach out as if wanting to lift one, say “How much are they?” and when I said “They’re free – would you like one?” they’d think for a second and say, “Oh, well no thanks then!” and go back to watching the parade. Or they’d say “Nah, you’re alright mate, I’m about to go to the burger van in a moment!”, to which I’d reply with “Well why not stay here and take one of these, they’re free?” and their response would be “Nah, you’re grand. I’ll just go to the burger van.”

I couldn’t understand it, and neither could my friends from the church. It always seemed strange that in a city of people who complained about how much everything cost, we’d encounter so many who’d refuse a free meal!

At the time of this story I’m in my very early 20s and quite heavily (and unhappily!) pregnant with triplets (I was surprised when I found out!!) I’ve been suffering badly during the pregnancy, with Pelvic Girdle Pain, swollen joints, back, shoulder and neck pain, and quite severe Hyperemesis Gravidarum. I’ve also been suffering from depression since my early teens, and (probably because of pregnancy hormones), I’ve been crying a lot. A couple of years previously, a really good friend of mine moved away to Scotland to go to university. We went to school together, she was a popular girl, and I wasn’t, mainly because of my learning disabilities and deafness. To this day I still believe that she only became friends with me because she felt sorry for me. I was heartbroken when she left, and while we’ve kept in contact through Facebook and by text, I’ve missed her terribly.

One day she contacts me to tell me that she has a few days off and has decided to come back home to visit her parents, and wonders if I’d like to meet. I’m so happy I cry! She arranges for us to meet in a nearby shopping mall that has a nice café where we can sit, and more importantly has elevators and escalators so I don’t have to climb too many stairs. We meet, and I am REALLY happy to see her! She’s changed her hairstyle and color since I last saw her and now proudly wears an engagement ring, but she’s still the healthy, happy young woman I always remember her to be. We embrace, and I struggle not to bawl my eyes out because I’m so happy to see her. We go to the café, and my friend helps me sit down and get comfortable while she goes to order – a strong black coffee for her, and a lemon tea for me, as it’s about the only thing that I can drink without vomiting. As we sip our drinks we catch up – she asks me about my new job, and I ask her about university. As we reminisce about our school days, I suddenly become overwhelmed by emotion as I realize how much I’ve missed her – and I start bawling my eyes out. My friend, remembering how upset I used to get, talks gently to me and I begin to calm down.

She starts telling me about the plans for her wedding, and suddenly she grins widely. I ask her what’s funny (I remember she always did have a really strange sense of humor!) and she says, “Sorry [my name], I shouldn’t laugh, but…you’ve been crying so much your makeup is all smeared!” I take out my compact mirror and look, and to my horror, she’s right! I start apologizing and get up to go and find a bathroom to fix the mess on my face. As I’m leaving she taps me on the arm and I turn to look at her. “Hey, [my name],” she says, laughing, “you know what you look like?” I shrug. Barely able to contain herself she says, “You look like a sexy Halloween Zombie! Who’s Pregnant!” She doubles over with laughter at what she clearly thinks is hilarious. I sigh, shake my head in mock exasperation, and waddle off to the bathroom to fix my makeup. I do miss her very much, that’s true, but I don’t really miss her weird sense of humor!