Don’t Tip Off The Flip Phone Flip-Outer

I used to work for a phone company that had a kiosk in a smaller mall. We would get all sorts of customers, from older folks who couldn’t figure out the newer tech of phones to young ones trying to convince their parents to get them the newest phones.

One I will never forget was a man who went a little too deep into the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories. He owned a flip phone, he insisted that basically all of my coworkers and I turn our devices off when he was near, and he would wear a hat and sunglasses to try to disguise himself from the cameras.

He seemed a little off his rocker at times but for the most part harmless.

Or so I thought.

One day, he came in slightly more hysterical than usual, and I had the unfortunate pleasure of helping him out. Everything I tried to help with seemed to agitate him more. I did the best I could to just get home. After several attempts to work with him, we eventually got it all figured out. All was good, right?

No. About a week later, he called me. On my personal number. When I answered, he was concerned about why I had called him, who I was, etc. I was so confused, but since I didn’t realise it was him, I just shrugged it off and hung up.

When I showed up to work next, the manager and owner of the kiosk was there waiting to talk to me. Apparently, this customer had reported me for harassing him, working with the government to get him, and so much more craziness. I gave them my side of the story, and luckily, they believed me.

I found out later that one of my useless coworkers had given him my number — to mess with both the customer and me. Some good from this story, though: this same coworker got fired for theft and messaging customers when he wasn’t supposed to.