Instead Of Opening At 9 We Have To Open At 911

I’ve arrived for my opening shift, but there’s no manager to let me in. I call our general manager, and after some confusion, we realize that our opening manager was hospitalized after an emergency. We manage to find another manager to come in and open, but we unfortunately will have to open late as a result. I’m mingling out front waiting. A few customers try to come in but are understanding after I explain the situation. Until one older woman tries to come in…

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but due to an emergency, we’ll have to open a little late today.”

Customer: *Explodes* “This is unacceptable! How hard can it be to open on time?! I can’t believe this!”

She ranted for a solid minute and then went back to her car. A short time later, I saw police cars swarming around my store and the woman screaming at both the cops and my rather frazzled-looking manager. I ended up holding off on heading over until the scene finally cleared.

I found out later that the lady actually called 911 repeatedly to report our store not being open. I have no clue if she got in any trouble, but I hope she did. Not being able to buy stuff is no excuse to call the cops.