John Constantine Versus The Customers

For context, I started working at a grocery store chain when I was sixteen and transferred to another location at twenty-one. This takes place on Halloween 2022. I had to work during the day shift, and since my store allows costumes, I wore my John Constantine outfit. When I got home, I washed it, met up with friends to hang out, and we decided to grab some snacks. We stopped by the closest location, which happened to be the one I had transferred from the year before.

While we were shopping and talking about what we wanted, a regular recognized me and asked if I knew where something was. I told my friends I’d meet back up with them after I helped her. I showed her where the item was, asked if she needed anything else (she said no), and she asked if I still worked there since she hadn’t seen me in a while. I told her I had transferred the year before. We said goodbye, and I walked away to rejoin my friends.

This is where the customer enters the scene.

Customer: “Excuse me! I’ve been following you around the entire store, and you didn’t even look at me!”

Me: “I’m so sorry. Is there something I can help you with?”

Customer: “Yes. I want you to find everything on my list and grab it for me.”

This is when I realized what was happening and explained:

Me: “I don’t work at this location. And even if I did, that’s not what my job entails.”

Customer: “If you don’t work here, then why did you help that other lady?!”

Me: “Because I worked at this location for over five years and transferred last year. I still know the store pretty well.”

That’s when she starts screaming at me to get a manager because she’s “going to get me fired.” My friends are telling me to just ignore her and leave, but instead, I decide to annoy her even more and go find the store manager, who knew me well from my time working there.

The look on her face when he came over and said:

Manager: “He doesn’t work here anymore. And even if he did, he’s clearly off the clock, which means he doesn’t have to help you if he doesn’t want to.”

…was priceless.

After she stormed out, I asked him if she had been a problem since I left. He said she’s been doing this every week for the past two months and that next time he’s going to have her trespassed because he’s tired of dealing with her BS.

My friends and I had a good laugh about it in the truck on the way back to the house.