(I work in a large retail store selling fitness equipment and tools. It is a slow midweek shift when an older gentleman walks in.)

Me: “Hello, sir, welcome to [Store]. How can I help you today?”

Customer: *has a newspaper ad in hand* “I will take one of these today!” *pointing at a treadmill*

Me: “Okay, sir, that is no problem. Let’s go over to the register and we can finish up.”

(The customer follows me over and I ring the order.)

Me: “Your total today comes to $645.32.”

Customer: “WHAT! The ad clearly lists that as $49.99!”

(The customer shoves the ad in my face.)

Me: “Sir, that price is for the rubber mat that goes beneath the machine.”

Customer: “This is absurd! You punks are scamming me and others! I will never shop here again!”

Me: “Sorry, sir. Learn how to read an ad, and have a great day!”

(The store is featuring a huge sale on clearance. For example, items marked down to $19 from an original price of $50+ are ringing up for $8.99. A customer comes up with two items that ring up $4.99 each, at least an 80% markdown from the original price.)

Customer: “Can I use this $10 off coupon I got on my phone?”

Me: “I’m so sorry. That coupon can only be used on regularly priced items. And it specifies that it’s $10 off $50 in purchases.”

Customer: “Well, how can I get another discount, then? Do you have any coupons I can use to bring down the price?”

Me: *after blinking out of sheer shock* “I… I guess you could steal it?”

(Thankfully, my manager heard my reply and started cracking up.)

(I’m running into the store quickly. Immediately after entering, I see a gentleman in what is obviously a work shirt (name tag and store logo) and he smiles at me.)

Me: “Hi! Can you tell me where the notebooks are?”

Him: *looking down at his shirt* “Well, I don’t actually work here…”

(I belatedly realize that he’s wearing a shirt for a different company, and it’s not even the same color as the shirts for this store.)

Me: “Oh my gosh! I just saw your shirt and didn’t even notice it wasn’t for this store. I’m so sorry!”

Him: “I can show you where they are though; I was just over there…”

(He proceeds to lead me right past two workers for the actual store to where the item was. I was really embarrassed about my mistake but he was so nice and helpful that it made it that much less painful…)

(I get a phone call early to say I need to get to my grandad very quickly. Using trams, buses and trains, I spend the morning travelling the 270 miles as fast as I can, not knowing whether I’ll be in time. When I arrive at his local station, I jump in a taxi, which pulls out into heavy traffic.)

Driver: *cheerfully* “You’re not in a hurry, are you?”

Me: *on the verge of tears* “My Grandad… I don’t know… I just…”

Driver: *looks at me in the mirror* “Oh, love… hang on!”

(He drives the wrong way up a very short (and empty) one way street, bypassing the unmoving traffic, and getting me to the care home in a few minutes. He risked his licence and I got there in time to say goodbye.)

(I’m in the drive-thru of a popular fast food place next in line to the pay window. In the back seat, my six-year-old niece spills her drink. I reach back to help her, thinking I have the car in park, but it rolls forward, bumping the car in front of me. After the driver finishes her transaction, an employee comes out and motions for her to pull ahead a little bit, and both of them examine the back of her car.)

Employee: *looking at bumper* “I don’t see any damage.”

Driver: *also looks, gives me a big smile* “I think we’re okay!”

Me: “I’m SO sorry! Are you sure?”

Driver: *gives me two thumbs up* “Yup, we’re good!”

(She drives off and the employee goes back in and is at the pay window when I get there.)

Employee: “You don’t owe anything. The lady ahead of you paid for your order.”

Me: *flabbergasted* “After I hit her?”

Employee: “No, before you hit her.”

Me: *groans in embarrassment, seeing that the lady is long gone* “Well, then, all I can do is pay for the person behind me!”

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