No Means No (And No Beer)

I’m a retail manager for a retail drug store chain, and Friday nights are very busy. Everyone is excited for the weekend and alcohol sales are up.

It starts off as a typical Friday night until [Man] walks in. He makes his way to the cooler to buy a six-pack of beer in glass bottles. On his way there, he decides to hit on a woman and ask for her number. The woman’s boyfriend immediately confronts [Man].

Boyfriend: “[Woman] is my girlfriend!”

To get the full picture, the woman has a stroller with a baby in it, and her boyfriend is a large guy with tattoos for eyebrows and several extreme piercings.

Both parties go their separate ways until checkout.

[Man] is in front of [Boyfriend], and [Man] tries again to ask [Woman] for her number.

Boyfriend: *In a tougher, firmer voice* “Leave my girlfriend alone!”

After [Man] pays for his beer, he decides to wait outside, and again, he asks [Woman] for her number. [Boyfriend] is now mad. He grabs [Man]’s beer and slams it against a concrete pillar outside the store. Glass breaks, and there’s a large puddle of beer.

Boyfriend: “Next time, that’s your head.”

And he leaves with [Woman].

That is only the start of the crazy night with [Man]. He comes back in and asks for a manager.

Man: “I’d like a replacement for my beer.”

Manager: “Because we didn’t break your beer, we cannot replace it. We can call the police, though, so you can report the assault and the loss.”

Man: “The store would get a lot of bad publicity with the police and being on the news, so it would be cheaper and less stressful if you just give me another pack of beer.”

We kept saying no, multiple times.

Then, [Man] started a tantrum. He started punching the concrete poles, throwing whatever he could get his hands on, and even toppling the trash cans.

I called the police not once, but twice. Unfortunately, it took the police half an hour to get to the store. During that half-hour, [Man] was harassing customers and throwing his tantrum. Luckily, the other manager who was on duty with me was large and burly and offered to escort customers to their cars.

At one point, [Man] even tried to grab the manager’s leg like a little kid, begging for a beer.

When the police finally arrived, [Man] was throwing his shoes. He picked up a piece of broken glass, looking like he was ready to charge. That’s when the police drew their guns and ordered [Man] to put his hands up and get on the ground.

The police told me that what they had witnessed was enough for them to arrest him, but they took my statement for good measure.

Had [Man] just listened to [Boyfriend]’s first warning, he’d be home alone enjoying some beer. Instead, he spent the night in jail alone with no beer.