My husband and I are in a restaurant known for its country cooking. The tables are fairly close together, so even though we aren’t trying to eavesdrop, we can’t help but hear when the elderly couple next to us rather snippily demands a manager.

Manager: “What can I do for you?”

Couple: “This was the worst breakfast we have ever had. Just horrible!”

My husband and I look over. Both their plates appear to have been licked clean.

Manager: “Yes, but you ate all of it. If you had called me over sooner, I could have fixed this. But now there is nothing I can do.”

Couple: “We want this free!”

Manager: “No, I’m sorry. You didn’t give me a chance to make this right.”

This is how all managers should be!

I work as a QA (Quality Assurance) at a factory that processed potatoes. When something goes wrong in the factory that’s directly tied to quality, such as bad coloring or defects, I as a QA lead have to write a report. These reports are very detailed and extremely time-consuming. When something goes wrong that isn’t directly tied to quality but affects it, such as a machine breaking or foreign material getting in the machines, the lead in charge of the machines is supposed to write the report.

Somehow, all of the reports end up being written by me even though I have my own time-consuming job to do. I have been fighting to not do others’ reports for months, and my boss has told me to remind other leads when a report is needed.

One day, I’m doing my reports plus my data analysis duties, and I hear over the radio that a refrigerator unit has gone out and all the product is coming out as boiled mush instead of frozen, so I call refrigeration.

Me: “You need to do a report on this. I’ll send out an email counting how many pallets of product we lost.”

I send the email and continue on with my day.

Two weeks later, my boss calls me into her office.

Boss: “Why didn’t you write a report on the incident with [refrigerator unit]?”

Me: “You told me to remind the other leads to do it and not write their reports.”

Boss: “If you have time to send an email, you have time to write a report.”

Then, she makes me sign a write-up for failure to do my duties (which I do placidly because she has written up everyone else in my department and has been looking for something to write me up for, so I decide to let her have it and get it out of the way).

A couple of months later, the exact same thing happens. All I do is tell refrigeration over the radio to write a report. I do nothing else, knowing that refrigeration won’t write it. Because there is no report or helpful emails, the product is almost shipped out two months later, but it is caught by one of my QAs, who mentions the incident to [Boss].

[Boss] calls me to her office.

Boss: “This incident is going to cost the company millions in storage fees for the time it was already stored, disposal fees, lost product, and a fine from [Retail Chain] for not meeting our contract. Why didn’t you email me about this?”

Me: “I didn’t have the time, but I did tell refrigeration to write a report.”

She couldn’t write me up for it because I had emails from her telling me how to handle these situations.

CONTENT WARNING: Child Abuse

I am the supervisor on shift today. Around seven, one of my cashiers answers the phone. I can only hear a bit of what she’s saying, but before long, she puts them on hold and comes to me, looking incredibly confused.

Cashier: “So… I have a man on the line that… said something about having punched a baby? I can’t… I don’t understand what he wants.”

Ooh, boy. I pick up the line and give my greeting, prepared for the worst.

Me: “Hi, my name is [My Name]; I’m the supervisor on shift. My cashier tells me that you… had issues with a child you hit?”

Caller: “Yeah, so, a couple of days ago, I came in and ended up punching a baby, but like, I just wanted to call and make sure I wasn’t in any trouble or whatever else, just to call and ask about it.”

At this point, I’m pretty sure he’s either lying or calling the wrong store because, even if I hadn’t been on shift, someone punching a baby is absolutely something I would have ended up hearing about.

Me: “Okay, well, I am not the person you’d need to talk to about something like this. If you’d like to call back and speak to our store manager in the morning—”

Caller: “No, I’m not calling back! I just need you to absolve me of responsibility!”

Me: “Well, like I said, I’m not the person you need to talk to. You have to speak with my store manager about the incident—”

Caller: “Aw, come on. You know how it goes! I was just in line, and this freaking kid just starts crying and the mom was standing there not doing nothing, and the kid wouldn’t shut up, so I just hit them, and that shut them up real fast, but the mom didn’t seem to care, so I just left. I just wanted to absolve myself of responsibility by calling and telling you.”

We’re fairly slow, so my cashier is listening to my half of the conversation curiously. I’m leaning closer and closer to either prank or lie.

Me: “Um… well… I am still not the person to speak to. You need to call back—”

Caller: “I am not calling back! You need to absolve me of responsibility! I called and told you, so you need to absolve me!”

I have no idea why this is his go-to phrase.

Me: “Sir, I am not the one who can do that. You need to—”

Caller: “If you hang up this phone, you absolve me of all responsibility!”

Me: “Sir, I—”

Caller: “I am absolved if you disconnect. I called and told you, which means I’m absolved!”

This continues another three or four times, with me attempting to explain and him repeating, “If you hang up, I’m absolved of all responsibility.” Eventually, I get annoyed, and we have real customers to take care of, so instead of hanging up, I just put him back on hold and tell my cashier to leave him there. If he wants to disconnect himself, he can.

My cashier starts laughing when I tell her about it.

Cashier: “You told him it wasn’t your call seven or eight times! I was counting!”

It took at least five minutes of being on hold for him to finally hang up. I still have no idea what that was about. I wrote up an incident report just in case — also to give my morning shift a bit of a laugh when they came in.

I hate shopping for bras, as I have a large chest and it’s hard to find bras in my size. I also don’t like being measured by the employees, as I hate being touched by strangers.

My mom goes with me to the store to help me get new bras. I wanted to get them online, but Mom talked me out of it, saying it’s better to do it in person so I can try them on.

We do have some help from an employee, who recommends certain sizes without measuring me. I am relieved, thinking that for once, I can get through bra shopping without being humiliated. But as we are paying…

Employee: “What size did you get?”

I am too embarrassed to answer, as I have social anxiety, there are other customers in earshot, and I don’t want to broadcast my bust size in front of strangers. The employee does not get the hint and asks again.

Employee: *More loudly* “WHAT SIZE DID YOU GET?”

My mom told her what we got. I was eager to get out of there. I told Mom she embarrassed me and that I would have preferred to get bras online, but she ignored my concerns and said again that it was better to get bras in person so we could make sure they fit.

From now on, I am getting bras online, regardless of what my mother thinks. I also complained to the store about that indiscreet employee.

I was helping a new cashier at the candy bar at the cinema. It was a normal day with a steady stream of customers but not overly busy, so I was serving as well as helping the new cashier on their first shift without a supervisor shadowing.

Customer: “Two medium combos, please.”

New Cashier: “Okay! Anything else with those today?”

Customer: “No, thank you.”

The interaction was going well, so I continued serving and turned around to get popcorn ready for my order, barely listening to the other customer.

New Cashier: “Hey, [My Name], what button is it for the medium drinks?”

Me: “Small, so it settles, and you can manually fill the rest after you get popcorn.”

New Cashier: “Thanks.”

Customer: “Excuse me! I got a medium not a small!”

New Cashier: “…”

Luckily, I had finished serving my last order by now.

Me: “Yes, you will get a medium. We use the small fill, so it won’t overflow if we are getting your other items.”

Customer: “Are you the supervisor?”

Me: “No, but I am able to get them if you like.”

As this was going on, the new cashier went ahead and filled their drinks and set them on the counter.

The customer immediately ripped the lids off, putting his face so close to the cup I thought he might inhale the contents. After a second, he looked up, put the lids back on, tossed the straw wrappers across the counter, and stormed off.

Customer: *From across the lobby* “I hope you know I’ll be speaking to somebody about this!”

New Cashier: “Did… I do something wrong?”

Me: “No, but I wonder what it looked like on the camera when he shoved his nose in the cup.”