Rich People Lack A-Peel

(The city I work in has a big race every year, and the street that my cafe is on is closed for the race. As a result, the shop is very slow; the only people in the shop are me — a shift lead — and a cashier who has just moved here. This city is also well-known for its pretentious, entitled yuppies. The shop has two doors, and the back door is near a gap in the counter for the employees to go in and out. The area can be kind of confusing, and customers frequently start turning too early and accidentally end up behind the counter. Every other time this happens, the customer quickly realizes it and goes around to the correct side of the counter. The day of the race, a woman who has just finished running comes in the back door, turns the corner, and ends up behind the counter. She realizes her mistake, pauses, decides she doesn’t care, and comes further back to put her banana peel in the trash, putting her right behind our register. She stays behind the register, peel in hand, to have the following argument:)

Me: “Ma’am, this is an employee-only area.”

Customer: “I’m just throwing out my peel.”

Me: “I understand, but you can’t be back here. There is a trash can on the other side of the counter, right over there.”

Customer: “I told you, I’m just throwing out my peel!”

Me: “Ma’am, you’re standing behind our cash register. I can’t allow anyone who is not an employee to be back here.”

Customer: “Are you saying I’m trying to steal from you? I have plenty of money! I don’t need to steal from a stupid little coffee shop!”

Me: “Ma’am, our insurance doesn’t allow us to have anyone who is not an employee behind the counter. If you would please move into the customer’s area, I would be happy to get a drink started for you.”

Customer: “You can’t accuse me of stealing! I have more money than you would know what to do with! I’m just throwing out my banana peel! You can’t treat me like this!” *storms out*

Cashier: “Did that really just happen?”