(I work at a popular clothing store, and my job is to fold and hang anything customers mess up or pull off hangers. A middle-aged woman and her young daughter — about six or seven years old — come over next to me while I am folding a pile of t-shirts. I have just finished folding the shirts when, without saying a word, she picks a shirt from the pile, holds it in the air, crumples it, and throws it back down, and then continues doing that with the rest of the shirts.)

Me: “Ma’am, please don’t do that; I have just folded those. If you tell me what size you are looking for I would be glad to help.”

(She keeps unfolding each and every shirt until she has unfolded all of them, and then starts browsing all the other clothes. After she has moved, I start to refold the pile all over again.)

Daughter: “I can help you fold these again; I am sorry about my mommy.”

Me: “It’s okay, sweetie. You don’t have to. Thank you.”

(Her daughter starts folding the shirts, anyway, and folds a few so perfectly and cleanly.)

Daughter: “It’s okay. Mommy makes me fold my clothes all the time.”

(She made my day. Thank you, little girl, for restoring my faith in humanity!)

(I am working as floor staff at a small movie theater. Occasionally, we host birthday parties for kids, and we treat them to a tour of the automated projection room before their showing begins. Today we are hosting a birthday party of about ten preteen boys. I have brought them upstairs along with two parental chaperones and am showing them around. It is between showings at the moment; some of the movies have started already but most still have a while to go before they begin.)

Me: “All right, guys, you can go ahead and look around! Have fun, and I’m right here if you have any questions!”

(The boys scatter throughout the room, looking at the projection machines and peering through the windows into the theaters.)

Boy #1: “I can see our theater! Look, there’s my mom!”

Boy #2: “This one has previews!”

Boy #3: “This one has boobies!”

(The boy points excitedly to a projector that has already started… showing a sex scene! Immediately, all the other kids rush over to the “boobie projector” as I exchange mortified glances with their parents.)

Me: “Oh, my God! Uh, kids, you might want to wait a few years for that one!”

(We managed to distract them with a scary story, and luckily the parents were very understanding. I’m just glad they didn’t see anything below the waist!)

This story is part of our Birthday Party Roundup!

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(I am at the register and this guy walks in. He’s looking around, so I go out and ask him if he needs help.)

Customer: “Parlez-vous francais?”

Me: “No, I’m sorry.”

Customer: “Me, either.”

(He then continued talking… in English.)

(I work at a call center for a property rental company. Folks often email inquiries, then call in with follow-up questions. An older woman calls.)

Me: “Thanks for calling. How can I help you?”

Caller: “I was looking at one of your rental units online, and had some questions.”

Me: “I’d be happy to help with that! Can you help me locate which unit you were looking at?”

Caller: “It’s in [City], Florida… Pet friendly? It has two bedrooms?”

(I have literally dozens of options matching that description.)

Me: “Hm… I’m having a little trouble finding the exact unit you’re talking about—”

Caller: “I got an email from you saying it was available.”

Me: “Oh! I can look that up. What’s your email address?” *she provides it* “Thank you! Here’s the email. So, it looks like the unit is available; the cost is $1400.”

Caller: “Well, I clicked the button that said, ‘pet friendly,’ and that one popped up. And, what’s that number again? I had $1100 in my email.”

Me: “I’m sorry; I’m reading this right off the email. I’m not sure where you saw another number, but what I see is $1400.”

Caller: “I’m referencing the email titled, ‘INQUIRY FOR THE FLORIDA GETAWAY…’” *starts reading verbatim from the email, as though she’s going to prove something to me* “’…the total cost, including all taxes and fees, is $1400…’ Wait. It didn’t say that before. Why would it have changed?”

Me: “I’m sorry, that’s the email and cost I’m seeing, as well. And, reading more closely, it looks like this unit isn’t actually pet friendly, either.”

Caller: “But I clicked, ‘pet friendly.’”

Me: “I’m sorry, but this unit isn’t pet friendly.”

Caller: “Well, okay, then, I guess we’ll keep looking.”

(She ended her call. I heard her say to her husband before the line disconnected, “I just don’t know why that price changed somehow!”)

(I get a call from the customer service desk telling me that there is a customer coming back from the service desk to men’s belts, so I go to meet the customer. He has a broken belt in his hand.)

Customer: “I need to find a belt like this. I can’t believe this! They treated me like some kind of thief! I know the manager! I can’t believe this!”

(He then looks at a few belts that are similar to the belt that he has, but they are a different brand. I take a look at the belt so I can see what brand it is. The logo looks a bit like the [Brand] logo.)

Me: “Sir? What brand is this?”

Customer: “[Brand].”

Me: “We don’t carry [Brand] here. I would try [Department Store].”

Customer: “You don’t carry [Brand]?”

Me: “No, sir.”

Customer: “Are you sure?”

Me: “Yes, sir, we don’t carry this brand. I believe [Department Store] does.”

Customer: “I knew I got it somewhere in this town. I guess I have to go back up to the service desk and apologize.”