Seeing Red On Black Friday

Back in college, I lost my job due to my school schedule conflicting with the hours my boss demanded I should work. It was the holiday season, so I decided my best bet was to find a retailer that was looking for seasonal staff and look for another job in the meantime.

I ended up finding a very popular bath and body store in the mall that was hiring. It was just over the border into the states from Canada. For the first few weeks, everything was fine. I was getting the hang of it, I knew the products well, the discount was great, and I hadn’t had any real wild entitlement incidents… until Black Friday.

On Black Friday, I got scheduled for a twelve-hour register shift. It wasn’t the worst thing I could be doing for twelve hours. Most people were pretty pleasant and just excited to get holiday shopping underway. Cue this customer.

She immediately came up to the register with probably easily $400 in merchandise and slammed it down in front of me. I tried to remain pleasant and asked if she found everything okay and if she needed anything wrapped.

Me: “All right, so we’re looking to wrap all this up today?”

Customer: “Well, that’s your job, isn’t it? Am I supposed to wrap it myself?”

Me: “No, ma’am, but sometimes people put these into other gifts, so they don’t always want them wrapped. Are all the same scents going together and being wrapped? Or is there another way you’d like them separated?”

Customer: “Are you actually a r****d? Just wrap them!”

Me: “Yes, ma’am, I’ll get right on that just as soon as we complete the transaction. Your total today is [amount]. Will you be paying cash or card today?”

Customer: “Card! Did you put my discount in for coming from Canada?”

Me: “I’m sorry? We don’t offer a discount for Canadian shoppers. I do apologize.”

Customer: “YOU’RE LYING! I ALWAYS GET A DISCOUNT FOR BEING FROM CANADA!”

Me: “Let me call over my manager and confirm that I didn’t make a mistake. Give me one moment.

I called over my headset, and the manager told me that had NEVER been a thing.

Me: “I’m sorry, but I spoke to my manager, and we have not ever nor are we currently offering a discount for Canadian shoppers. I do apologize for the confusion there.”

Customer: “UGH, FINE! JUST RUN MY CARD AND DO SOMETHING USEFUL!”

Me: “Okay, ma’am, just go ahead and slide your card for me, and then we’ll get this all wrapped up.”

The card declined.

Me: *Speaking quietly* “I’m sorry, ma’am, do you have another form of payment? It says this card was declined.”

Customer: “WHAT DID YOU SAY?! HOW THE F*** DO YOU EXPECT ME TO HEAR YOU OVER THESE PEOPLE?! SPEAK UP.”

Me: *Speaking very loudly* “Your card declined. Do you have another form of payment?”

Customer: “YOU REALLY NEEDED TO ANNOUNCE THAT TO THE ENTIRE LINE?! F*** YOU! YOU CAN TAKE ALL THIS S*** BACK!”

The woman then proceeded to pick up a lotion bottle (one of the glass spa ones) and whip it at my head. That one got her escorted out of the mall and banned by security. I, on the other hand, was fine. I took off my apron and walked out. The money was soooooo not worth it.

Here’s your gentle reminder not to be a jerk to retail workers this holiday season.