(I am a manager at a popular theme park in Florida. A customer is complaining about the price of a princess dress. I have already started ringing it up and scanned their annual pass.)

Customer: “Oh, I didn’t realize it was that expensive. Can I get a discount?”

Me: “Well, you already get a discount with the annual pass.”

Customer: “Can I get more of a discount?”

Me: “I am sorry. The costume is in pristine condition; there is nothing wrong with it. I cannot justify a discount.”

Customer: “Fine! Let me talk to your supervisor!”

Me: “She’s on break. I am the manager on duty right now.”

Customer: *leaning in close* “If you don’t give me a discount, I won’t ever come back to the park again.”

Me: “So, you’re going to waste your annual pass because I won’t give you a discount?”

(His face turned red and he shoved over the bills to pay for it. Obviously, I yelled after him, “Have a magical day!” in a cheery voice.)

(I work at an amusement park. I get promoted to fill in a gap for a team lead that is leaving. Because I get promoted outside of the usual rotation, I’m the only new team lead, and everyone else has had at least a month of training. Today, eight people call in sick, and I’m opening for only the second time. I don’t open perfectly, but all five of the stores for which I’m responsible open on time, and no managers or customers have complained yet. Two of my supervisors pull me over and basically rip apart my opening, telling me it was disorganized, bad, and messy.)

Me: “But it wasn’t terrible, right? I mean, it wasn’t perfect by any means, but all stores opened on time, and it’s only my second time opening. I didn’t even shadow anyone before doing this.”

Supervisor #1: “This is only your second time opening?”

Me: “Yes.”

Supervisor #2: “Oh… Never mind. You did a great job opening, if it’s only your second time!”

(I am speechless. They spent over five minutes telling me how awful my opening was, and neither knew it was only my second time.)

Supervisor #1: “We’ll go over opening procedures after your break so that your openings will be a lot more smooth.”

(I came back from break and my supervisors never showed up again, so it looks like my next opening will be a lot like my second!)

(I work at a very popular water park in the heart of Florida. I’m a ride operator for kid rides, and I take safety very seriously, as well as fairness. When we close the park, we have to close the chains to the entrance right at closing time to get the rides closed on time. We have to turn people away all the time to clear the park out. A woman comes up to the gate as I am fastening lap bars.)

Guest: “Party of two.”

Me: “Terribly sorry, folks, but we closed the rides at eight. It is now ten minutes past, and these were the last riders in line.”

(The guest gets red in the face and points to her two children.)

Guest: “Party of two.”

Me: “I heard you, but they won’t be getting on. We are closed. I’m sorry.”

(The lady points to my only empty vehicle at the end.)

Guest: “There! They can sit there! It’s empty!”

(At this point, other guests hear her wanting to ride and gather around to try and line up.)

Me: “No. I cannot let them on! If I let your children on, I have to let everyone’s kids on.”

Guest: “I don’t give a f*** about them! Put my children on, now! You’re being rude!”

(I lock all the exit gates and start the ride. She storms over to my booth. There’s a fence between us, but she’s trying to lean into it.)

Guest: “How dare you?! Call your manager over here, now! Oh, I’m going to get you fired, you b****! You just ruined our whole vacation! You can’t let two small children ride?! How do you sleep at night?!”

Me: *smile at her and shrug* “I sleep just fine, thank you.”

Guest: “Get me your manager, now!”

Me: “I’m running my ride now, so once I finish it and do my closing duties I can call a manager. But we are closed, so they will be hard to reach. You can go to guest services and issue a complaint. But I can tell you that right now I have a camera watching me, and I am 100% safe in my job.”

(The guest’s kids don’t even care, and they ask their mom if they can go see the whales before they leave. The lady screams at her kids to shut up because she’s dealing with “this terribly rude woman,” as she calls me. My last ride ends, I let everyone leave, and I start my closing duties. Meanwhile, the lady’s kids are begging to see the whale exhibit before it’s covered for the night. She refuses to go, and they wait 15 minutes while I try and call a manager. Then, the announcer announces that the park is closed and the exhibits are covered. The kids get mad and begin crying and throwing a fit, and the mother says it’s all my fault. Finally, I get a hold of a manager and they’re on the way! But when I tell the guest my manager is coming to talk to her, she comes up to my face and writes down my name.)

Guest: *with a smug smile* “Okay, [My Name], I’m going to management with this information! You ruined our vacation! You made my children cry, and you were extremely rude! You won’t have a job by tomorrow!”

(She took her kids and stormed off before my manager got there. I told my manager what happened and he sided with me. The next day, I had a negative review at guest services, but they told me the woman was bat-s*** crazy, so they threw her review out once she left.)

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(I am a supervisor in the customer service office for an amusement park. A guest would like her $15 for parking refunded, and my associate calls me over to handle the transaction.)

Me: “Ma’am, why do you need your parking refunded?”

Guest: “I have a card! You don’t have to pay with a card! I get free admission with this!”

Me: “Yes, ma’am. Please let me see your card for a moment.”

(The guest hands over a card that is very clearly not a company card.)

Me: “Ma’am, this is a United States National Parks senior pass, not a [amusement park] pass.”

(She paid that day.)

(I work in an amusement park that has a water park next to it, but they aren’t connected. This happens on a hot summer day when the water park has hit maximum capacity.)

Guest: “The water park is being so stupid!”

Me: “How?”

Guest: “They aren’t letting anyone in. They have the entrance completely blocked off!”

Me: “They are at max capacity.”

Guest: “Well, we are season pass holders, so we should get in!”

Me: “But they are at maximum capacity. They can’t fit any more people in; there’s no room.”

Guest: “They should make room, since we are season pass holders. We should have priority over one-day tickets.”

Me: “So, what you are saying is, you want them to kick the day ticket people out so you can get in?”

Guest: “Well, I– I mean I– No, I, uh– Season pass holders should be top priority, so we should get in first! So, yes, that would be nice, if it were possible.”

(I gave her a look that could only be described as saying, “Seriously?” She just grinned and walked away.)