I work in a clothing store with a target audience of mothers and their families. Our clothing is fairly cheap but is actually good quality. We get a fair number of elderly people because of the suburb I’m in.

I’m cleaning up the sleepwear section which is next to the plus-size ladies’ section. I see an older woman seeing how a dress would look on her. As part of customer service, we’re told to ask customers if they need assistance.

Me: “Can I help you with anything?”

Customer: *Seems very disappointed* “This dress is no good. I want this one but it’s broken, see?”

She shows me that there are “missing buttons” at the top of the dress. I’m not exactly sure how to break it to her that she’s wrong.

Me: “Um, that’s part of the design.”

Customer: “No, no, it’s broken. I have to get it tailored. And the stitching is so messy, too.”

She shows me the back’s stitching which is slightly gathered… part of the design.

Me: “I’m so sorry about that. Would you like me to grab another one for y—”

Customer: “There’s none there. They’re all size twenty and I need eighteen.”

Me: “I can have a look—”

Customer: “No. There’s none left. Can you give me a discount for this? It’s all broken and I have to get it tailored.”

Me: “Um, I can ask my manager for you?”

Customer: “It’s okay. I’ll ask them at the registers.” *Walks away*

Sometimes when there are a lot of customers waiting, they’ll call up someone from the shop floor to help serve, so they call me up. On the way there, I decide to see if the customer was correct and that there were no size eighteens left. Turns out, there is one other size eighteen. I bring the dress with me. I walk up to the registers and the first person I serve is the woman.

Customer: “I need a discount for this; it’s broken. It should be around $20 now.”

The original price is $30. Conveniently, my manager just walks behind the counter.

Me: “[Manager], can you help this customer?”

Manager: “What’s wrong?”

The customer tells her what she told me and demands $10 off. I show my manager the other size eighteen I found and show her and the customer that it’s designed like that.

Manager: “I can give you 10% off.”

Customer: “How much is that?”

Manager: “It will be $27.”

Customer: “Can’t you make it $20? I need to pay for tailoring now because of bad making.”

Manager: “I’m sorry, I can only give you 10%”

The customer decided she didn’t want the dress.

It’s a Friday, which for us means freight, and I’ve been in the stockroom most of the morning. I get called up to registers and tell the next customers in line, a couple, that I can help them on my register. They set four items on my counter, all four of which, technically, shouldn’t be on sale this week.

Wife: “Are these on sale?”

Me: “Well, these two could probably be considered wall or table decor, so I would say yes, they’re half-off this week.”

It’s a gray area, really, with these. They sit flat but also have a hook to hang. Usually, we explain the sale and then give it to them, especially if they’re going to make a big deal of it.

Wife: “Okay, and these?”

The other two items they have are crosses, which clearly hang on a wall and are on a separate sale from things that sit on a table.

Me: “These are considered wall decor and are on a different sale, so they’re not on sale this week.”

Husband: “Do you have that coupon?”

We’re not supposed to give customers coupons unless there’s something wrong with their phone or their printed copy doesn’t scan. I have no coupons in my drawer, and it’s busy enough that I don’t want to interrupt my coworker on the other register; plus, this gentleman has his phone out.

Me: “I don’t, unfortunately.”

The husband asks if I can download the store app to his phone and I tell him that technically I’m not allowed to handle customers’ phones, but they don’t need the app; they just need to navigate to the store website and that will also bring up the coupon. At this point, the line has grown, and there are two of us on registers.

Me: “Hey, [Coworker], do we have anyone else on registers?”

Coworker: “Um, [Coworker #2]?”

Me: “I think she’s on break.”

We paged an assistant manager to the front, which was not ideal today with us being short a few coworkers. Meanwhile, my customers had decided to ignore my suggestion of searching the store website for their coupon and only wanted to buy the two items that I’d rung up as on sale. Oy.

If I hadn’t been in view of a camera and it wasn’t audit season, I probably would have just downloaded the app for the customer, but if I’d done it on camera and that footage had been pulled within the next week, I’d have been in trouble. If I’d been a little more patient with them, maybe they would have taken the time to try my suggestion, but they were kind of holding up the line.

I’m at a store buying things for a weekend away with my girlfriend. I stock up on condoms, soda, snacks, lotion, sunscreen, and, as an afterthought, I grab some pads because her period is irregular.

When I go through the line, I’m given the occasional odd look, which I ignore, until I feel a tap on my shoulder. 

Woman: “Aren’t you a teenager? What are you doing with condoms? Put them back!”

Me: “First of all, I’m twenty-five. Secondly, it’s none of your business what I buy with my own money.” 

Woman: *Turns tomato red* “What about these pads? You don’t need pads; you’re a boy!” 

Me: “But my girlfriend’s not a boy.” 

The woman shut up.

This story is part of our Best Of March 2021 roundup! This is the last story in this roundup, but if you’d like to read more of our favorite stories, you can always check out February’s roundup next!

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Read the Best Of March 2021 roundup!

I am no older than thirteen when this happens, so I haven’t learned to speak up for myself yet. My dad is recovering from surgery, so I am running a lot of the household errands, including the shopping. 

I have just finished getting what we need and join the queue for checkout. The woman in front of me has a baby in a pram and a toddler so I am giving her a fair amount of space to manoeuvre.

I am just about to move up to the cashier when another woman with a trolley full of stuff blocks my path and then starts loading her stuff onto the conveyer. I might have thought she just hadn’t noticed me, had she not made eye contact with me and then looked away like she was pretending not to have seen me.

Me: “Excuse me, there’s a queue.” 

She blanks me and keeps loading her stuff up. The cashier apparently doesn’t hear me, but the mother in front of me does.

Mother: “That girl should have been next.”

Woman: “No, I was next. The kid can wait.”

The woman reaches a point where it will probably be quicker to put her order through than for her to unload it all again and let me go first. Both the cashier and the mother look over at me. I feel really embarrassed so I just shrug. The mother gives me a sympathetic look and moves off.

Then, another cashier starts opening a lane and calls over to me.

Other Cashier: “Come over here, sweetheart.”

I oblige, feeling really grateful but still very embarrassed that I don’t have the courage to speak up. The cashier pushes my shopping through very quickly and keeps me chatting the whole time, clearly trying to making me feel more at ease.

Then, I hear the original cashier at the other till say:

Cashier: “I’m sorry, the whole system’s just frozen. You’ll have to go to another till.”

I looked over to see the woman grumpily reloading her shopping and getting in line behind me. It was only a small victory, but it made me feel just a little better.

Related:
In Line And Out Of Line, Part 16
In Line And Out Of Line, Part 15
In Line And Out Of Line, Part 14
In Line And Out Of Line, Part 13
In Line And Out Of Line, Part 12

This story is part of our Best Of March 2021 roundup!

Read the next Best Of March 2021 roundup story!

Read the Best Of March 2021 roundup!

Customer: “One packet of cigarettes, please.”

Me: “Sir, I’m going to need to see an ID.”

Customer: “What for? I can’t show you ID. You’re gonna steal my identity!”

Me: “Sir, it’s the law.”

Customer: “No! F*** you and f*** this government! No one is getting my personal data! That’s how you manipulate votes!” *Storms out*