(A customer and her daughter, who can be no older than four, walk up to the service counter.)

Customer: “Can I get a pack of [Cigarette Brand], please.”

Supervisor: “Sure.”

Girl: “No, Mommy, don’t.”

Customer: “But Daddy asked me to get them for him.”

Girl: “But they’re bad.” *to Supervisor* “Don’t get them.”

Supervisor: “I have to, or I’ll get in trouble.”

(My supervisor goes over to the drawer and grabs the cigarettes.)

Girl: “No! Don’t get them. They’re bad for Daddy. Don’t!”

Customer: “It’s okay, honey.”

Girl: *looking more and more upset by the second* “No, it’s not. Don’t scan them. Please.”

Supervisor: *trying to act as sweetly as possible* “I’m very sorry, but I have to. It’s my job. I’ll get in trouble if I don’t.”

(She scans the cigarettes.)

Supervisor: “That’ll be [price].”

Girl: “No! Don’t! Mummy, don’t buy them. They’re bad for Daddy. They’ll kill him.”

(The customer pays and the supervisor hands them the pack of cigarettes.)

Girl: “No!”

(As her mother tried to drag her away, the little girl folded her arms and scrunched up her face in that cute way four-year-olds do when they’re angry. I’m glad my supervisor took that one; I don’t think I would have been able to go through with the purchase with a little girl basically begging me to spare her father’s life.)

(A customer has put her shopping basket on the conveyor belt. I take it after scanning her groceries through and notice a mobile at the bottom.)

Me: “Here, you’ve forgotten your phone.”

Customer: “Oh, thanks.” *nonchalantly sticks the phone inside her bra*

(I emptied a bottle of hand sanitiser after that.)

(The most recent firmware update has been reported to wreck a lot of mobile phones by causing a lot of issues. My phone is one of these, and has become unusable. I ring up the phone company on my landline to see if there is anything they can offer me or recommend I do.)

Employee: “Oh, yes. I see. You are correct. The recent firmware update is causing a lot of issues with mobile phones. We can offer you a few options.”

Me: “That’s great! What can you offer me?”

(The employee goes through a few offers, and since I am near the end of my plan, they waive the fee for me to get a new plan and phone. I am one of the lucky ones who is able to get this, as many people who had this issue either just started a new 24-month plan or were in the middle of their plan and couldn’t get much waived.)

Employee: “Okay, can I get a few more details from you before I do this for you?”

Me: “Sure!”

(While she is gathering some details from me, I hear her sniffing.)

Me: *knowing the season* “Hayfever playing up?”

Employee: “No. I’ve been dealing with issues like this all day. You’re the first person not to yell at me or yell abuse at me.”

Me: “Aww. Why would I yell at you? It’s not your fault. Those people who yelled at you are total jerks.”

(I felt sorry for this lady and gave her the best feedback I could give somebody, and I kept reminding her that no matter what people say to her, no issue they are having is her fault. Lady, if you’re reading this, I hope your day got better!)

(I’ve pulled into a fast food drive-thru to buy a drink after a long day at work. There are only two cars ahead of me, but the way this restaurant is set up, the drive-thru is at the back of the restaurant along with the waiting car spots while the doors are around the front. The staff never park cars because they have to walk all the way around the restaurant to bring out the orders. They are also notoriously slow in putting orders together, so it’s about five minutes before the first car gets their order, and over five minutes more before the next car gets theirs. I usually don’t complain, but I’m already frustrated as yet again their shake machine has broken down, so I have to get a soda instead. By the time I get to the window I am ready to ask for a manager. The server has my drink in hand.)

Server: *before I can say anything* “You don’t need to pay.”

Me: “What?”

Server: “You don’t need to pay; it’s free.”

(There was no way I could complain after that.)

(I work in a local school, not as a teacher, but my position means I’m regularly helping out students in classes across multiple subjects and grade levels. I am a man. This happens one day in a grade-nine math class.)

Me: *walking past [Female Student #1], noticing she is falling a bit behind the average question students are up to* “[Female Student #1], do you know what to do?”

Female Student #1: “What? Oh, yeah, sure. Um, sir, can I ask you something?”

Me: “Sure, what can I help you with?”

Female Student #1: *pushing one of her legs out from under her desk into the walk-space* “Feel my leg.”

Me: *absolutely taken aback* ” Um… No. Why?”

Female Student #1: *actually sounding a little annoyed* “Sir, just touch it. It’s smooth.”

Me: “I’m not going to do that. How about we get back to doing question—”

(Interrupting:)

Female Student #1: “Touch my leg!”

(At this point the students classmate chimes in.)

Female Student #2: “Just feel her leg, sir. I did; it’s really smooth.”

(This has officially reached “too weird” levels.)

Me: “I believe you.”

(I just walk away to another table of students. To my amazement, I hear [Female Student #1] talking to the class teacher.)

Female Student #1: “…and is refusing to touch it. Come on, miss! You do it!”

Teacher: *giving me a “WTF is going on?” look* “Yes, it’s smooth, [Female Student #1]. Can you do your math now?”

Female Student #1: “Can you tell my Mr. [My Name] to do it, too?”

(At this point the teacher and I lost it in fits of laughter. The ridiculousness of the situation was just too much. After class we found out the student had had her legs waxed for the first time and wanted to show it off. We could not get her to understand why it was inappropriate for her to ask a grown man to feel how smooth her thighs were. Ah, the innocence of the young.)