(I am shopping with my sister and my best friend, and we pop into a popular clothing store. While my sister and friend are going through piles of clothes, I start folding them back into perfect piles. An employee is watching us from the corner, probably because teenagers either cause trouble or don’t end up buying anything. She walks by and asks how we are doing.)

Me: “We’re fine; I’m just folding clothes.”

Employee: “You know, you don’t have to do that.”

Me: “I know but I work in retail. It’s ingrained in me.”

(She was much nicer to us after that.)

(A few years ago, I worked in a small, family-run Italian restaurant. On a busy Friday night, a young couple comes in to eat and asks me for the bill when they finish. I take the bill over and they pay by debit card. After they pay, I thank them for coming and go back behind the counter to prepare another table’s bill. Afterwards, they come up to speak to me.)

Customer: “Hi, we’d just like to say thank you for the great service and food, but we feel really bad; we have no change for a tip.”

Me: “Oh, don’t be silly! That’s fine. Honestly, it’s no problem. I’m glad you enjoyed it!”

Customer: “Thanks for being so understanding; we really feel bad, though.”

Me: “Honestly, don’t feel bad; it’s enough for me to know you enjoyed it. Have a great night!”

(They leave and I get on with the night. About 20 minutes later, I am at the counter and someone calls out.)

Customer: “Hi again. We came back to tip you.”

(He hands me a £10 note.)

Customer: “We wanted to come back after we’d been to the cash machine; we really did have a great time.”

(I thanked them profusely and they left. I was so shocked they went out of their way to come back, even though I really didn’t mind I’d not been tipped. The service industry is hard work, but it’s people like that who make the difference!)

(It has been cold for a few weeks now, and our university has already shut down once due to ice and snow. My department works for the university, and shuts down when the school does. There is more snow on the weather forecast for today.)

Coworker: *peering out the window* “There’s the snow! Finally.”

Supervisor #1: “All right! Who’s up for some day drinking? We can go to [on-campus Pub] just like last time we shut down early.”

Supervisor #2: *pulls a bottle of what looks like champagne from underneath his desk*

Supervisor #1: “Oh! You’re so prepared!”

(I’ve recently taken a job as a secretary after the person who previously held the position was let go for less than stellar performance. My new boss seems like a demanding person, but I quickly come to realize that his expectations are low. It leads to several conversations like this one:)

Boss: “[My Name], I wanted to let you know I was very impressed with how you handled things while I was traveling.”

Me: *confused because it was very quiet while he was gone* “Uh, thank you?”

Boss: “That email you sent out, you know, when you rearranged a phone call. That was excellent!”

(A task like that would be very basic for someone new to the job. Having several years of experience, I’m completely baffled that someone would bring it up at all.)

Me: “I… You know that’s routine, right? Thank you, but it was just an email.”

Boss: “No, seriously, the way you handled that was very professional. And… Now you’re looking at me like I’m crazy because I’m praising you for something you think should go without saying.”

Me: “Sorry! I love positive feedback; who doesn’t? I’m just confused.”

Boss: “Just let me enjoy this for a bit.”

(Later, he walks by my office as I’m about to finish my last task for the day.)

Boss: “[My Name], what are you still doing here? Shouldn’t you be going home?”

Me: “My shift ended two minutes ago. It’s fine; I’m just sending out that request for information before I leave.”

Boss: “But you could leave that until tomorrow morning.”

Me: “Sure, but you said we need the reply by tomorrow afternoon. If I send it out tomorrow, how much do you want to bet that there will be someone who complains because half a day isn’t enough time to send us a yes or no reply?”

(I’m looking at my screen as I say this, but my boss goes so quiet that I look up and see him staring at me.)

Me: “Everything all right?”

Boss: “I’m not going to say anything, because then you’ll get that expression again as if you’re wondering if I’ve lost my mind. Just… That’s why I hired you. Please stay.”

(I work in an outbound call center. Customers fill out information online and we, along with others in our industry, then make calls… a lot of them. This leads to a lot of people getting irate. Sometimes we win them over; sometimes we can’t. This guy, though…)

Me: “Hi, is this [Customer]?”

Customer: “You are the ninth person to call me!”

Me: “I’m the ninth caller? Do I win the car?”

(This brought him to a stop and made him laugh. While he and I did have a good conversation, ultimately, we weren’t able to help him. Call of the day, though!)