I go to a local lunch spot a few times a week, and I am waited on by the same young woman every time I eat there. She is always very polite, and she knows I have limited time, so she lets me leave cash on the table for my bill rather than stand in line at the register. I always leave her the change as a tip — probably about six dollars on a fourteen-dollar tab.

Last week, I dropped off a Christmas card for her, and I tucked a hundred-dollar bill in the card, thanking her for her service throughout the year. She wasn’t there, so I left the sealed card with the owner.

Yesterday, I went for lunch and my favorite waitress was there. As soon as she saw me, she smiled.

Waitress: “Thank you so much for the Christmas card, and for the twenty dollars!”

I was sort of shaken.

Me: “I left you 100 dollars.”

Waitress: “Oh, [Owner] opened it, and since all tips are shared by the staff, he gave everyone a share.”

I was f****** floored. This meant the guy had opened a sealed card that I delivered. He took the 100 dollars out and put twenty dollars back into her card.

As I was leaving, I saw the guy coming out of the back and asked him to speak with me.

Me: “I don’t appreciate you opening something private that I left for [Waitress]. You owe either me or her eighty dollars.”

He started explaining that all tips are shared, but I cut his a** off.

Me: “You do not open a sealed card with someone else’s name on it. If I had known that was going to happen, I would never have left that card with you.”

Owner: “I knew there was probably money in it, and I wanted to be fair to everyone who works for me.”

I turned to a guy behind the counter.

Me: “Did you get twenty dollars from this guy?”

The dude didn’t answer, but when the owner looked away, the dude shook his head very quickly.

I yelled back into the kitchen.

Me: “Hey! Did any of you get twenty dollars from this guy last week?”

I got lots of confused looks.

The owner tried to “comp” my tuna sandwich and then got angry at me for causing a scene. He threatened to call the cops and told me to never return to his diner again. I left, but I told the waitress I would be back around that day around noon to give her the eighty dollars. She insisted that she didn’t want it, but I was going to make sure she got it.

I ended up meeting my waitress at lunch across the street and tried to give her eighty dollars, but she told me the owner gave it back to her before she finished her shift. What a great person. She wouldn’t take it even after I said she could have it.

I should never have given the card to someone other than the waitress. Lesson learned.

I was working at a fast food place on Christmas night a few years ago. It was crazy busy between our drive-thru line and delivery app orders. My friend was handing out food and drinks at the second drive-thru window. A guy who had already paid for his food at the first window pulled up.

Customer: “Can I order some ice cream to go with this?”

Coworker: “I’m sorry, but we don’t have a register at this window. You’ll have to drive around and order again.”

He immediately started yelling.

Customer: “Ugh, this is ridiculous! Thanks for nothing, b****!”

Imagine calling a high-schooler a b**** — so embarrassing for him. And then, he drove off without his food.

He re-entered the line and eventually made it back to the second window where our shift lead was waiting for him.

Shift Lead: “I’m not giving your food until you apologize to my employee.”

Customer: “What?! I already paid for my food! You can’t do that!”

[Shift Lead] just said, “Yeah, I can,” over and over until the guy became defeated and gave a weak and lame apology to my friend. At that point, people had been waiting for a few minutes, so [Shift Lead] let him leave with his cold food.

I work for a law firm. A new client calls one day to explain her problem. Her husband passed away two years ago. She kept paying the mortgage. One day, she got a letter explaining that her husband had insurance that paid off the mortgage when he died, so her balance was zero. They returned her last payment. There was no mention of the two years of payments between his death and the most recent one. About three months after that, they foreclosed on her house.

Her attorney calls the legal department of the company to determine the issue. He’s on speaker, so I hear it.

[Attorney] introduces himself to the customer service representative and gives them all the necessary information.

Representative: “You need to speak to Legal. Their number is [number].”

Attorney: “That’s exactly what I just called.”

Representative: “No, this is customer service. Please call the other number.”

[Attorney] ends the call and calls the same number. The same representative answers.

Representative: “Legal Department!”

[Attorney] explains the situation.

Representative: “I can help you with that. I see that there have been no payments made in five months. Why is that?”

Attorney: “Because your company sent a letter stating that there was insurance that paid off the mortgage and left a zero balance.”

Representative: “That is correct, but she should still have been making payments. The insurance takes three to six months to credit.”

Attorney: “He died two years ago.”

Representative: “Sometimes it takes longer.”

Attorney: “You need to dismiss the foreclosure suit, or I am turning this over to the Attorney General’s Office.”

Representative: “Let me get my manager.”

[Attorney] repeats the entire conversation.

Manager: “So, that leaves a total due today of [missed payments PLUS late fees]. That is good until the fifteenth of the month. When can we expect payment?”

Attorney: “You can discuss that with the Attorney General’s staff.”

The entire mess is turned over to the Attorney General. They start a massive investigation of the entire company. Lots of legal steps later, the foreclosure is dismissed and a refund is sent to our client for all the payments between her husband’s date of death and the last payment, the late fees are cancelled, and an additional $1,000 is sent to cover her legal fees. Then, we got a final email from the attorney for the mortgage company.

Company Attorney: “We have sent a check in the amount of [amount] to your attention. It covers payments made after death, late fees paid prior to the commencement of the lawsuit, and attorney fees. Finally, I would like to say that this could have all been avoided if your client had been more patient. While I appreciate that she was emotional following the death, we cannot move as quickly as she might like. In the future, I would appreciate a reasonable amount of time to address issues.”

I wonder why the Attorney General’s office fined them a bunch of money. Just can’t figure it out.

My father-in-law remarried when his sons were adults, and the sons refused to call his new wife their stepmother. I always wondered why they disliked her so much because she was very cordial the two or three times I had met her thus far.

During Christmas, the family came together. My brother-in-law was about to become a second-time father and proudly announced:

Brother-In-Law: “Yesterday, we received the news: it’s going to be a girl this time!”

We all rejoiced, except for [Father-In-Law]’s wife.

Father-In-Law’s Wife: “A girl? Are you sure? The doctor must be mistaken.”

Brother-In-Law: “I’d like to think this woman knows what she is talking about.”

Father-In-Law’s Wife: “Impossible. Men in our family only have sons!”

Our family? You married into this one!

My Husband: “Eh… what about Aunt [Father-In-Law’s Sister]?”

Father-In-Law’s Wife: “Just a fluke. And she looks like a man, anyway. So, mark my words, it’s going to be a boy! Otherwise, you should get a paternity test.”

Everyone stared at each other, lost for words. In hindsight, [Brother-In-Law] should have gotten up and left, or someone should have spoken up, but we were just too stunned to do or say anything. 

[Father-In-Law] passed away a few months after his last grandchild’s birth — she was indeed a girl — and it seems only I can remain civil to her, so I am her main source of contact concerning the testament and will. I completely understand why my husband’s family doesn’t want to talk to her at all.

Many years ago, I rented an apartment in a major city and had a roommate who signed a one-year lease with me. At first, she seemed like an okay person who was neat and tidy, had a solid job, and seemed ordinary. Soon enough, the mask slipped, and life with her became pure drama; pretty much daily there was something terrible going on in her life, and everyone was out to get her. She loved to party, and this led to many nights where she would loudly wake me up bringing other people back to party at our place or have loud one-night stands. Some of her friends came across as unsavory characters, and at times, I would try to leave if they were invited over. She was also a little ambiguous about what type of work she did, and her rent payments were frequently late.

She began to really become frustrating to live with. She cleaned up after herself and didn’t pick any fights with me; it just became a real nuisance to keep having to chase her or deal with her dramas.

Then, one day when I came home from work, she was gone! Her room had been completely cleared out, and it looked as if she had gone in a hurry! There was a hastily scribbled note explaining that she was breaking the lease and moving back to her hometown. Although I was happy to be rid of her, I was furious that she’d left me in the lurch as I desperately needed a roommate to help pay rent. I tried calling and texting her for days but, predictably, she ghosted me. 

I had a nasty feeling that she was mixed up with something shady and had left quickly due to this. For weeks, I expected the bailiffs or some shifty people to pay the apartment a visit looking for her, but no one came! Thankfully, one of my friends was able to move in very soon after, and life went on and was much more drama-free.

Fast forward five years. I’ve moved away from that city, I’m living nearly two hours west, and I’ve now married and have children. One day, I get a random message on Facebook from my ex-roommate.

Ex-Roommate: “Hey, [My Name], long time, no speak, huh? I’m gonna be back in [Major City] in the next couple of weeks, and I wanted to swing by and get some stuff. Could you let me into the apartment? Thanks.”

Immediately, I am annoyed. She has literally messaged out of the blue and offered zero apologies for what she did.

Me: “Sorry, [Ex-Roommate], but I no longer live in that building. Maybe contact the management company?”

Ex-Roommate: “I just need literally five minutes. If you could let me in, that’d be great!”

Me: “I don’t live in the building anymore. Sorry, but you will need to contact the management company!”

Ex-Roommate: “I really don’t know why this is such an issue. I need to get some stuff that is very important to me!”

Some red flags are popping up now. Why on earth does she suddenly want to get these items?

Me: “I didn’t see anything when you left; the room was cleaned out! If there was anything, it is probably long gone by now. I would speak to the management people.”

Ex-Roommate: “This stuff is extremely important to me. Why can’t you just let me in?”

Me: “If this stuff was so valuable, why did you wait five years to get it back?”

Ex-Roommate: “Why are you being so difficult?”

Me: “I’m not sure which part of ‘I don’t live there anymore’ is so hard for you to understand. Sorry, [Ex-Roommate], I can’t help you!”

Ex-Roommate: “Look. You need to get over whatever silly petty grudge you have. I know it didn’t end the best way, but that is life! Move on! Now, when can you let me in the apartment?”

Me: “Okay, I’m really not sure what’s going on here. I can’t help you. Move on!”

Ex-Roommate: “Listen, [My Name]. I’d suggest you do what I ask. My boyfriend is a VERY good attorney who sues people for a living! How would you like to be served with a lawsuit? He can do that without breaking a sweat!”

At this point, I know she’s just throwing a hail Mary to try and get what she wants, so I decide to end the chat here. 

Me: “Okay, do whatever you need to do! Not sure how your boyfriend can sue me for an apartment I don’t own nor reside in, but you do you!”

I didn’t hear back from her after that, but I was extremely suspicious about why she was contacting me, and it raised even more questions about what precisely she had in the apartment and why she had left in the first place.

A couple of months later, I was forwarded a letter from the old property management company from my building. It was a typed letter supposedly from a law firm threatening a lawsuit against me. Apparently, I was “obstructing” my ex-roommate, and unless I did what she asked, I would be taken to court.

I Googled the law firm, and it didn’t exist, nor was it written on any official firm’s letterhead. I threw it in the trash and marveled at how stupid this whole thing was! To this day, I have no idea what on earth this was all about and why she thought she could get me to do what she wanted. I think I dodged a major bullet when she left.