I’d like to make a public service announcement. We have all bought salsa at the store only to be let down when we got home and tried it. But please don’t open the jar at the store, stick your finger in it, sample it, and then try to put it back on the shelf.

Who does that, you ask?

Apparently, some lady at [Major Retailer].

I am shopping when I hear the pop of a jar and turn around to see a finger leaving this lady’s mouth and her tightening the lid of a jar of salsa. Then, I watch as she debates putting it in her cart or back on the shelf — hopefully feeling some moral conflict — but then she turns to the shelf and sets it down.

I hate confrontation because I always feel like I’m a jerk and in the wrong, but I don’t know what happens. It just comes out of my mouth.

Me: “Surely you are not going to not buy that.”

Customer: “Oh, uh… I was just setting it down on the shelf for a second.”

Regardless of whether she was truly just setting it down for a second — but why? — she shouldn’t be taste-testing anything! This is so ridiculous!

Me: “Yeah, okay. I’m pretty sure you went to put it in your cart and then turned around and set it back on the shelf because you decided you didn’t want it. How would you like buying something someone else opened?”

I don’t even mention taste-testing. Eww!

Customer: “I was just setting it there for a second! Just leave me alone and mind your own business!”

Then, she started to curse at me and call me names.

Um…what?!

I talked to my sister after the incident, who told me that as much as she would like to confront the lady, she would probably have just watched her and waited until the lady left, and then she would have taken the jar to an employee. That would’ve been wise because then I would have known for sure that no one else would buy the sampled salsa; for all I know, as soon as I left her, she put it back on the shelf.

But hey, at least she had a mask… We are all so safe.

I’m working a cashier shift at a Chinese buffet that also does takeaway and delivery. For takeaway we always make fresh food and don’t allow people to take food from the buffet. As a result, we have two separate menus: the buffet which changes with whatever food is in season and the takeout which is your more standard Chinese fair like chicken balls and fried rice. Most people in the area know this or realize the difference once it’s explained to them.

Today, a newer coworker is working with me at the cash. A woman who is visibly drunk comes in. I greet her.

Me: “Hello and welcome! Is it buffet or takeout today?”

Customer: “Takeout.”

I direct her to my coworker at the takeout counter and take the next customer. She orders a combo plate but doesn’t pay for it yet and goes outside for a smoke to wait for it to be ready.

A few minutes later, she comes back. My coworker tells her the total and she empties what money she has onto the counter. She only has $6.25 and the combo plate costs almost ten dollars. He’s unsure what to do so I take over.

Me: “I’m sorry, but you don’t have enough for a combo plate. Did you want something else, instead?”

Customer: “I want ribs.”

I do a quick calculation. Even the smallest portion of ribs we offer without sides is $1.50 over what she has.

Me: “I’m sorry, but you don’t have enough money for ribs. I can offer you something else, like a fried rice or a wonton soup? You have enough money for those.”

Customer: “Sure.”

Me: “Okay, so we have [options]; which one would you like?”

Customer: “I want ribs.”

Me: “I’m sorry, you don’t have enough money for ribs. I can give you a fried rice; those have meat in them, as well.”

Customer: “Just take a fried rice and put the ribs in, instead.”

Me: “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that; ribs cost more than rice or soup. You don’t have enough for the ribs today.”

Customer: “IT’S ALL YOU CAN EAT, B****!”

She stormed out. 

It is in the middle of the health crisis. Like most other countries, the Netherlands also has social distancing rules. Stores are responsible for maintaining social distancing, which means we can only have a limited number of people in the store. There is a fine if you break the rules. My store has decided to keep track of people by requiring them to bring a shopping basket with them, like a lot of other stores. People still forget so we have to remind people all day, every day.

My coworker is on duty to watch the self-checkouts and to remind people to take a basket with them. 

Coworker: *In Dutch* “Can you please take a basket with you?”

Customer: *Angrily, in English* “What?!”

Coworker: *In English* “Can you please take a shopping basket with you? It’s required at the moment.”

The woman angrily picks one up and walks into the back of the store. I am in the back working on something but I walk up to the front of the store. 

Coworker: *In Dutch* “That woman was really rude. She swore at me when I told her to take a basket.”

Me: “I heard. I came to ask you to put things away in the stockroom. It’ll get you out of the store for a bit.”

Coworker: “Thanks. I’m a bit done with people.”

Both of us are looking at the rude customer. We see her take products off the shelf and, with her phone in her other hand, it looks like she’s taking pictures of them. This isn’t allowed by our store. 

Me: “I’ll go say something.”

Coworker: “No, I’ll do it.”

The door to the stockroom is next to the customer, so I don’t think anything of this. She tells the rude customer not to take pictures of our products as it’s not allowed. At this, the woman completely flips out, starting to cuss my coworker out.

My coworker comes up front to tell me this because I couldn’t have heard from where I’m standing. Then, she walks back and goes into the stockroom, while getting cussed out again by the customer.

Customer: “That girl was so rude, immediately saying something in Dutch when I came in in a rude tone. So rude.”

Me: “…”

Customer: “And now, I was only looking things up on my phone. I don’t know these products, so I wanted to check them out online, and then she rudely told me not to take pictures. I wasn’t taking pictures.”

It’s clear she wants me to agree with her, which I won’t because I heard everything my coworker said and she wasn’t rude.

Customer: “And now I’ll be late for my bus. She was so rude. I’ve never met anyone so rude. Can I check out now?”

Me: “You can check yourself out over here.”

The customer checks out, continuing to say that my coworker was rude. I speak to another customer who I was speaking with before the rude customer interrupted us.

Me: “I think she was the rude one. And why was she complaining to me about missing her bus? She could have left to go catch it.”

Nice Customer: “She was rude.”

My coworker comes back. I immediately see that things aren’t okay; she’s crying and shaking. 

Coworker: “Sorry, I’m having a panic attack. Is it okay; I’ll in the back for a bit. I think I need to call my best friend. She can always calm me down.”

Me: “Sure. Stay there as long as you need. You do know you did nothing wrong, right?”

Coworker: “Yes, I know. This was just a bit too much.”

Not everybody is happy with having to take a shopping basket with them, but I’ve never seen a customer go off on a colleague like that over it, or over being spoken to in Dutch in a Dutch store. 

For those wondering, my coworker’s friend came and calmed her down, and I made sure that she had stuff to do in the stockroom because she did want to continue working. Her friend left just before we closed for the evening and I made sure my coworker could go home safely.

Related:
What A Basket-Case

There’s a mandatory mask requirement for all indoor businesses in my county. If people aren’t at their table eating or drinking, masks are “required” to be on.

People have been very compliant and we have had no issues, but it’s important to preface the story with that.

It is Saturday, and it’s VERY busy for our restaurant, with way more to-go orders than usual. I work in a restaurant that has a bar, bakery, and kitchen, and we have many massive orders that only need stuff from the bakery. This makes the restaurant run very smoothly until it is time to get dessert, which you are likely to be waiting twenty-five minutes for. Servers compensate for this by putting orders in advance and keeping them in freezers until the guests are ready.

There is a huge crowd in the lobby near the bakery for walk-in dessert orders. People who come often understand how busy we get, but apparently, this woman didn’t get the memo.

I am waiting by the bakery for my cakes when I hear a rude-a** lady (wearing her mask as a chin-strap of course) snapping her fingers at one of our bakers.

Customer: “Excuuuuse me. You over there!”

She points at a sixteen-year-old baker.

Customer: “I saw you touch another cake and then mine! I want another one right now! I’ve been waiting here for thirty minutes!”

I turn to her.

Me: *Calmly* “I’m sorry, ma’am, our bakery is extremely busy, so she can’t stop to help you right now. Is there something I can help you with?”

She turns to me with fury in her eyes.

Customer: “I saw that girl touch somebody else’s cake before mine, and I don’t want it anymore. I demand that I get a new one!”

Me: “Ma’am, all our bakers wear gloves at all times. Her particular station only does whipped cream for orders, so she doesn’t even interact with the cakes much. If you want a new cake, you will have to wait in line, place the order with the cashier, and then wait for the new one to get made.”

The line is about ten people long, so that’s another twenty-five-minute wait. This gives her a slight pause before she responds.

Customer: “Where is your manager?! I demand to see one!”

Me: *Pointing into the bakery* “See the guy plating cakes over there? That’s the manager on duty. We are so busy that he stepped in to help get our bakery moving faster. Do you really want me to drag him away from the station for your problem?”

Surprise, surprise, with an utter lack of self-awareness and disdain for other people’s waits, she says yes. I go and tap him on the shoulder to let him know somebody needs him for a problem with their order. Without skipping a beat, he looks up and says:

Manager: “Is it the whiny lady not wearing a mask? I’ll handle it.”

At this point, I’ve spent too long in the bakery and need to check on my tables, but before I walk away I see him go up to her.

Manager: “I’m sorry, ma’am, I would love to help you but I can’t hear you when your mask is off.”

It’s a good thing I was wearing a mask because I was belly-laughing all the way to my table. This manager is known for his short temper, so it was no surprise to hear that he told her exactly what I did and that either waiting or sucking it up were her options.

Thank God for hard-a** managers; it warms my heart knowing that not every whiny baby gets their way in this industry.

This story is part of our Anti-Masker roundup.

Read the next Anti-Masker roundup story!

Read the Anti-Masker roundup!

I’m a fifteen-year-old female. I work in bakery, sort of as a waitress but I also clean and make coffees, etc. I’m the youngest employee and often have to deal with the entitled Karen’s because they think I “have to respect my elders.”

It is during the school holidays. I have worked eight-hour shifts for five days straight and I am on my last shift for the week. We have already closed and I am just tidying up the front while my boss is counting money in the back. I have just finished wiping down the front pastry cabinet when I hear footsteps behind me. As we have already closed, I ignore them, thinking it is my boss’s kid.

I move back behind the counter to check the till and I get this eerie feeling that someone is watching me and suddenly I hear that sound that every Karen makes.

Customer: “…ahem.”

I slowly turn around and standing before me is a typical Karen; from the haircut to the entitled smirk, she sure as h*** fits the bill.

Me: “Oh! Sorry, ma’am, we’re actually closed.”

Customer: “What?! So you can’t serve me anything?”

Me: “Well, I guess I could get you a few cakes—”

Customer: “Hmph! That’s what I thought, missy.”

I HATE being called names as a form of condescension, especially when I haven’t done anything to deserve it, but I know that if I tell her to leave my boss won’t be very happy with me; I’m the youngest so I can’t tell any of the customers to leave no matter what they say.

I suck it up and start to place the cakes she orders into a box. While I’m doing this, I can see that she’s tapping her foot and checking her watch.

Customer: *Sighs loudly* “What’s taking so long?!”

Keep in mind this is on my time and she’s ordered eight different cakes. I slowly reply through gritted teeth.

Me: “Because you ordered so many cakes, I have to walk from cabinet to cabinet to find them.”

She sighs loudly again. I finally finish getting the cakes and ring her up on the till.

Me: “You realize we closed over half an hour ago; if you could come just a little bit earlier I would be able to serve you more things.”

Customer: *Scoffs and laughs* “It’s not my fault you didn’t lock the door, and you’re young so you have to serve me anyway.”

She smirks at me. I cannot believe the audacity of this woman. I feel like telling her to get the f*** out, but again, she’s already paying, so I know I can’t.

Customer: *Wiggling her fingers* “Toodles.”

I told my boss about the encounter and all she said was that at least she’d bought a lot. I hate people like this woman so much!