(I work the cash register and bakery in a restaurant in my town. We have an older couple who comes in every Sunday and sometimes other days. We all know them by name and they are usually friendly but can get mean if something is wrong. They have been sitting and eating for about an hour. The restaurant isn’t busy, and I am standing by the registers with a coworker. I am a larger, openly gay man in my 20s, and she is a tiny girl, just graduating from high school. The wife comes up to us.)

Customer: “Hello, [Coworker] and [My Name]! I just wanted to ask you, are either of you married?”

Coworker: “No, ma’am! It is too early for that!”

Me: “Yeah, I’m only twenty and she’s only eighteen.”

Customer: “Well, I think you two would have a lot of fun with each other!” *winks at us*

(She has said this before, and I am getting annoyed, so I try to let her know I am gay.)

Me: “Oh, ma’am, I have a boyfriend.”

Customer: “Oh, really? That’s sad. Well, [My Name], come here.”

(I lean in and she whispers in my ear.)

Customer: “I just wanted to let you know that it’s not if, it’s when.”

Me: *thinking that she’s talking about gay marriage* “Oh, okay!”

Customer: “AIDS.”

Me: “What did you just say?”

Customer: “AIDS. You’re going to get it.”

(I was so appalled that I walked directly back to the general manager and let her know about the situation. She immediately walked up to the front and let the customers know that they are not welcome in our cafe ever again.)

(I work in a chain bakery within a shopping centre. We are across from a supermarket and throughout the day a sales associate goes on “tastings,” essentially just standing in front of the shopfront offering free samples to people walking past. I am out on tastings when I am approached by an older man. I am eighteen and fresh out of high school.)

Random Guy: “Well, I suppose I’d better take one, then.”

Me: “Here you go, enjoy!”

Random Guy: “Hey, why did the baker go out of business? Because he ran out of dough!”

(Cue awkward laughter and a polite customer service smile.)

Random Guy: “Hey, can I buy you a drink?”

(This catches me totally off guard as this has never happened before, and I have no idea how to respond, so I just try to be polite.)

Me: *laughs* “No, thanks. I’ve got to do my work.”

Random Guy: “Don’t worry, I’ll get you a drink.”

(The dude walked away and I thought he was leaving, but he was back ten minutes later with what looked like a bottle of wine; it was a non-alcoholic drink from the supermarket next door. He gave it to me and I just thanked him and ran back inside as quickly as possible. I’m still not sure if he was a creep or just trying to be nice.)

(I have just boxed six cupcakes for a customer.)

Customer: “You know what? Gimme two more. I don’t like uneven numbers.”

Me: *looking pointedly at the six cupcakes in the box* “Yes, sir.”

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(I am a brand-new employee at a grocery store bakery, but I have been working in customer service for years. One of my new coworkers is talking to a customer who looks to be in his mid-sixties.)

Customer: “No Italian bread today?”

Coworker: “Not just now, no. We’re shorthanded and one of our ovens is down and being worked on. However, the French crusty loaves are exactly the same, so you could get one of those, instead.”

Customer: “No, they’re not.”

Coworker: “Yes, they are. We use the same dough for both; we just put a different pattern of slices in the top before baking.”

Customer: “No, I’ve eaten both and the French is very different inside. I don’t want a French loaf; I want an Italian one!”

Coworker: “Well, that’s your choice, but it’ll probably be over an hour before we have any Italian loaves available for purchase.” 

Customer: *grumbles and leaves*

Coworker: *walks over to me* “I pan those up at least three times a week, but of course he knows that they’re different inside, so what do I know?”

Me: “But he’s a customer! Of course he knows better how to do your job than you do!”

(She cracked up. I think I’m going to like working here.)

(I work part-time at a small bakery chain. The way the register is set up, whoever clocks into the POS first, their names are on all the receipts until they sign out, even if there were others on shift. At this point, I’ve always worked the first opening shift and so my name has been on all the receipts. We have a coworker who I and others are fairly certain was only hired because this bakery chain is very keen on hiring those of the same ethnicity regardless of competency, and because he’s a friend of the manager’s son, who also works with us. Unbeknownst to me, this coworker messed up a cake order. I get a warning from my friend privately before messages come through the group chat on my day off.)

Friend: “Hey, dude. Heads up, [Manager] is really mad that you messed up.”

Me: “Wait, what happened?”

(The group chat notifications come in.)

Manager: “[My Name]! Why didn’t you write down an order for a cake on Tuesday?! The customer is furious!”

Me: “What? I didn’t take any cake orders on Tuesday.”

Manager: “Yes, you did! A woman came in and ordered a #1 blueberry cake and paid for it. I have the receipt with your name on it!”

Me: “What’s the time stamp?”

(She sends a picture.)

Me: “That shows the order happened at 12:18. I start work at 7:00 and take my half-hour lunch at 12:00. It was probably [Coworker] who took the order.”

Manager: “What? [Coworker] is this true?”

(He doesn’t respond until a couple of hours later.)

Coworker: “Oh, yes, it is. I’m sorry, [Manager], I completely forgot, lol…”

Manager: “Then why was [My Name]’s name on the receipt?”

Me: “Because I’m the first one to clock in and that’s how the POS works?”

Manager: “I see. Well, be more careful next time, [Coworker].”

(No, I did not get an apology. And later, I and a different coworker of the same ethnicity, neither of us the same as the bakery manager, slowly had our hours stripped away and were verbally abused until we quit so the manager wouldn’t have to pay severance, and she got to hire more of her son’s friends.)