(I work at a small bakery and am often left alone in the shop while the owner goes out to get ingredients. Note: I’m the youngest one working here and often have my opinion undermined by customers. I also sound quite young on the phone.)

Me: “Hello, [Business].”

Customer: *in a very nasal voice* “Hi, I was wondering what kind of breads you have today?”

Me: “Okay, today we have the [Bread], which is our bread of the day today. Besides that we have—”

Customer: *interrupting* “I want the one, what was it, something grain.”

Me: “Well, we have the multigrain bre—”

Customer: *interrupting again* “No, that’s not it. I want the grainy one.” *sighs obviously annoyed* “I’ll just come in.”

(She comes in later that day when the owner is back. Our voices are very different so she would know which one was on the phone.)

Owner: “Good morning, what can I get for you?”

Customer: “I want the grainy one.”

Owner: “Well, I guess that would be our multigrain bread over here.”

Customer: “Thaaat’s the one. I’ll take two.”

(It’s my first day working with my coworker at a retail store’s bakery. She’s notorious for being temperamental and throwing tantrums about ridiculous things. Today, she is baking and I’m stocking all the items on the bakery floor. We each have an L-cart for our respective tasks, and since I know she won’t be using hers for several hours at least, I borrow it to put my broken down boxes on with the intention of taking them to the baker before she starts using hers. I have disappeared into the freezer to load up my own cart with items to stock. I come out just in time to see her returning to the bakery with a third L-cart. Naturally, this is a little weird to me.)

Me: “I brought this cart for you, you know?” *motions to cart with boxes on it*

Coworker: *gruffly* “You put your boxes on it, so it’s not mine anymore.”

Me: “If it’s that important, I’ll put them on the floor. I just wanted to keep it from getting messy.”

Coworker: “Whatever. It’s FINE.”

(She storms off and I am standing there flabbergasted at the 20-year-old child I am officially working with.)

(One of my coworkers/friends has been complaining about a headache all day. Finally…)

Coworker: “Oh, my god, no wonder I have a headache! I’m wearing my glasses and my contacts!”

Me: “Wow. You’re not even four-eyes. You’re like… six-eyes!”

(That became one of her nicknames.)

Customer: “What’s that white stuff on top of your bread?”

Me: “Oh, that’s flour.”

Customer: “Is that edible?”

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(My older sister is gluten-intolerant, meaning that her intestines get very unhappy when she eats anything with wheat. My uncle, on his way to our home for dinner, decides to pick up a dessert for her to eat.)

Uncle: “Do you have anything that’s gluten-free?”

Employee: “I’m sorry, sir, we don’t have any free items.”

Uncle: “No, GLUTEN-free. No wheat.”

Employee: “Sir, we don’t serve any free items.”

Uncle: “Gluten-free. You know, no wheat.”

Employee: “Sir, I told you, we don’t have anything for free.”

(This went on until he gave up. My sister didn’t get dessert that evening.)

This story is part of our Celiac Awareness Day roundup!

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