Years ago, we were holidaying in America and stopped in one of those roadside diners. We would tip back home in the UK (for particularly good service), but we know the expectation is much higher here so we bear that in mind during our trip.

Unfortunately, our waitress was just rude, lazy, and obnoxious. She rolled her eyes as we asked to not have onions on our burgers, scoffed at our pronunciation (of an English word), lied about being “out” of the side we ordered, and then refused to ask the kitchen to make it.

It felt like we were a burden rather than a guest. When the bill came round, we noticed that the gratuity was already added.

Me: “Sorry, but there is no way I’m paying a single penny tipping you.”

Waitress: “Well, I’m not removing it!”

Me: “Just get the manager.”

She put her hands on her hips.

Waitress: “He’s not here today.”

Me: “Fine. Call the police.”

Waitress: “You foreigners come here… I knew from the minute you walked in that you wouldn’t be worth my time. You never tip, you always leave a mess… Fine! I’ll take the tip off, seeing as you clearly couldn’t possibly afford a few dollars.”

Me: “You want a tip? Try not being terrible at your job.”

We paid and left. Afterward, we checked the reviews. Unsurprisingly, lots of other people said the same thing happened to them, all of them tourists.

My friend works for a very huge global conglomerate in management and travels around the US a lot. However, his house is in the suburbs of a famous college town in Texas.

He was out of town for the whole last week and came back yesterday evening. Once at the airport, his colleague and friend picked him up as a favor to drop him off at home. When they were almost home, [Friend] realised his fridge was near empty and he needed some food, so they stopped by a gas station to get some frozen foods and some small snacks.

[Friend] is always dressed sharp. ALWAYS. It’s how he was taught since he was a kid. He was royalty. Literally. His name is on my country’s list of people with royal lineage. So, he is always clean, but he’s a very, very, very nice guy unless you piss him off.

[Friend] and his friend went into the store and got some stuff. [Friend] was carrying a laptop case in his hand, dressed in a suit. There was a guy behind the counter who looked so bored, [Friend] was sure he would rather go back home to play on his laptop instead of being on his phone.

A woman came up to [Friend].

Woman: “Where can I find [Drink]? I usually buy it here, but I can’t find any today.”

Friend: *Confused* “I am sorry, what? I don’t know. I don’t come here usually, so I don’t know where it is.”

Woman: “Ugh, another lazy college student. You are getting paid to help me. Just do your job.”

She assumed he was a part-timer at the store… working in a suit, holding his laptop bag and shopping cart.

My friend now understood what was happening.

Friend: “Sorry, I don’t work here. I am also here to shop. There’s a guy behind the counter; maybe he can help.”

Woman: “Help me now. I know you need this job, so don’t force me to call your manager and get you fired. Stop being lazy.”

[Friend], now thinking maybe his mask made it hard for her to understand, pulled his mask down a bit and said a little loudly:

Friend: “Ma’am, I don’t work here. I am also shopping. I had a long flight, and I am tired. Please leave me alone.”

Woman: “You brown guys are always lazy. I am asking you for the last time before I call your manager to get you fired. Get my drinks right now.”

At this point, [Friend] was pissed, but he looked at her calmly.

Friend: *Loudly this time* “Sure, let me help you.”

Then, he looked at the assistant behind the counter and called out LOUDLY.

Friend: “HEY, DUDE! CAN YOU COME HERE? THIS LADY NEEDS SOME HELP SHOPPING, BUT I THINK SHE HAS SOME PROBLEMS WITH HEARING AND SIGHT! SHE THINKS I WORK HERE AND CAN’T SEEM TO HEAR EVEN WHEN I EXPLAINED THAT I DON’T MULTIPLE TIMES.”

Then, he looked at the woman.

Friend: *Loudly* “Don’t worry. Someone will help you so that you won’t trip and fall.”

The woman was red in face. She just looked at [Friend] angrily and walked away.

The bored shop assistant didn’t even know what had happened. And while all this was happening, it seems [Friend]’s colleague actually paid for a drink and came back running and was enjoying the show while sipping his drink. He laughed the whole way home.

I work in a USPS CPU. This means we mainly only ship things out, but we also sell stamps. An elderly lady walks in and looks at the stamps we have on the door.

Me: “Looking to buy some stamps?”

Customer: “Yes, I want to get stamps I don’t already have.”

Me: “Okay, well, everything we have is up on the door.”

Customer: “How long have all of these been up?”

Me: “Most of them we have had for a month or two already.”

We have Chien Shiung Wu stamps. She was a Chinese nuclear physicist. We also have August Wilson stamps for Black Heritage. These two are normally not as popular, so I have a feeling she doesn’t have them.

Me: “We have stamps for a Chinese nuclear physicist if you—”

Customer: “No. Nothing Chinese! I don’t want anything to do with the Chinese!”

I didn’t know how to process this because this was the most racist thing anyone had done in front of me. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I was Chinese, as I don’t have the standard oriental look. She chose her other stamps. I just smiled under my mask. I almost told her once I finished her transaction, but I didn’t. I’m sure her face would have been priceless.

I had three tables sat today, and I spent an ungodly amount of time helping a customer pick a cocktail and taking down his modifications. Then, I ended up just changing it to the original one he liked, but…

Customer: “Put it in a different glass, though. I don’t want it in a martini glass; that would look funny.”

It’s not my first rodeo with this type, but come on. He spent this much time being insecure because he didn’t want people laughing at him for a “girly” glass, but trust me, we had a good laugh at his insecurity, instead.

My nephew and daughter are about eight. My nephew became completely blind a few years ago due to complications from an infection. My daughter has a lazy eye and some other vision issues and wears very big glasses.

I’ve taken my nephew and daughter out to a restaurant. They are genuinely good friends. My nephew is wearing sunglasses indoors and has his red and white cane leaned up against his chair, both obvious signs of him being blind. Some old man walks over and starts complaining to us. Assuming that my nephew is my son, he says:

Old Man: “It’s obvious that there is genetic blindness in your family! You’re being irresponsible by having more than one child! You’ve caused great suffering by bringing into the world two children who both will eventually go blind!”

As he was ranting, a very burly waiter tapped the man on the shoulder and asked him to leave, politely but coolly, and the scrawny old man decided it was probably best not to cross him.

For all of our troubles, the waiter had the owner give us free ice cream, which was very nice because it wasn’t the restaurant’s fault at all, and the restaurant has easily become a household favorite.