(I’m on a medication which, unfortunately, has some side effects like body pains and exhaustion. Most days are fine, but on this day the pain is in my back, making it difficult to walk around. When I’m done grabbing my groceries and head over to check out, there is only one lane open and there is a huge line. There are four self-checkout lanes, three of which have long lines; the fourth is empty so I walk over and start scanning my groceries.)

Rude Lady: *very passive-aggressive* “It’s not like we were waiting in line or anything.”

(This lady was in line at one of the other self-checkout lanes before I even got to the lane. If she wanted to check out, she could have. I’m already irritable and just want to get home and lie down, so I reply.)

Me: “Yes, you were and are still in line for that checkout line; I went to this empty one that no one was in. Maybe you should have been looking for an open lane instead of a reason to complain.”

(I’ve finished scanning my last item and am about to pay when the rude lady lines up behind me.)

Rude Lady: “Well, at least you didn’t take your time.”

(As soon as I’m out of the way putting my items in my cart, she starts scanning her items. Before I leave, I figure I can at least be a little helpful.)

Me: “By the way, since you have trouble noticing things, this is a card-payment-only lane.”

(She stopped scanning her items and looked at the sign I was pointing at. She then glared at me, grabbed her scanned items, and got back in line for one of the other lanes.)

Years ago, my brother was working as an accountant for a small chain of mini-marts. Since he was considered management, he was not eligible for overtime, but they wanted him weekly to be on call and to come in on his day off to some task that was not part of his job and not a management task. California law indicated he might be eligible to collect overtime for that after all.

So, he requested about $10,000 to cover the unpaid overtime. The company refused, so he took them to the Labor Board.

He lost his suit with the Labor Board, but as part of the investigation, the Labor Board discovered that the company was shorting the overtime for other employees. The company was forced to pay the overtime and close to $100,000 in fines.

In addition, the investigator discovered that the company had official inventory taken, but then fudged the numbers on the tax returns and kept both the correct and the fraudulent inventories. So, the investigator turned them into the IRS. They were audited and ended up paying close to $500,000 in back taxes and fines.

This put a major crimp in the savings and income of the partners. Whether it was because she didn’t have enough spending money or because she did not want to be associated with the cheats, one of the partner’s wives filed for divorce and in the community property state, she ended up with a quarter of the business, which she insisted on taking in cash.

This resulted in the company going bankrupt. And it all could have been avoided for $10,000.

(I’m at the pharmacy to pick up one of my regular prescriptions. This one is about $5. After the pharmacy tech verifies my identity, the following occurs:)

Tech: “Okay, just this medication? That will be $45.”

Me: “Wait, what? It’s usually $5. Why is it so expensive?”

Tech: “Hmm, looks like we didn’t run it through your insurance.”

Me: “…”

Tech: “…”

Me: “Could you run it through my insurance?”

Tech: *surprised* “You want me to do that?”

Me: “Yes. Yes, I do.”

(I did get my medication for the right price and headed home. This was over a year ago, and I’m still baffled why asking for it to be run through my insurance was such an odd request.)

(I work at a movie theater where I am a “Team Leader,” which means that I’m not quite a manager, but I’m in charge of the ushers. I still do basic jobs, but I help organize the other ushers, and I am empowered to help with more difficult customers. Currently, I’m manning the ticket stand.)

Coworker: “Hey. I’ve gotten some people complaining about somebody talking on the phone in theater four.”

Me: “I’ll take care of it. Man the tickets for me.”

(I grab my air-traffic-control-esque light to both let me see in the theater and to give me a level of authority. As I head to the theater, I’m stopped by an upset customer.)

Customer: “There’s a woman in the theater who will not stop talking on her phone, and yells at anybody who asks her to stop.”

Me: “I’m really sorry. I’m on my way to take care of it.”

(The customer follows me back to the theater. I’m stopped by another customer at the actual doors to the theater with the same complaint. I apologize to them, too, and head into the theater. The woman is easy to spot. She’s talking loudly, and her face is lit up by her phone’s light. As I approach her, everybody in the theater is watching me.)

Me: “Ma’am, I’m going to need you to—“

Woman On Phone: “Fine!” *snaps her phone closed* “I was finished with the call, anyway! Everybody is being very rude!”

(Only time I’ve gotten a standing ovation from a movie theater crowd.)

(I’m standing at the ticket stand in front of our biggest theater, which is currently playing “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.” The movie is going full swing, so the halls are pretty quiet. For some reason, my eyes and throat are irritating me.)

Customer: *comes out of the theater* “Hey, I was wondering if you guys could turn down the smoke machine.”

Me: “Smoke machine?”

Customer: “Yeah, it’s a really neat effect, but there’s too much smoke and it’s hurting our eyes.”

Me: “We don’t have a smoke machine.”

(I flagged down the manager and we checked it out. Somebody had vandalized the fire extinguisher in the theater, puncturing it, so it was slowly leaking CO2. By an amazing coincidence, it reached the point where it was noticeable in the dark at exactly the same time Ron and Harry enter the mist-filled Forbidden Forest, so nobody realized what it was. We had to evacuate the theater, refund all the tickets, and close down our biggest theater. I got to finish my shift standing just close enough to the disaster to further irritate my eyes and throat.)