I am Hispanic, and I’m doing tourism in southern Canada. My spoken English is far from perfect, but so far, native speakers have had no problem understanding me.

At one point, I go buy an ice cream… and the Asian lady behind the counter doesn’t know what I’m saying. After a few tries, I realize the problem: her English is lacking, too. She can’t decipher my accent and I can’t decipher hers. We just laugh and communicate with mimic and pointing for the rest of the transaction.

(We get people complaining all the time about the prices, which we have no control over. I am ringing an older couple through; they have a couple of items, including one of our more expensive combo ink packages. Their total comes to over $200. They are in the middle of paying when they ask this.)

Wife: “How much was the ink?”

Me: “$142.59.”

Wife: “That’s quite expensive.”

Me: *nodding* “Yeah, I know.”

Husband: “You should be embarrassed.”

Me: *surprised* “Excuse me?”

Husband: *repeats himself*

Me: “Unfortunately, we don’t set the prices.”

Husband: “You should be embarrassed for just having to tell us the price.”

(I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I just finished up the transaction. After they left I just kind of laughed with one of my coworkers about it. The only thing that’s embarrassing is that they couldn’t read the price tag on the shelf when they picked it up.)

(I work at a restaurant that caters to the vegetarian and vegan crowd. I answer the phone.)

Me: “Hello. This is [Restaurant]; how may I help you?”

Customer: “Hi. I was calling to make a reservation for a party of seven for next Saturday.”

Me: “Sure, shouldn’t be a problem. We have tables available for 5:00 or 8:00 pm that day; which would you prefer?”

Customer: “Eight will be fine, but I have a question. Does [Restaurant] serve any meat dishes?”

Me: “I’m afraid not, sir.”

Customer: “Are you serious? Not one thing? My daughter wants to eat there for her birthday; what am I supposed to do?”

Me: “Well, uh, I’m certain there’s something on our menu that you’d enjoy.”

Customer: “Probably not. So, how come you folks need to have your vegetarian dishes at regular restaurants, but you refuse to cater to us?”

Me: “Sorry, I couldn’t tell you. What we serve is the owner’s decision, not mine. So, did you want to cancel your reservation, then?”

Customer: “Nah, I’ll just eat before we go.”

Me: “…”

(My sister is visiting me and we go out to the movies. I live in a small town and it’s a very quiet night. As we get to concession, there are only two people working and they are both serving other people. There is absolutely NO LINE, so my sister and I stand in the middle of the two cashiers, waiting to see who opens up first. Suddenly, a woman appears with her young son.)

Woman: “Which line are you in?”

(She seems to want to know which register we are waiting for. Usually, there are two lines if it’s super busy, but I’m confused by her question since we are the only ones there. Literally, not including the cashiers, there are four people going to see the movie and two are being served already.)

Me: *confused* “Oh, we were standing here and waiting for which one opened up first.”

(I am going to add that she can go ahead of us when she puts her hand on her hip and interrupts me.)

Woman: *in a condescending tone* “You need to pick a line, lady!”

(My sister and I are shocked by her attitude, and the fact that she is doing this with nobody else there. I mumble that I’ll take the left, so she goes to the right register and stands uncomfortably close to the person getting their food. Later, we happened to be heading to get our straws when we see the woman from before. She is the only there getting straws and napkins. As we get closer, my sister suddenly stops me.)

Sister: *as loud as she could* “Wait, [My Name] we haven’t picked a line yet. We need to pick a line before we proceed.”

Me: *catching on* “By God, you’re right! I will line up on the left; you take the right.”

(The lady gave us the dirtiest look and quickly went to her movie. Luckily, we weren’t seeing the same movie as her.)

I am the most junior worker at a specialty manufacturer, so I get to answer the phones when it rings. This is in the mid 90’s, well before map apps.
Me:”<Manufacturer>, how can I help you?”
Customer: “I need to bring some material down to be cut, where is <our street>?
Me:”It runs parallel to <major street> between <street> and <street>. If you’re coming from the west end of the city, don’t speed on <our street>. There’s a speed trap, lots of people visiting us get tickets.
About an hour later, the customer arrives.
Customer: “I got a speeding ticket on <our street>!
Me: “I did tell you about the speed trap, sir.”
Customer:(sheepishly) “…yeah…”
The whole reason I started telling customers was all the complaints I heard about people getting tickets…