(I work in a small store that sells kitchen accessories as well as both kitchen and sporting knives. There are usually two people in at a time so we have the chance to sit in the backroom and eat our lunch without being disturbed. My coworker has just gone for her lunch when a customer comes in.)

Me: “Hello, is there anything I can help you find today?”

Customer: “No, I know what I want. I want this sporting knife by [Brand]. I have done my research and I’m set on this one.”

Me: “Okay. Let me just grab it for you and I will bring it up to the till.”

(I grab the knife for the customer and ring her through.)

Me: “That will be $135.76; will that be everything for you?”

Customer: “That is way too expensive. Can you discount the price for me?”

Me: “I’m sorry, but unless the knife is damaged I can’t reduce the price.”

Customer: “Yeah, let’s do that!”

Me: “Do what?”

Customer: “Discount the price.”

Me: “I can’t do that, ma’am; the item is not damaged so I can not offer a discount.”

(At this point my coworker comes out and grabs her water, then goes back into the backroom.)

Customer: “Oh, if I had known she was working today, I would have just asked for her to help me. She always gives me a discount, because we know each other; she always gives me half off.”

(I know she is lying because she just “suddenly” remembered that my coworker gives her discounts, and the most we can give is 20% off to a customer; if we give any more than 50% off an item that isn’t marked down as 50%, we get locked out of the system and can not log in unless a manager is contacted, and we have to explain why we were issuing a 50% discount on an item that isn’t on sale.)

Me: “Don’t stand there and lie to my face. My coworker and I work every shift together because we are more productive as a team, and ever since we have worked together we have never seen you in here before. But if you would like, I can go grab my coworker and you can tell me again how you know each other and how she always gives you a discount.”

Customer: “I can’t believe you treat your customers like this. Give me a business card; I’m going to be calling your manager and corporate to tell them your attitude is horrendous!”

Me: *puts a business card on the counter* “Feel free, and you can also tell them how you lied to me about knowing my coworker, just so you wouldn’t have to pay full price on an item. Have a nice day, and thank you for shopping with [Company].”

(She never called my manager or corporate, but according to my manager she came in two other times with my other coworkers and tried to pull the same thing. We have her picture up in our backroom, and are told to refuse her service.)

(I am working in the electronics section of the toy store. A little kid is playing the video games we have out to demo. We assume that a man that is also in this section is his father. The man comes up to the register to buy his items.)

Child: “GOD F****** D*** IT!”

(My coworker and I look at each other, shocked at his language.)

Coworker: “Sir, is that your child?”

Customer: “That isn’t my kid. If he was, I would drag him out of the store.”

Me: *walks up to the child* “Are your parents in the store?”

Child: “My mom knows where I am.”

Me: “That’s good, but are your parents in the store? We don’t allow parents to leave their children alone in different departments; may I ask your mother’s name?”

(After having to talk to the rude child, I finally get the mother’s name. We call her to our department and she storms over as fast as she can, annoyed that we won’t let her leave her child in our department alone. My manager also comes down to the department, knowing there will probably be an angry mother yelling at us.)

Mother: “I don’t understand what the big deal is; he’s here playing video games like I told him to!”

Me: “I am sorry, ma’am, but we had no way of knowing this, and our store policy states that you cannot leave your kid alone in our store; he has to be with his parent. Plus, your child was swearing in our store around other children. We had no way of knowing if you had just left him in our store and walked around the mall, or if you had just abandoned him here.”

Mother: “Where does it say that? I think you just made it up so you wouldn’t have to look after my child in this department.”

Manager: “We have signs set up at every entrance, and we have signs set up all throughout the store. You are standing right beside one. I am sorry, ma’am, but my employees are not your personal babysitters. If it were me instead of [My Name], I would have called someone to report an abandoned child, which is what we are supposed to do in an event like this.”

Mother: “That’s a pile of horses***! My child is staying here, and I am continuing my shopping.”

(The mother then proceeds to turn around to continue her shopping.)

Manager: “I’m sorry, miss, but you are ignoring our store policy, and leaving your child unattended. If you do not take your child with you, then we have no choice but to assume you are abandoning your child, so you can either take your child with you as you continue shopping, or you and your child can leave our store and you will not be welcome back.”

(The mother ignored my manager and left her child in the electronics section. We actually had to call someone because she left our store and was gone for more than two hours walking through other stores in the mall. We never saw her or her child in our store again.)

(Apropos nothing:)

Boss: “What’s that island we own?”

Me: “I don’t think you and I own an island?”

Boss: “No, not us, someone else.”

Me: “Shouldn’t that be, ‘They own an island’?”

Boss: “No, because they would mean someone else. We own it.”

Me: “What, this company?”

Boss: “No, don’t be ridiculous; why would the company own an island?”

Me: “I really don’t know. I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

Boss: “BANFF!”

Me: “I think that’s a mountain. I’m pretty sure it’s not an island.”

(Three days later, I’m hosting a training session for several employees when the boss comes rushing in, proclaims, “We own Baffin Island!” and rushes back out. My coworkers all look at me:)

Coworkers: “We do?”

Me: “We don’t. I think he meant Canada owns it, but I’m really not sure.”

(I am a service representative for a large copier company. I’m at an office doing maintenance on their copier. It’s a large, ten-foot-long machine with a sorter and stapler module. I have covers removed, new and old parts here and there, my toolbox wide open, and tools scattered over the floor and on the machine. The machine is turned on, but the display shows, “Diagnostics,” instead of, “Enter number of copies,” with interlock cheaters to compensate for the open panels. I’ve just finished the main maintenance and the copier is ready to be put back in normal mode, but I have to go back to my car to get some more parts to finish the job properly and clean everything up. I’m gone five minutes. When I come back, I hear the copier cycling down as I enter the room and find a secretary about to make copies.)

Secretary: “Oh, sorry… Were you working on it?”

Me: “Er… Yes… Didn’t you see the display with ‘diagnostics’ instead of ‘ready to copy?'”

Secretary: “Yes, but I simply turned the copier off, then on, and it cleared. You should put a sign not to use it when you do this.”

Me: *politely* “You mean to tell me that the open doors, the missing panels, the open tool box, the tools on top of the copiers and on the floor, old parts, rags everywhere on and around the copier, and the diagnostic display… all of those were not enough of a sign?”

(She grunted, took her papers, and stormed out.)

(I stop in the pharmacy to get some medications for my husband, who recently lost his job because of a medical condition. We were already on income support because I am physically disabled and this has been a hard hit to our income. We just found out the income support system is about to revoke our benefits unless we can prove that he does not willfully leave his job by the end of the month. With a toddler and both of us needing the medical coverage, this is terrifying. Our normal doctor is on maternity leave until January of next year and her covers won’t help us because they don’t want to deal with the system. The same story goes with every doctor we see. They all insist they need to have been seeing us for at least three months before they’ll even consider it. Neither of us have any family or support, as we were both runaways from abuse. By this point, I am counting change, trying to figure out if I have enough to get the medication we both desperately need.)

Stranger: *taps me on the shoulder* “Hey, let me get that for you.” *tries to shove a ten dollar bill in my hand*

Me: *close to tears* “Oh, no! I really can’t. Thanks, anyway.” *tries to give it back*

Stranger: “Nah, keep it. Or, hey, tell you what…” *hands me a twenty and takes the ten back* “There. Fair trade.”

(By now I was seriously crying and didn’t notice the older man’s mother coming up beside me. Gently she took me by the elbow and they both lead me away from the pharmacy counter. They started asking me questions and I admitted that we were struggling and how scared I was. They started brainstorming between the two of them and gave me numbers to doctors they trusted. They took my email and gave me their phone numbers just in case. As a last thing, they took the twenty-dollar bill, and the man shoved a bunch of money into my bag, saying he wouldn’t take no for an answer and just to pass it on when I had the chance to help someone else. I realized that yes, I needed that help right then. I stopped fighting, figuring it was at most forty bucks but would help pay my kid’s school fees. When I got home and took the money out, I was shocked to see that instead of just a small amount, he’d put five hundred dollars into my bag. That money did help keep us afloat for the next week as we paid bills. We finally found a doctor willing to help us and our income has since stabilized. I told the stranger, who is now a supporter and friend, that we’d pay him back. He refused and told me to help others, instead. I plan to.)