(I work at a candy store in a mall. We have a rule posted on numerous signs that if you bag the bulk candy, you must buy it, as it is a health hazard for anyone to go dumping it back after they’ve scooped it. A man comes in with his little girl of probably six and he’s busy talking on his phone.)

Girl: “Daddy, what can I get?”

(The father waves her off and continues his phone call. She walks over and grabs a plastic bag. Before the man notices, she has packed the bag full of probably two pounds of assorted gummy candy.)

Father: “Oh, no, honey, don’t get that much!”

(Naturally, the father takes the bag and goes to dump it back into one of the gummy containers. Not only is this a health hazard, but the girl had mixed multiple kinds of candy, so it would be mixing things up.)

Me: “Sir, you can’t put that back.”

Father: “What? Why not?”

Me: “Because it is against health code to bag the candy and then put it back. It is posted all on numerous signs around the store.”

Father: “I refuse to pay for this! It’s outrageously priced and I didn’t want it to begin with!”

Me: “Sir, you are responsible for what your daughter did, even if you were unaware while you were speaking on the phone.”

(The man brings it over, pays for it, and walks out the door. He is clearly pissed of and angry at me. I hear his daughter talking as they head for the exit.)

Daughter: “Can I have some, Daddy?”

Father: “No.”

(He proceeded to drop the bag in a trash can before continuing to leave. The girl was clearly distraught. Talk about Father of the Year.)

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(After working in candy stores for nearly ten years, I’ve got a few stock responses to some of the more frequent questions and comments I get about working versus eating.)

Customer #1:  “Do you ever eat anything when nobody’s looking?”

Me: *extremely shifty* “Nooo… Of cooourse nooot…”

Customer #2:  “Wow, I don’t know if I’d have the willpower to work here without eating everything!”

Me: “My willpower is frequently replaced by chocolate.”

Customer #3:  “How are you not constantly eating candy?”

Me: “I AM constantly eating candy!”

Customer #4:  “Do you get free candy working here?”

Me: “No, but that doesn’t stop me.”

(A man comes up to the register with his young daughter. I give him his price and he pulls out his wallet to pay.)

Girl: “Daddy, wait! I got money. I got… Daddy, I got money! Wait!”

(She makes him wait until she pulls out a dollar from her purse and puts it on the counter. He slides it out of her sight and passes me a ten while she’s not looking.)

Dad: “Don’t close your purse yet! You’re getting change back!”

(He gives her all the change, as well as the dollar she’d initially attempted to ”pay” with. She didn’t see anything amiss with getting almost five dollars in change from a single dollar and happily walked out with her candy.)

(Most of the candy in our store is priced by weight, and a single bag can hold up to five pounds depending on what you pick.)

Customer #1: *to [Customer #2]* “I came in here with [Girl] a while ago, and made the mistake of not watching her. So about ten minutes later she comes up and says ‘Daddy, I filled the bag!’ and yup, she had filled it to the TOP. I asked her why she had gotten so much, and she said ‘so I can share with [Boy]!’ and how am I supposed to tell her no to sharing? So I bought the whole thing…”

(A family of four — a parent and three children — are browsing the store. The youngest, a toddler, tries to reach her hand directly into a bin of loose candy.)

Me: *in a gentle sing-song tone* “No-no, sweetie! No-no!”

(She looks at me, and after another “no-no,” she takes her hand off the bin. She rejoins her siblings, watching as one of them picks a wrapped candy off a shelf.)

Toddler: *very softly* “Lady said no.”

(I had to cover my mouth with my hand to keep from laughing. The family continued shopping for a few more minutes, punctuated every so often with a tiny “lady said no” until they checked out.)

This story is part of our Kids-In-Candy-Stores roundup! This is the last story in the roundup, but we have plenty of others you might enjoy!

13 Times Customers Got Too Bitter When Buying Candy

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