I used to be the single father of a beautiful little boy. His mother, my ex, had been declared unfit to be a parent due to mental instabilities. While it was definitely healthier for both of us, there was the significant problem of not having the best salary in the world. While rent wasn’t a problem (thanks, Mom and Dad), getting dangerously close to debt at the end of the month wasn’t all too uncommon. As such, I started to heavily coupon and generally shop thriftily.

One time, I was picking groceries up. Due to an expired coupon I had forgotten to discard, the total was coming far ahead of my budgeting, and I had to point this out to the cashier. After a desperate attempt to reduce my total, I just let it go.

However, the man behind me spoke up.

Customer: “Are you willing to let me pay for your groceries? You are clearly in a rough spot.”

I was about to accept, but the cashier interrupted me.

Cashier: *To the other customer* “Go away! Stop showing off and being a [homophobic insult] obese spendthrift.”

I was taken aback and tried to insist that, yes, I wanted this man to be generous to me, but the cashier refused.

Cashier: “Don’t rely on the charity of some ball of lard!”

The man moved to another cash register, but not before flipping the bird to the cashier. I tried to follow him, but the cashier insisted that, since half my shopping had already been scanned, I had to continue being in her lane. I was honestly unsure whether to cry in rage or flip my lid at the cashier.

In the end, I told her:

Me: “Honestly, after this treatment, I don’t want anything from this store.”

I left empty-handed to go shop somewhere else instead, only to discover that all of my other options had already closed for the day.

Even now that I don’t need to pay attention to budgeting as much, being denied free groceries because of one cashier’s behavior still hurts me deep in my soul. I hope that cashier received the same treatment when in need herself.

I was given a $100 gift certificate for a massage one year for my birthday. I chose a service that was exactly $100. As I was checking out, the girl at the counter asked me:

Cashier: “Would you like to add a gratuity?”

Me: “Yes, twenty.”

Cashier: *In a snotty tone* “Dollars or percent?”

Me: “Um, either one. They’re both the same.”

Cashier: “Um, I need you to tell me which one!”

Me: “The bill is $100; 20% is the same as $20 since the total is $100.”

She looked at me like I was a total moron, sneered, and then typed on her computer.

Her face showed utter shock when her computer screen agreed with me.

Related:
Must Be Using 1% Of Her Brain

Quite a few years ago, I was a bartender in a corporate-style cookie-cutter restaurant. I mostly worked nights but had one regular mid-shift on Fridays. We were always super busy at the bar for lunch on Fridays and usually had quite a few of the mall workers coming in to eat and then head back to work.

Nearly every Friday, the same smug, borderline rude lady came in for lunch. Every time, she paid with exact change — zero tip. Maybe half the time, she would complain over some minor inconvenience, and more than a few times, she got a comped meal. The more I had to wait on her, the more indignant and pissed I got.

Around Christmas time, I was out and about in the mall buying for family and friends. I picked out something nice for my girlfriend at the time — a sheer top that I thought would look amazing on her. It was decently priced with it being on sale, too.

Walking up to the cashier, I was a bit surprised to run into… [Rude Lady]. Whatever. In street clothes, I felt like she barely registered who I was, or maybe she really didn’t care who was at her register — maybe both. So, I handed her a $20 bill. She examined it for a moment, turned it over twice, and even held it up to the light. Then, out came the counterfeit pen marker. I was thinking, “A bit excessive, no?”

Change should have been around a dollar and change. Surprisingly, she handed out $81 plus change.

She called for the next customer in line, so I stepped to the side for a moment in contemplation. I could honestly feel the devil on one shoulder and the angel on the other.

It took me a moment or two… but I finally let my moral compass win and stepped back in front of the register.

I nicely explained that a mistake had been made, but before I could continue, she shot me down and briskly told me in a semi-professional tone to GTFOH.

So… I did.

The way I look at it? All those lost tips and the money she had just gifted me were just Karma. Sucked to be her, I guess.

Related:
A Fellow Retail Worker Should Know Better!

This store has cardboard holders that you can put mix-and-match beer in. I buy six ginger beers loose, and I have to wait while the cashier goes and gets a holder to put them in for me. 

So, the next time, I do that myself to save time, and a different cashier cards me.

Me: “But they’re not alcoholic.”

Cashier: *Snaps* “Why are they in a beer holder, then?”

I just rolled my eyes and handed over my ID.

I went to a home improvement chain with my son, who was about a month old, in his stroller. As the cashier was scanning my stuff, she was complimenting my baby. Once everything was rung in, she didn’t tell me the total, but I got a look at it before I ran my debit card through the machine and put in my code.

At that moment, she gasped, laughed, and smiled in my son’s direction. Of course, I turned my head to see what he was doing. Nothing. As I turned my head back around, I caught just a glimpse of the cashier’s hand moving back away from the card reader. My total had jumped by $40. (I think she hit the cash-back button.)

I made her cancel the transaction and start everything over.

New mothers are super distracted and exhausted, so I’m sure she’d gotten away with this plenty of times before.