I go into a fast food place during a One-Dollar Drink Deal promotion, order a drink, and give the cashier a five-dollar bill, plus change to cover the tax. He hands me my drink, gives me two dollars, and walks away. I keep trying to get his attention, but even though I am literally the only customer in the entire store, he takes his sweet time coming back to the counter.

Cashier: “Do you need something?”

Me: “Um, the drink only costs a dollar, right?”

Cashier: “Yeah.”

Me: “Well, I gave you five dollars.”

Cashier: “Yeah.”

Me: “And you gave me two dollars.”

Cashier: “Yeah.”

Me: “So…?”

Cashier: *Blank stare*

Me: “…I’m gonna need another two dollars.”

Cashier: “Okay.”

He opened his till, handed me two dollars, and walked away without another word.

I’m autistic, so when I’m in a specific context-sensitive, mostly scripted interaction (like a transaction with a cashier), I don’t always get those super-duper hilarious jokes that people make “off-script”, sometimes. 

I’m visiting a bookstore I like, which has a coffee kiosk inside. I’ve never visited the coffee kiosk, despite being in this bookstore many times. Today, I decide I would enjoy a coffee while I’m browsing which books to buy.

I approach the kiosk, and there is a middle-aged man poised behind the register, clearly as the order-taker/cashier.

Me: “Hi there!”

Cashier Man: “Hi! What can I get started for you?”

Me: “Can I just get a medium iced caramel latte, please?”

Cashier Man: *Completely straight-faced* “No.”

Me: “Oh… Um… Okay.”

I start to walk away, and the cashier man bursts into laughter.

Cashier Man: “That’s one medium iced caramel latte, you said?”

He starts pushing buttons on the register. I’m confused, but I turn back, still wanting my drink.

Me: “Uh, yeah, that’s right.”

Cashier Man: *Again, completely straight-faced* “We’re out of caramel.”

Me: “Oh, okay. Well, then, I guess I can have a—”

He cuts me off with another burst of laughter.

Cashier Man: “We’ll have that up for you in just a minute.”

I’m a little annoyed and uncomfortable at this point, feeling like this man was specifically laughing at my obliviousness to his super obvious jokes. It can be embarrassing and stressful to be autisticly awkward at the best of times, but this is the type of scenario that tempts meltdowns for me.

When my drink is ready, I take it in silence (admittedly with a bit of a scowl) and go try to calm down with some book retail therapy.

A few weeks later, I’m back at the bookstore. Unfortunately, I’m craving another coffee while I browse. I look over at the coffee kiosk and see the same cashier man from last time. This time, at least I’m prepared for his antics, but I’m hoping he’ll behave like a normal human this time.

I approach with caution.

Me: “Hi there. Can I get a medium iced caramel latte, please?”

Cashier Man: *Straight-faced* “We’re out of ice.”

This time, I don’t respond. I just stare blankly and emotionlessly at him in complete silence.

Just like last time, he bursts into laughter at his own hilarity and then rings me up. I don’t say a word as I pay for my drink, specifically avoiding looking at him.

When my drink is ready and he hands it to me, he’s got one more zinger.

Cashier Man: “You’re not allowed to drink this in the bookstore, by the way.”

Again, I just blankly stared. Maybe he was serious this time? Who knew? Either way, I waited it out for a few seconds.

Then, there it was: the obnoxious burst of laughter I’d been expecting.

I took my drink and silently glared at him before going back to perusing the books. I’ve been back to that bookstore many times, but I have never bought a coffee from that kiosk again.

This happened a few years ago, but I remember it fondly. It was the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and everyone was out shopping, trying to get those deals. I went to a mall department store to buy a new pair of heels for an upcoming company holiday party. I had set a budget of $50. Since there was a big sale going on, it was fairly crowded.

I picked two different shoes I wanted to try and gave them to the attendant with the sizes I needed. As she came back with the shoes for me to try and the display shoes, a group of people surrounded us with shoes in hand for the attendant to get them. She had a deer-in-headlights look as she looked from them to the display shoes in her hands that she was supposed to put back. I took the display shoes from her and told her I would take care of them. She looked relieved and went on to help the others.

I decided on a pair and went up to the register with the other shoes I wasn’t going to get. This department had three registers open. I went to the first, where [Woman #1] had just finished paying for her two pairs of shoes. At the time, the store required ID for returns due to fraud issues they’d been having.

Woman #1: “Oh! I could have saved more money if I had bought these separately! I want to return them!”

It would have been a dollar or two. The poor cashier looked dead.

Cashier #1: “Of course, ma’am. Can you please give me your ID to process the return?”

[Woman #1] handed over a non-US ID. [Cashier #1] inputs all of the information.

Cashier #1: “I’m sorry ma’am, but the system isn’t taking your ID. Do you have a different one?”

Woman #1: “No! This is my ID! You have to take it! I want my refund!”

Cashier #1: “I’m sorry, but the system isn’t taking it.”

Woman #1: “You have to do something! I want my refund!”

So she could save a dollar?

I figured this was going to take a while and moved to a different register, where I got to meet [Woman #2]. She was just finishing her purchase and handed a 20%-off coupon to another dead-looking cashier.

[Cashier #2] scanned the coupon and got an error.

Cashier #2: “I’m sorry, but since we are having a sale, the coupon isn’t valid. It says that it can’t be combined with other promotions or sales.”

Woman #2: “This is ridiculous! Scan it again!”

Cashier #2: “I tried, but the system won’t take it since we are in the middle of a sale.”

Woman #2: “You have to give me my 20% off!”

Cashier #2: “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

Woman #2: “You have to give me something! Give me an extra 10% off!”

Cashier #2: “No.”

Woman #2: “Give me 5% off, then!”

Cashier #2: “No.”

Woman #2: “Fine! Here!”

[Woman #2] handed over her credit card.

They finished the transaction, and I finally got to pay. Since I had multiple pairs of shoes in my hands, [Cashier #2] gave me a dead look.

Cashier #2: “Return?”

Me: “No. I’m buying this pair and bringing the others back to be put away.”

I noticed that most people had just left the other boxes of shoes on the floor.

Cashier #2: “Oh! Okay.”

She rang my shoes up, and it initially came out to $55, even with the sale. She was about to tell me my total when the attendant I helped earlier whispered in her ear. The cashier smiled and scanned something below her register. The price dropped to $45.

I realized later that the cashiers always had this on hand to use at their discretion all over the store, but if you asked, they denied it was possible. It would always take, even if there was a sale. It always pays to be nice and treat the workers with respect.

One time, I was at a grocery store picking up a few items. The checkout girl who helped me couldn’t have been older than eighteen and seemed very soft-spoken, like she was fairly new at the job.

I put my groceries on the belt, maybe eight to ten items, including one grapefruit, which was one of the first things in line. I noticed that the cashier had scanned every item except for the grapefruit, but I didn’t think anything of it and started to dig my wallet out of my bag.

When I looked up, she hadn’t moved. She was standing there motionless, staring at the lone grapefruit. After a few seconds, she picked it up with two hands, inspected it for a moment, looked up at me, and asked, “Um, what is this?”

I’ll never forget it.

I was laid off from my office job. I immediately started applying to other jobs and was having zero luck. I had previously worked at two different retail stores for a total of six years, so when I saw that a nearby big retailer was hiring for Sales Associates and Cashiers, I decided to apply since I had the experience, hoping they would interview me. (I did add my retail experience on my application.)

Nope, I got a rejection email explaining that they had gone with other candidates who more closely matched the skills and qualifications they were seeking.

A couple of weeks later, I was going home from an interview at another company, and I passed by this same store that had turned me down. I remembered I had received a gift card from that store months earlier and decided to use it. The gift card was for $25, and I picked out a few items, trying to keep it as close to $25 as possible.

When I went to the register to pay, my total was $25.17. I informed the cashier that the gift card was for $25. The cashier kept staring at the cash register screen as I tried to hand her a five-dollar bill to pay the difference.

Cashier: “Um, the register shows that you owe seventeen cents.”

Me: “I’m sorry, I don’t have any coins on me. Please take it out of the five.”

The cashier then stared at me like she was trying to process what I’d just said.

Cashier: “Um, I don’t know what that means.”

Me: “Please use the five dollars toward the seventeen cents I owe. Sorry, I don’t have any change.”

Cashier: “Oh.”

The cashier took my five-dollar bill, and after a few moments, she handed me my receipt and two pennies.

Cashier: “Thank you.”

I looked at the receipt. She had entered the five dollars, and my change was listed as $4.83. I showed her the receipt.

Me: *Politely* “My change should be a total of $4.83, not two cents.”

Cashier: “Oh.”

She looked around and handed me a penny that was on the counter.

Cashier: “Here.” *Raising her voice* “Next in line?”

Me: “I’m sorry, but you still owe me $4.79.”

Cashier: “Um…”

She started looking at the floor. She bent down and picked something up.

Cashier: “Here.”

It was another penny.

Me: “Ma’am, I am afraid this is still not correct.”

Cashier: “Um, I don’t have any more change lying around.”

I was getting a little irritated at that point, so I asked for a manager. She called a manager over and then told her I wanted to do a return!

I explained to the manager that I wasn’t trying to do a return but just needed all of my change. I showed her the receipt and the change I had been given so far.

The manager looked at the cashier.

Manager: “Well, just give her the correct change.”

Cashier: “Um, I gave her some of the change.”

Seeming annoyed, the manager took over. She opened the till, handed me the correct change, and apologized for the wait.

Having worked retail, I understand that it can be hectic, mistakes happen, and training is lackluster, so I tend to have patience and remain polite.

But this made me think of the rejection email and them going with other candidates whose skills and qualifications were “better” than mine. This cashier could have been new, but I am not so sure about some of these hiring managers and what actually qualifies as skills and experience in their eyes.