I go to a fast food chain location I’m not familiar with to wait to meet somebody. There’s a small queue but I see self-ordering machines. I’ve never seen one before, so I go to have a look. All I want is a coffee.

I go through the ordering process, and when it’s time for payment information, I have the choice of credit, debit, or cash. Again, it’s only for a coffee, and I have loose change in my pocket, so I select cash.

The receipt prints out, and as I turn around, I see my order number appearing on the screen.

Then I wait… and wait… and notice that other order numbers, higher than mine, are going over. Mine doesn’t move down. I get in line and wait, and when I finally reach the cashier, I hand her my receipt.

Me: “Silly, but my order isn’t coming down. Is there a problem with the self-ordering machines?”

Cashier: “No, sir. Since you select cash, you have to pay before we make it. All you have to do is take your place in the queue and we’ll make it after you pay.”

Me: “Oh… then what’s the use of the cash option on the self-ordering terminals if we have to make the queue and then wait for our order to be made anyway?”

Cashier: *Blinks a few times* “I… I don’t know, sir. They’ve just been installed. That’s what we were told to do.”

I don’t know if that was really the rule sent by corporate or something misunderstood by the employees and manager, but I’ve never used the self-ordering machines for a cash order since.

My husband and I decide to do a bit of shopping at our small-town grocery store. As we go to check out our overflowing basket of groceries, there is one lady with a very full cart in front checking out. 

The checkouts at this chain have a small belt that the cashier uses to check out your groceries, and then it splits into two longer belts so that two customers can bag up their groceries at the same time, making the lines go faster. 

As the lady ahead of us finishes paying and goes to the end of the conveyer to bag off her items, my husband and I step forward. He places the very heavy basket on top of the return baskets and starts putting up a few of the items onto the belt.

Cashier: “SIR! I’M GOING TO HAVE TO ASK YOU TO PLACE YOUR ITEMS BACK IN YOUR BASKET UNTIL I HAVE SANITIZED MY STATION!”

My husband and I jump, alarmed by her yelling at the top of her lungs instead of just telling us. We apologize and collect our two things back into our basket and wait as she sprays down her tiny conveyor belt and PIN pad with sanitizer.

Cashier: “Okay! You can now place your items.”

We set up all our groceries on the belt, and as we finish emptying our basket, we shuffle down the line to pay. Now my husband is in front of the PIN pad, but I am the one paying and he is a rather large man.

Husband: *Chuckling* “Whoops, sorry, babe. I’ll just—”

He takes a single step to the side so I can reach the PIN pad to pay, but suddenly, the cashier takes a sharp intake of breath and belts out:

Cashier: “SIR! YOU MUST WAIT FOR THE PREVIOUS CUSTOMER TO FINISH BAGGING HER GROCERIES! THERE IS A HEALTH CRISIS GOING ON AND WE HAVE TO RESPECT OTHERS!!!”

Husband: *Now flustered* “I w-was just making room for my wife to pay!”

Me: “Sorry about that!” 

I hurriedly pull out my card and finish up paying.

Cashier: “Hmph!”

Since this cashier was shouting this out, the poor woman who is at the end bagging up her things is obviously embarrassed and starts just throwing her food into her bags to try to finish up quicker, until she picks up a can and looks perplexed.

It is then that the woman, my husband, and I look down and see that the cashier has tossed our stuff literally on top of this poor woman’s remaining groceries rather than use the second split belt. So, as my husband and I awkwardly stay put and look on, the woman has to pick through OUR groceries to find her own! Now, with all her things bagged up, she is beet red in the face.

Woman: *Mumbles* “I’m so sorry for touching your groceries!”

And she books it out of the store.

Husband: “So, what was all the shouting about making sure you sanitize?! Aren’t you going to clean this belt, as well? You just threw our groceries on top of a complete stranger’s and she had to go through all our stuff!”

Cashier: “Sir, I am just doing what I’m trained to do!”

Husband: “Well, you were trained poorly the—”

Me: *Elbowing him lightly* “[Husband]! Shut up! I just want to get out of here!”

Cashier: “SIR, IS THIS GOING TO BE A PROBLEM WITH ME FOLLOWING PROTOCOL?!”

Other customers started staring over at us as this lady was yelling her head off, making it seem like we were a couple of idiots arguing with her over masks or such, so we threw our stuff together and got out of there!

After more than a year of always making sure I have a mask on before leaving the house, it finally happens that I slip up and forget to don one before heading out. I’m already on the bus to the mall when I realize and the bag I have on me, of course, doesn’t have a spare mask, so I improvise and wrap a cardigan around my mouth and nose. At the mall, I head straight for the first drugstore.

Employee: “Excuse me! Hello!”

I stop and turn because I do think she means me, as I am standing out with my big, gray cardigan.

Employee: “You cannot come in here without a mask.”

Me: “I’m so sorry, I forgot my mask. I was just coming in here to buy one!”

Employee: “Yes, but you can’t shop without a mask on. You need to go to the cash register and get one there.”

There was no sign or anything indicating this, but I quickly head to the registers. The cashier there has just finished a transaction and I sidle up.

Me: “I’m so sorry for cutting in, but I really need to buy a mask.”

Cashier: “You’ll need to go over there and get one.”

They point toward the inside of the store where the masks are.

Me: *Confused* “Oh? Your colleague sent me over here to get one.”

Cashier: “I don’t have any masks at the register, so you’ll need to get it yourself.”

Even more confused, and hoping that the first employee won’t stop me again, I gun it down the straight line to where the masks are, grab one, and head back to the register, getting in line to buy it.

Cashier: “This whole mask thing is dumb, anyway.”

Well, nice if your job says you don’t need to wear one because you are considered safe enough behind your plastic sheets. The rest of us have to wear masks to be in the store. And I know the first employee was making sure I was following the rules, but I was about three steps away from the masks when she stopped and sent me elsewhere. At least now I am making sure every bag I have has a spare mask.

I order a breakfast sandwich through the drive-thru of a fast-food restaurant on my way to work at 6:30 in the morning.

Cashier: “Your total is $5.04.”

I gave the cashier a $20 bill and four pennies: $20.04 in total. She took the bill, looked at the four cents, dumped them in the tip jar, rang in the $20, and proceeded to give me back my change of $14.96.

I’m not sure what was worse: her not just giving me $15 in change or her thinking I gave her a four-cent tip.

This story is part of our Best Of June 2021 roundup! This is the last story in this roundup, but if you’d like to read more of our favorite stories, you can always check out May’s roundup next!

Read the next Best Of June 2021 roundup story!

Read the Best Of June 2021 roundup!

I’m a cash register repair guy. I’m sent to repair a cash register at a mini-mart in a popular beach town. They have a service contract and two cash registers, so I don’t expect any drama. The drive out there takes about an hour, but it’s gorgeous, so I’m in a good mood when I get on site.

One of their registers “just stopped working” in the middle of a shift. I do the normal troubleshooting and find that the lights are on but nobody’s home; the machine has power but isn’t accepting any user input. While I am troubleshooting, the two cashiers are trading off on the one working register and the owners — a husband and wife couple — are deflecting rude customers. I pop the cover off of the register.

Me: “Well, there’s your problem.” *To the owner* “Looks like someone spilled into the keyboard. Looks like coffee with cream and sugar.”

Cashier #1: “WHY DID YOU TELL HIM THAT?!”

My head snaps to my left and I see [Cashier #1] with her hand over her mouth and eyes wide as saucers. She then runs out of the shop, and [Cashier #2] and the owners burst into laughter.

It turns out that [Cashier #2] drinks his coffee black, like all truly good people. The owners drink tea, but I’m open to alternative lifestyles. Only [Cashier #1] drinks coffee with cream and sugar

Apparently, she had done the deed, but rather than fess up, she was hoping the problem would either go away on its own or not be traceable to her. My detective skills had convicted her of the crime.

Fortunately, the coffee never made it to the electronics, and I quickly replaced the keyboard matrix and returned the machine to service.

As I was leaving, I saw the owners escorting the most hangdog-looking cashier back into the store. She was still there the next time I serviced the site, so I suspect her only punishment was a healthy dose of embarrassment.