(I’m the manager at a small neighborhood cell phone shop in the most diverse city in the US. On any given day, I encounter customers from a good dozen different cultures. More than half of my customers are originally from another country or are the first generation born here, and a good percentage of them are Muslim, Buddhist, or Hindu [as is our store owner], and I’m an atheist. I absolutely love the holidays, all of them. Celebrating for any reason is awesome to me, and I like to include everybody so I say “Happy Holidays” unless someone beats me to it and says “Merry Christmas,” then I say “Merry Christmas to you, too.” It is the Sunday before Christmas.)

Me: *to my customer as she and her mother open the door to leave* “Thank you for choosing [Carrier]. You’re going to love the service and if you need any help or have any issues you can stop by anytime and we’ll be glad to help you out. Have a great day and Happy Holidays!”

Customer’s Mother: “It’s Merry Christmas! Merry CHRIST-mas! Not happy holidays. Christ is the reason for the season. We just had the most beautiful service at church about how nobody respects Christ during Christmas anymore!”

Me: “Yes, ma’am, Merry Christmas to you, too!”

Customer: “You don’t have to be so rude, Mom. Maybe she’s Jewish!”

(My mother is not the most tech savvy person, so she usually comes to me with her phone problems. The other day she told me her phone kept dying despite charging it all the time. I figured it was either the charger, the port on the phone, or the battery itself, so on Sunday afternoon we take it to the local phone store. To start, the store is completely empty. We stand at the counter and notice the backroom door open. My mom takes a peek inside before someone finally runs out wearing a football jersey and asks how he can help us. I explain the phone situation and ask what he thinks the problem is. He takes the phone into the backroom and reappears ten minutes later.)

Jersey: “It’s a roaming issue.”

Me: “Roaming issue?”

Jersey: “Yeah, if the phone thinks you’re roaming it sometimes does that.”

Me: “You mean to tell me that because of my geographical location, the phone won’t charge correctly?”

Jersey: “Yeah.”

Me: “Are you sure it’s not the battery, or the charger, or something?”

Jersey: “Nope, it’s a roaming issue.”

(At this point there is cheering from the backroom and the employee becomes noticeably agitated and fidgety.)

Me: “Okay, I’ll just turn the roaming off.”

(As soon as we left, the employee ran into the back room. We called tech support and learned it was just the battery and a replacement was sent. I recommended a replacement for their store manager as well.)

(Our customers who come in are served on a first-come, first-serve basis, since it typically takes anywhere from 15-45 minutes per person depending on what they need. It’s a Sunday, several of our staff are on vacation and several others have called off sick, and there’s already nine people waiting for various services. As I go to call the next customer who has been patiently waiting for close to two hours, a female customer who has just entered walks up to me.)

Customer #1: “I need help.”

Me: “I’m terribly sorry, but we’re quite busy. Can I get your name to add to the waiting list? We’ll have someone with you as soon as possible.”

Customer #1: “I just have a quick question, though. Shouldn’t take more than a few seconds.”

Me: “I suppose if it’s just a quick question, I can help. Then after I can take your name down if you’ll need further help.”

Customer #1: “Good, I just need to know if you’re taking trade-ins for [Older Model Cellphone] to get money off of the new updated version.”

Me: “As long as it’s in working condition, we absolutely do.”

Customer #1: *trying to hand me her old cell phone from her purse* “Great. Well, I’ll just give you this, and I’d like [Newer Model Phone]. I want the silver-colored model if possible. I also want a case. I’m not picky about it, but preferably one that’ll last. I also want to switch my data plan. I only have 2 gigs now, but I wanna up it to 4 because I’ve been going over a bit. Also, we need to add my husband to our plan and to get him a phone. He doesn’t want anything fancy, though.”

Me: *refusing to take her phone* “I’ll be able to help you with that. Can I just your name for the waiting list?”

Customer #1: “Oh, I just wanted to do it now.”

Me: “Unfortunately, ma’am, we have a number of people who have been waiting to be assisted. I can take your name down though, and assist you shortly.”

Customer #1: *narrowing her eyes* “But I want to do this now.”

Me: “Ma’am, we have a waiting list. I have to help people on a first-come, first-serve basis.”

Customer #1: *starting to fume* “Well, I’m not waiting.”

Me: “Unfortunately, I need to be helping the next person on our waiting list. If you’d like, I can take down your name, but unfortunately I won’t be able to assist you at the moment.”

Customer #1: *screaming* “But I don’t want to wait! If they’ve all been waiting, surely they won’t mind waiting a little longer.”

(Everyone is now looking. Another customer who is standing nearby chimes in.)

Customer #2: “I’ve been waiting over an hour. As a matter of fact I DO mind having to wait longer just because you can’t be bothered to wait like the rest of us!”

Customer #1: “Go to h***!”

(She storms towards the door, turning before she leaves…)

Customer #1: “This is terrible customer service, you know! I shouldn’t have to wait! You took my question, that means I am being helped first and foremost!”

Customer #2: “No, you’re just a terrible f****** customer!”

Customer #1: “You shut your mouth, you f****** hog!”

(Another voice pops up.)

Customer #3: “Uh… [Name]?”

(Customer #1 turned and saw another customer who seemed to recognize her, and was staring at her in shock. She went red and bolted, leaving the rest of the room snickering and laughing. It’s always fun to see someone like this get embarrassed by their own behavior. Unfortunately, I didn’t find out who the other customer was or how they knew the woman.)

(I work in a popular cellphone carrier business. This woman and her little nephew come in to discuss an issue with a bill. He asked a question to his aunt and I was very surprised at the kid’s response. Keep in mind, he must have been four.)

Nephew: “[Aunt], can I see your phone?”

Customer: “Sure, what’s the rule?”

Nephew: “If I drop your phone, you’ll chop off my hands!”

(He seemed very excited by the response and the customer nodded her head “good” before going through her purse and handing it to him. He didn’t drop the phone.)

(This is a call from a regular customer.)

Caller: “Hi there, I need to add international calling to my plan.”

Me: “That’s great. What country will you be going to?”

Caller: “Canada.”

Me: “Okay, what you need to do is call customer care and they can add a small international roaming package on, and they can also get you the best rates.”

Caller: “Oh, okay, I’ll do that.”

(Not even five minutes later, I get a call from a different number, out of state.)

Caller: “Hey, I tried to call them, but my phone told me I was roaming and it wouldn’t connect the call.”

Me: “That’s odd. Well, I can try to call Customer Care for you and see if they can add it on or at the very least, try and give you a call. When exactly will you be needing this package added on?”

Caller: “Well, we are about two hours from the Canadian border, so as soon as possible.”

Me: “…”