I am having a rough day with my store’s new manager changing my availability — the opposite of what we talked about, so I am crying about it during my lunch break. I get back from lunch and this is the first customer I help.

Customer: “Having a rough day?”

Me: “Yeah.”

Customer: “I can tell. That’s unfortunate.”

I smile at him.

Me: “That will be $4.00.”

I ring the customer up and he pays. I am handing him his receipt.

Customer: “$4.00? The card says $2.99.”

I go to point out the tax on his receipt when I notice he donated $0.73 to kid-cents which basically just donates money to kids by rounding up to the nearest dollar.

Me: “Oh, you must have pushed the button—”

Customer: *Interrupting me* “I didn’t push a button.”

Me: “The only way for this to show up on your receipt is if you pushed the button—”

Customer: *Interrupts me again* “Where is your manager?”

Me: “I am—”

Customer: “I want corporate’s number.”

Me: “Sir, I can return—”

Customer: “Corporate’s number and your name.”

I give corporate’s number.

Customer: “And your name?”

I’m staring at him because he flipped a switch from being super nice to being aggressive and demanding.

Customer: “Don’t just stare at me.”

Me: “My name is on the back of the receipt.”

I show him where.

Customer: “Tell me your name!”

I tell him my name.

Customer: “Now was that so hard?”

I turned my body so he could only see the side of my face and I locked my register. My cashier was standing behind me witnessing all of this. I was physically shaking and holding back tears. I heard the customer leave, and as soon as the doors closed, I started sobbing. I excused myself to the office and cried there for fifteen minutes. This guy knew I was having a rough day and decided to make it worse.

I was contracted to put together an event to bring awareness to human trafficking. The client was explicit that they wanted “experimental elements” to make attendees “feel the tragedies.”

Me: “How about we fill backpacks with cans of soup or rice and suggest that guests wear them for the entirety of the evening? Once they do, we donate the food in their name to a related charity after the event.”

Client: “Hmm…”

Me: “Or we could give everyone a mask when they check in so as to strip them of their identity. Maybe there could be some sort of penalty when they take them off. Within good taste, of course.”

Client: “All interesting, but I think these ideas make awareness of human trafficking a bit uncomfortable.”

We ended up settling on a PowerPoint presentation followed by cocktails and dinner. 

I’m running a cake sale for a charity event; I’ve only been here an hour but am already disgusted by how many people are trying to scam free food out of a charity.

So many people want a discount because they don’t like the flavour or want to “try before they buy.” The cakes are like 50p each and go toward a very good cause.

Customer: “What discount do I get if I buy a load of cakes?”

Me: “Well, you can buy two for the price of two.”

Customer: “Oh, come on, give me some incentive here.”

Me: “Tell you what.” *Hushes my voice* “I will give you 10% off your order if you buy ten or more. But! You need to come back at the end.”

He practically skips away from his amazing negotiation skills.

Friend: “What did you do that for? Don’t encourage him!”

Me: “Oh, please, this guy is at every event. I tell him ‘no’ every time. It doesn’t change a thing. If he comes back at the end and wants to buy all the cakes that would just go into the bin, why not?!”

We get through the day and sales have been a bit disappointing; we just don’t get the people through the doors. Right on time, the man from earlier returns.

Me: “Still hungry? I saved some for you.”

Customer: “Excellent, thank you!”

He buys everything I have left, and I give him the discount and feel pretty happy about what I’ve raised.

Friend: “I can’t believe you!”

Me: “He wasn’t going to buy anything anyway, and look at how much I’ve raised.”

Friend: “I just don’t think you should have done that.”

We looked down at her table; she had half her stuff left but still was resolute in her stance. We ran another charity event a few months later. We both agreed to run a last-orders sale and we sold out of everything!

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We are doing a special promotion on a certain brand of china. Customers can bring in old pieces of china, and for every piece, they will get 50p off a new item. All the old china brought in will go to charity. There have been fliers handed out for a week and large notices all over the shop explaining all this.

A couple comes in with a large box of china items, and we set about counting them, all the while praising the customers for their generosity. There are seventy-two items.

Me: “Wow, you’re certainly going to have a lovely new dinner set! What would you like?”

Customer: “The teapot, please.”

Me: “Good start! What else?”

Customer: “Just the teapot.”

Me: “Oh, how generous! You’ve given all this china to charity, and you’re just getting the teapot, with 50p off! Brilliant!”

I’m suspecting now where this is going.

Customer: “No, we brought in seventy-two items. Seventy-two times 50p is £36, the price of the teapot.”

Me: “I’m afraid it’s only one item against one item.”

Customer: *Swaggering, sneering, hands on hips* “And where, may I ask, does it say that?”

Me: *Pointing at the large print on the bottom of the flyer* “There…”

Customer: *Crumples* “Oh…”

In the end, they bought their teapot with 50p off and a couple of mugs and plates, sorted out what they didn’t want to give to charity after all, and left.

At least they didn’t flounce off.

I work as the receptionist for a charity in a specific sector, say mental health. We don’t offer direct mental health support, but rather we do policy and advocacy work around the topic and provide statutory training for workers in the sector. We also have a signposting helpline which gives people needing support the details of organisations who can help them more directly. The charity has existed for a few months longer than I have been alive. It is called something like National Mental Health, and we regularly get calls like this.

Caller: “Hi. [Long, uninterruptable explanation of their problems and situation]. What should I do?”

Me: “Hi. We are a policy and training organisation, so we do not provide direct support, I’m afraid, but what I can do is put you through to our signposting service and they will be able to able to help you find the best organisation to assist you.”

Caller: “But you’re called National Mental Health! Why won’t you help me?”

Me: “Yes, I know it’s a bit confusing but [repetition of previous explanation of the organisation and helpline in different words]. I am the receptionist, so I can’t answer your question, but I can put you through to the helpline.”

Caller: “That’s f****** ridiculous. False advertising! You shouldn’t be allowed to do that! Why are you called National Mental Health if you don’t help with mental health?”

Me: “I’m sorry you feel that way. I am afraid all I can do to help you get support is to put you through to the helpline. Would you like me to do that?”

Caller: “F*** you!” *Click*

I understand the frustration and I do agree that the charity’s name is misleading, but a) I am the lowest-paid person with the least power in the organisation and b) I was a foetus the size of a strawberry when the organisation was named. What do callers think shouting and swearing at me will achieve?