(I have just finished serving a mother, but her daughter has dropped her juice so I have to mop up the spill. As part of our goodwill policy for spills, I also give the little girl another juice on the house. I then began serving the next customer.)

Next Customer: “You shouldn’t have given her a free juice. It’s her own fault for being clumsy!”

Me: “Well, it’s part of our goodwill policy. Accidents do happen, you know.”

Next Customer: “Well, children shouldn’t be in a place like this in the first place. People should take responsibility for their actions!”

(The customer takes her coffee, and as she approaches her seat she trips over her own feet and tosses her mug across the table. She splashes coffee everywhere: on the wall, on the floor, and all over the table and chairs.)

Next Customer: *sheepishly* “I spilled my coffee. Can you make me another one to take away, please?”

(We’ve just started selling a new line of iced drinks for the summer. My usually stingy manager has been pushing hard to get sampling out, going so far as telling us to make free drinks for customers if they want to try more than one sample.)

Customer: “Hi, could I get a green tea lemonade?”

Me: “Sure thing! What size?”

Customer: “I’d like—”

Manager: “HEY THERE! Have you tried the new lime cooler yet? I bet you’d like it better than the tea! Hey [My Name], make one up for him, will ya?”

(The customer looks embarrassed but seems too polite to decline a free drink. He mumbles a thank you as I set to fixing up the new drink. As soon as my manager goes into the back room, I switch ingredients and make the original order.)

Me: “Here you go, green tea lemonade. It’s on me today; I’m sorry about that. My manager’s a bit… excited about the new product. I figured you’d ask if you wanted a sample.”

Customer: *looks relieved* “Oh, thank you so much! I just didn’t know what to say to him!”

Me: “We usually just smile and nod, too.”

(The customer left me a fiver in the tip jar!)

(I’m a baker of the store, so I make all the donuts, bagels and muffins three days a week. This particular day I have finished baking and am now working on sandwich station. My hair is often multi-colored, so my coworkers call me ‘Rainbow Brite.’)

Customer: “The girl making sandwiches got this hair in my food.”

Coworker: “Oh, I’m very sorry, ma’am. Let me see that and we’ll remake it for you.”

(The customer hands over a bagel which has a long blond hair sticking out of the cream cheese. My hair is short and currently black with pink/purple bangs. However, the customer’s daughter has long blond hair. Also, we don’t have a single blond girl working at our store—just two blond boys who have buzzcuts.)

Coworker: “Well, ma’am, while this hair didn’t come from her, I’ll have her make it over for you anyways.”

Customer: “Of course it’s her hair! Who else’s hair could it be?! I bet you are just covering for her. Let me speak to the person in charge.”

Coworker: “Rainbow Brite, she wants to talk to you.”

Me: *smiles* “Hi, hun, can I help you with something?”

Customer: “I found this long blond hair in my bagel. Your coworker accused me of lying when I said it came from the girl making sandwiches!”

Me: “Well, ma’am, I can tell you she was telling the truth that the hair didn’t come from the sandwich girl, because that’s me, and my hair is neither blond nor long. However, I can remake your bagel and give you a refund if you would like.”

Customer: “How dare you accuse me of lying?! I demand a refund!”

Me: “Of course, ma’am. Let me make your bagel again.”

(I remake her bagel and give her a refund. As she’s walking out, her daughter speaks.)

Customer’s Daughter: “Mommy, why were you so mean to her? You got my hair in the bagel, not her!”

Customer: *turns bright red and leaves in a hurry*

(I have been getting coffee at the same place every morning for about a year. I’m friendly with the barista, and he knows what I drink without asking, but we’ve never had any in-depth conversation.)

Barista: “Hey, were you in [Local Bar] last night?”

Me: “No, why?”

Barista: “I thought I saw you and I was calling out to you! Well, I guess I must have scared the crap out of another woman.” *laughs*

Me: “But I’ve never told you my name. What were you calling out?”

Barista: “MEDIUM SOY!”

(A really cute guy is on my line to buy his coffee, engrossed on his phone, texting.)

Cute guy: *still looking down at his phone* “A small Caramel Frap, please. Thanks.”

Me: “Coming right up!”

(I prepare his order and come back to the counter to hand him his order.)

Me: “Here you go, sir. That’ll be $4.05.”

(He hands me a $5 bill and finally looks up at me. He freezes, his mouth agape, his eyes wide. I blush. This goes on for about 10 awkward seconds until he blinks rapidly.)

Cute guy: “Uhh… Yeah… Ok… I… I.. uhm… I..” *takes a deep breath* “Has this happened to you before?”

Me: “Uh, I am not sure what you’re talking about.”

Cute guy: “This!” *points his finger alternately between the two of us*

Me: “I don’t really follow..”

Cute guy: “You know, a guy sees your pretty face and he freezes and he almost drool? And it’s so obvious that he’s attracted to you big time?”

(The whole shop stands still. Their attention is on us. The other customers giggle while the others go “aw”.)

Me: *I blush 10 shades darker* “Uh, not really.”

(He snatches the $5 bill from my hand and takes a $100 bill from his wallet and shoves it to me.)

Cute guy: “There. I’ll exit this shop pretending like I have forgotten my change so you’ll have an excuse to follow me outside. If you follow me outside to give me my change, you agree to give me your number and to have dinner with me sometime this week. If not, then you can just put my change in the tip box.”

(He leaves abruptly, leaving me speechless.)

Other customer: “Oh my God. That is kind of rude, but cheesy. But he’s really cute and very honest! What are you waiting for?! Follow him.”

(The other customers, my coworker and even the manager all clamor telling me to follow him. I gather his change, write my number on a tissue paper and I follow him outside, not because of the ‘peer pressure’ but, because I’m attracted to him, too!)

Me: “Here’s your change and uh… my number.”

(The cute guy smiles and leaves.)

(I go back inside with a round of applause from the customers while my manager shouts out loud.)

Manager: “A free shot of latte for everyone!”