(I am working the register on a Sunday afternoon in 1982 as all of the churches in the neighborhood are letting out. This is generally a busy time of day, both in the store and at the gas pumps. Things are running smoothly as a harried-looking woman drags a three- or four-year-old-girl into the store.)

Customer: “Bathroom?”

Me: “I’m sorry, we do not have restrooms for customer use.”

Customer: “My daughter has to use the bathroom.”

Me: “There are two bars and four restaurants in this block that have public bathrooms.”

Customer: “My daughter has to go now! Where do you go to the bathroom?”

Me: “Our bathroom is for employee use only as we store dangerous chemicals in there.”

Customer: *dragging her daughter behind the counter toward the door to our office* “Well, you’re just going to have to make an exception.”

Me: *steps in front of the door, blocking her way* “I’m terribly sorry, but our restroom is not for public use.”

(Suddenly, the little girl pulls her hand out of her mother’s, puts it on her hip, and yells:)

Customer’s Daughter: “We’re not public, we’re Catholic!”

(Then, the girl stuck her tongue out at me. The woman grabbed the girl’s hand again and stormed out of the store.)

(I am 13 years old at the time. My aunt has just picked me up from school and wants a slushy, so we look for a place to get one. We find a convenience store near a gas station and go in to get some slushies.)

Aunt: *Looking through cups* Don’t they have any bigger cups?

Me: Go ask, maybe they’ll have something bigger.

*My aunt goes and asks an employee if there are bigger cups, and he goes into a cabinet to look for them. At this point, I’ve decided to get a drink instead, and I’m waiting for my aunt to get her slushy.*

Employee: I’m sorry, we don’t seem to have any bigger slushy cups at the moment. You can use one of our regular drink cups, though. *He hands my aunt one of the bigger drink cups.*

Aunt: *Looking at the cup and the price.* But this one will cost me more than the other one.

Me: Well, of course it will, it’s a bigger cup.

Aunt: But they’re charging me more for the cup and not the liquid.

*At this point she goes off on the employee, and I’m very clearly embarrased by this display. I eventually get fed up with her silliness.*

Me: Just use the cup!

Aunt: No. You can buy your drink, I’ll be outside.

*She hands me some money and walks out, leaving me in the store. I walk up to the counter and pay, apologizing for my Aunt’s behavior before I go. When I get in her car, she rants about the whole ordeal.*

(I work at a convenience store on a college campus. We sell self-serve coffee, cappuccino, hot tea, and hot chocolate. They vary in price, but we use one type of cup, so when a customer comes to the register we depend on the customer to tell us what they got. Most of the time, people just get regular coffee. A professor comes up with a beverage cup and a few other items.)

Me: “Coffee?”

Professor: “Yes.”

Me: “It’s $3.20.”

(I take her money and hand her the receipt. She starts to walk away and then comes back.)

Professor: “Hang on, I bought the exact same things yesterday and it was only two dollars and something.”

Me: “Okay, let’s look at your receipt. So, your coffee was $.95 and…”

Professor: “This isn’t coffee. It’s hot tea!”

Me: “But I asked you if it was coffee and you said yes.”

Professor: “Well, I didn’t think it mattered!”

Me: “…”

(I work in a very popular convenience store located across the northern states. This has so far been a typical day in business, when a couple of customers come in looking very confused.)

Me: “Hello! How are you today!”

Customer 1: “Hey, are your pumps on?”

(This was a highly unexpected question so I turn to my coworker in confusion before answering.)

Me: “Well, yes. They are always on. Why are you asking?”

Customer 2: “Well they aren’t. The screens are black.”

Customer 1: “Yeah, and you can’t do anything with the pump. Can we just pay inside? Will that work?”

(At this point I call over my coworker and ask her to please check out the pumps outside while I deal with the customers. I have never heard of our pumps doing this before so I’m a bit concerned with what kind of problem we are having. Sure enough, she goes outside and sees that all but 2 of our 16 pumps have black screens, or black with colorful lines down the middle.)

Me *to customer #1*: “Ok sir, while my coworker goes out to check on the pumps, why don’t I prepay you in here and see if that works for you. Once we prepay the pump, you simply go outside and ignoring the screen, pick up the nozzle then select the grade of gas you want. You should be able to pump it without any issues.”

Customer 1: “Ok, *looks at me skeptically* but if this doesn’t work then I guess I’ll have to go somewhere else. I really need gas in my boat and I won’t be lucky enough to pull my truck up alongside two pumps again.”

(I nod understandingly at him while smiling professionally and prepay his pump. My coworker is on the phone at this point trying to sort out the pump problem, while I work the register and another coworker is working on food. Not even two minutes after sending him outside, customer #1 is heading back in looking irritable.)

Me: “Oh no, it didn’t work for you?”

Customer 1: “No. It still didn’t do anything! The screen stayed black with those wiggly lines in it. It wouldn’t let me do anything.”

Me: “Well sir, you don’t need the screen since I prepaid the pump for you. If you want I can refund your money so you can try to go somewhere else if you need to get gas for your boat in a hurry. Or, I can do a new prepay on it and come outside with you and help you pump?”

Customer 1: “Well I don’t see how that will help since I couldn’t get it to do anything. But if you want to come try I guess I’ll let you.”

(At this point I’m already flustered as I’ve tried to help him once and the problem with the pumps hasn’t been resolved yet. But I set the pump and followed the gentleman outside.)

Me: “Ok sir, the pump is set so now just pick up the nozzle *I do so and hand it to him* then select the grade you need. Which grade did you need?”

(The man looks at me surprised and tells me which one. I push the button for him and tell him it should pump fine now. He takes over and begins pumping.)

Me: “Awesome! Looks like you’re all set. Anything else I can do for you today?”

Customer 1: “I’ll be honest, I didn’t even try any of what you just did. Hey, can you just turn the pump on right there by my truck? I need to gas it up too while I’m at it. Or do I have to go all the way back inside to pay you again?”

(My jaw nearly hits the ground at this. Everything I had told him to do he didn’t even attempt. He just assumed the pump wouldn’t work. And now he’s asking me to do something that I cannot do.)

Me: “Sir, I’m sorry but unfortunately I can’t just turn the pump on for you. I have to have a payment before I can authorize a pump. I’m very sorry but it’s just how our system works.”

(Cue him huffing and puffing as he locks the nozzle pumping into his boat, pulls out some money and shoves it in my hand. He then goes back to pumping and I rush inside to put his payment on the second pump for him. I tell my coworkers what just happened and we all shake our heads about it. A few minutes later the customer comes back inside.)

Customer 1: “Ok, now that we got that out of the way. I wanted to ask if I’m going to get my ten cents back as well as what I didn’t pump?”

Me *confused*: “Your ten cents sir? I’m sorry but what ten cents? Your pump is only giving back **** as change.”

Customer 1: *pulls out our company card that allows customers to receive a discount* “From using this of course. Am I going to get my gas price changed since I couldn’t use this at the pump?”

Me: “Oh! Oh no, I’m so sorry sir but our system just doesn’t work like that I’m afraid. You would have needed to prepay both pumps with that card in order for the discount to apply. I have no way of refunding the the savings you would have received once you’ve paid and pumped using cash or another payment.”

Customer 1: *visibly upset at this point* You have got to be kidding me! They told me I could never use the card inside if I wanted to get the discount. I’m a very unhappy customer right now. This has not been a good visit or good customer service.”

Me: *feeling myself become upset after going out of my way several times to give him good service and to help him but holding myself in check regardless* “I’m very sorry they told you that sir. I’m not sure why they would have but I assure you it should give you the discount whether you use the card to pay outside or inside the store. I apologize again for all the trouble. This was a very unusual issue we had today and certainly not one we’ve ever had before.”

Customer 1: “Yeah, well. I’m not happy. I can’t believe this. Whatever.”

(I would have apologized again but he headed on out at this point. Not five minutes later we had all the pumps screens working again and experienced no other issues. This had to be one of the most infuriating exchanges I’ve had with a customer recently. I can’t wrap my head around just how dumb he seemed to be.)

[Note to NAR: I’m sorry if this is a resubmission, my browser is acting up.]

(So, I’ve worked at this convenience store for about… Oh, say a month and a half, roughly. I’ve worked some rough jobs before, for the past eight years, in fact, and this one is no exception. Rough, in the sense that I have to deal with some of the meanest people in town. Don’t get me wrong… Most of my customers are actually really nice people, and some of them are a pleasure to serve and to chat with when there’s down time. But then there’s people like the following man. I hope you enjoy.

I’m at the register. I’m closing, it’s around 9:15ish, give or take about 5 minutes. My co-worker had just left around 9, so I was there alone, hoping it would slow a bit so I could get the rest of my chores finished. No such luck, but all I really had left was to mop the floor. No biggie. This man walks in, tosses (literally) a $100 bill on the counter, points out to the pump he’s at, and walks toward the door before I could fully ask him if he wants me to break the $100 and put only a certain amount in. Much easier for both of us, that way. He turns to look at me, aaaaand…)

Customer: I just want to fill my f*****g tank! (Storms out the door)

(I go to set the pump at $100 and get it ready for him. Now, I work two jobs, so this was the end of job 2 for the day, and I was thinking to myself, ‘It’s okay, it’s just one guy, you’ll be out of here soon enough anyway.’ Well, I slip up, miss a 0, and put it in for $10. Honest mistake. I caught it immediately, and told the guy at the counter (another customer) that I’ll be back in just a sec (about which he was very calm and polite) and run out the door. Note: the guy hadn’t yet put the nozzle in his car, he just had it in his hand.)

Me: (Approaching pump) Sir! Sir, I accidentally set the pump for $10, if you’ll hang it up real quick and give me just a second, I–

Customer: (Pointing back toward the building) JUST START THE F*****G PUMP!!!

(Bewildered by such an unnecessary response to me trying to HELP the man, especially since it would’ve made it so much easier to just stop the pump for a second and redo it for $100, I turn back to the building, wait for him to finish, and take care of two more people. As soon as he was done pumping, rather than hanging up the nozzle and letting me do the next $90 transaction, he immediately reaches into his car and blares the horn. I try to stop the pump and finish it properly, but because the nozzle’s still sticking out of his tank, I can’t do it. The pump is still technically ‘in use’ at this point. As I’m scrambling to get it right, he storms into the building.)

Customer: JUST RESTART THE F*****G PUMP, IT’S NOT THAT HARD.

Me: I’m trying, sir. It’s not working for me, you’ll have to give me a second.

Customer: THIS HAPPENED TO ME THE OTHER F*****G DAY, TOO. YOU GUYS HAVE DONE THIS S**T TO ME TWICE NOW, IT’S RIDICULOUS.

Me: I understand, sir. I don’t know about the other day, but I’m trying to get it right now. This is a new system, so I’m trying to–

Customer: I DON’T F*****G CARE ABOUT THAT, JUST GET IT WORKING.

(At this point, I’m shaking, thinking he’s about to come around the counter. I think to call my manager, and since I’m wearing my earbuds around my neck, I plug my phone in and start the call. I even tell the guy I’m gonna call my manager to find out what to do.)

Manager: Hey, what’s up?

Me: There’s a man here who gave me a $100, and I accidentally missed a 0 when ringing him up. I charged him for $10, and now I can’t finish the other $90. I don’t know why, and I don’t know if it’s just the new system, or–

(At this point, I begin to suspect what my manager is about to say, because this sort of thing has happened before, albeit with a much more polite customer.)

Manager: Is the nozzle still in his car, or did he hang it up?

Customer: (During the whole conversation, under his breath) I can’t f*****g believe how stupid people have to be these days. It’s a simple f*****g thing, I give you the money, you get the pump ready, I get my gas, and I f*****g leave.

Me: (Trying to defuse the man) Sir, if you hang up the nozzle, I’ll be able to complete the transaction. It won’t let me continue because it’s still technically ‘in use’.

(Without another word, the guy stomps out the door again, grumbling something else I couldn’t even hear. He gets to his pump, and I watch as he yanks the nozzle out of his car, splashing it with a little bit of gas. He then turns around and slams the nozzle into its holster. I quickly do the transaction for the remaining $90, and he stares me down until I turn toward the window. He didn’t hesitate to put the nozzle back into his car, angrily of course, and continue pumping– until he spilled even more gas on his car and on the ground. Once that started, he stopped in a hurry, put the nozzle back, closed his tank, etc. And I’m dealing with more customers in the meantime. He comes back in (stinking of gas) and when he gets up to the counter, he says nothing. I say nothing. I stop the pump and give him the remainder of his change: $76.17. He only needed $23.83 of gas.)