(I have been working at a convenience store for close to six months now, and I feel very comfortable as the front door cashier. Most people are regulars and are usually very polite and kind towards me, though I have had some unruly customers try to intimidate me due to my age and appearance. Here is one conversation I’ve had.)

Me: “Hi, there! Did you find everything okay?”

Woman: *sighs a little* “I guess…”

(Before I can ask anything else, out of the corner of my eye, I see a teenage boy wearing a blue hoodie heading out of the store. Abruptly, the woman looks a bit haughty.)

Woman: “That kid stole a candy bar.”

Me: “I’m sorry?”

Woman: “He stole a candy bar. I saw him pick it up earlier; I don’t think he came to pay for it.”

Me: “Well, hopefully he didn’t steal a candy bar, but if he did, there’s nothing I can do besides let my manager know.”

Woman: “What do you mean? He just went outside the door!”

Me: “Okay?”

Woman: “You’re not going after him?!”

Me: *startled, as she and another woman are in line to get checked out, and it’s against the company policy to chase after possible shoplifters, as my safety would be at stake* “No, ma’am. There’s really nothing I can do. If he stole a candy bar, then he’s long gone. I’ll be sure to let my manager know, though.”

Woman: *gives me a dirty look but decides not to argue anymore*

Me: *ringing up her products* “Do you have a [Rewards Card]?”

Woman: *hands me the rewards card*

Me: *scanning it* “Great! That’ll be [total].”

Woman: *staring at the mini screen, frowning* “Where’s my discount?”

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am?”

Woman: “My discount! I always get the discount with that card; where is my discount?”

Me: “Um, ma’am, I’m sorry, but the card only takes money off if you get something that’s on sale. The items you’re getting are not on sale, except for the beef jerky.”

Woman: “But I always get a discount!”

Me: *recognizing that this woman won’t be reasoned with unless I’m blunt* “I’m sorry, ma’am, but the ‘discount’ you’re mentioning only goes towards products on sale. Except for the beef jerky you’re buying, none of your items are on sale. That’ll be [total]. unless you wish to void the transaction.”

(She gives me a dirty look and puts her card in the chip reader, allowing the transaction to proceed. Once she gets her receipt and bag full of stuff, she storms off. At this point, she has forced a line to form behind her, and my manager has to help get them through as my coworker is on his lunch break. When she’s done, she heads over to ask me what happened, having heard a small bit at the end. I explain to her what happened.)

Manager: “Oh, all right. But next time, don’t let her leave angry; just call me over.”

Me: “Sure thing.”

(Of course, not two minutes later, guess who comes back? Yep, the grumpy woman.)

Woman: “I wanted cash back!”

Me: “Excuse me?”

Woman: “Cash back. I wanted cash back with my card; it’s a debit card! Can I do that?”

Me: “You’d have to buy something first, ma’am.”

Woman: *condescendingly* “Well, I already bought stuff…”

Me: “You’d have to buy something else first to get cash back ma’am. It only works during a transaction, not after.”

Woman: *scrambling for something else to complain about* “Well, I didn’t get my discount, and I know all of my stuff was on sale; I saw the tags!”

Me: “You probably saw them last week, ma’am, as our new sales of the week started on Sunday.”

Woman: *pause* “Do you have any wine bottle openers?”

Me: “No, ma’am, we do not.”

(She spies an ad booklet of the week and points to a picture of wine in the corner of the front cover, looking almost triumphant in a catty way, as if she’s caught me in some kind of lie.)

Woman: “Well, then, what is that?“

(I am getting pretty fed up with her attitude; this woman in her forties is trying to intimidate a twenty-one-year-old who is NOT going to take it lying down.)

Me: “That is for convenience stores that actually have a liquor licence, which we do not have.”

Woman: “…”

Me: “Will there be anything else, ma’am?”

Woman: “The beef jerky is disgusting!” *stomps out of the store like a five year old*

(If any of you think you can intimidate someone purely because of how young they maybe or appear to be, just remember that we can bite back.)

I live across the street from a pricey college campus. Two blocks up, on the corner, also directly across the street from the campus practice fields, is a convenience store. I stopped to fill up the car one night, and when I went in to pay, I discovered two college girls who didn’t feel safe to leave. Several guys in a van had been following them with the side door of the van opened, and two guys by that van side door.

The thing that really horrified me? They’d called Campus Security, and Campus Security refused to come get them because they weren’t actually on campus property, though they were right across the street from campus! I, of course, drove the girls back to their dorm. My husband was a college professor, so I knew the very pleasant and accessible president of the college. He and I had a conversation about campus safety the next day.

If I were paying tuition at that college and security wouldn’t come across the street to ensure my daughter’s safety, I think what I’d have said to the head of security might have set his ears on fire.

(I work at a branch of a well-known east coast convenience store. Today is the first day of a major renovation, including a complete remodel. Every day for the past two weeks, we’ve been reminding customers that we will be closed for over a month during this time. This morning, all the staff show up to count and package all the remaining merchandise to be shipped to other locations. The construction crews are already well into demolition.)

Manager: “Hey, [My Name], you and [Coworker] go outside and stand by the doors and make sure no customers try to come in.”

Me: “Really? Do you think anybody’s going to think we’re open with the parking lot blocked off, the sign being taken down, and construction workers currently sawing their way through the deli?”

Manager: “Don’t be a smarta**; just go.”

([Coworker] and I go outside, glad to just take a cigarette break and not have to do any real work. We’re laughing about how stupid this is, until not one minute later, a man walks up.)

Would-Be Customer: “Hey, are you guys closed?”

Me: *stunned silence*

Would-Be Customer: “Do you think you could sell me a cup of coffee?”

Me: *as construction workers are literally carrying out our empty registers and destroyed counter* “Uh… Sorry, we began our renovation today. I can’t sell you anything; we’re closed.”

Would-Be Customer: “That sucks! When do you think I can come back later?”

Me: *as construction workers, not three feet away, start to use jackhammers to break up the tile on the floor* “Uh… December?”

Related:
Not Very Closed Minded, Part 28
Not Very Closed Minded, Part 27
Not Very Closed Minded, Part 26

(The convenience store and gas station where I work is closing for a few months to remodel. This has been known to the employees AND local customers for over a year now. The remodel is going to include tearing down the old store and putting up a bigger one, with more pumps. This scenario happens many times in one day:)

Me: “Can I help you?”

Customer #1: “You’re closing? When? Where am I supposed to get my gas and coffee in the morning?”

Me: “Yes, in about a week. We have another store in town; I’m sure they’d be happy to serve you.”

Customer #1: “But this is on my way to work. I stop here.”

Me: *trying to be helpful* “There’s another convenience store off the next exit…”

Customer #1: “Can’t you guys stay open while you remodel?”

Me: “No, I’m sorry, but they’re going to tear down the building so they can make a bigger and better one.”

Customer #1: “But can’t you stay open for gas?”

Me: “No, They’re taking out the pumps and tanks.”

Customer #1: “But I don’t understand why you can’t stay open.”

Me: “We’ll be open again in about six months.”

Customer #1: “You could stay open…”

(At this point the man behind her is getting impatient and a line is forming.)

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, that just isn’t possible. We’ll be open for another week. Please come again.”

([Customer #1] leaves, still muttering about us closing.)

Me: *to [Customer #2]* “Can I help you?”

Customer #2: “You’re closing?”

Me: *sigh*

(I have worked for nearly ten years at a convenience store, and am known across all three shifts as the “Tech/Maintenance Person.” If something breaks down, they usually come and get me first. One of the registers has just died and the manager — who is an idiot — tries to replace it. However, they can’t get it to power on, and the backup battery is making the WORST alarm noise.)

Manager: “Sorry, guys. It’s not working. I called tech, and they said they’ll be here Monday.”

Me: “Yeah, if the store is still standing. That noise is horrible, and I work over there tomorrow; I don’t think I’m going to be able to handle it.”

Manager: “You can handle two days.”

(He leaves, and they try to power through it for the first hour before the supervisor has had enough. She came to the side of the store I am working on and begs me to come take a look. I go over with a flashlight and begin taking things apart to try and see what’s wrong.)

Me: “Maybe it’s something with the power cord? If we can get these things swapped out, I may be able to get the new register up and… No.” *I have found the problem* “Oh, no. No, no, no, God no.”

Supervisor: “[My Name]? What’s wrong?!”

Me: “He’s not this stupid. Please, tell me this isn’t what I think it is. Tell me that [Manager] isn’t this much of a dumba**.”

Supervisor: “What happened?”

Me: “He plugged the power cord into… itself.”

(The power supply to the register had a power cord and an outlet on it. It was the same thing as plugging a power bar into one of its own outlets and expecting it to work. Once I plugged it in to an actual power supply, the warning noise stopped and the register came online. I set it up to work and let them get back to business, though the cashier came up officially about $2000 over in her total that night because of losing her records on the original register that had shorted out. They had to do some official audit as a result –- I don’t know why and never found out the “official” reason, but during the investigation, they found unrelated discrepancies in our cash totals, and about three months later discovered the manager had been stealing from the company since they hired him.)