This is during the beginnings of the 2020 health crisis. I decide to take advantage of the low interest rates for mortgages and buy my first home. After searching for a few months, I claim one that’s in my budget before it’s even put on the market and move in on June 1st.

I am a single female in my late twenties. I am also formally diagnosed with social anxiety disorder and am an introvert, making it difficult for me to talk to strangers. In addition, I was raised by a mostly traditional Southern family, meaning it has been wired into me since birth to be polite and courteous. All of these factors combined mean I have a difficult time being rude to people and telling them “no.”

When I first move into my new home, I notice there is an old security system on the wall. I don’t know if it belongs to the previous owners or the owners before them, but I don’t think much of it at the time.

A few weeks after moving in, I get a knock on my door at 7:00 pm. My door does not have a peephole and I don’t have a doorbell camera, so I open the door to see who it is. Standing in front of me is a man who is dress in business casual and has a lanyard around his neck with a badge. He is also not wearing a mask. 

Man: “Hello, I am [Man], the Relocation Manager for [Security System] here to talk to you about our services. I’m sure they mentioned during your closing process that we would come by to visit.”

Me: *Flustered and confused* “No, they didn’t. Neither my agent nor lawyer mentioned you.”

Man: “Oh, well, they should have. Anyway, I’m here to offer you some promotions we have, since you fall into a special group.”

Me: “Oh, okay.”

Man: “Do you mind if I come in?”

I’m feeling uncomfortable, but Southern courtesy kicks in.

Me: “Sure.”

The man comes into my house and notices the old system on the wall.

Man: “Oh, this is old. We’ll be sure to replace that with a more up-to-date model with a touchscreen.”

I remain silent for the most part, keeping my distance and staying behind him, so my back is never turned to him.

Man: “Do you mind if I see your backyard?”

I point him in the general direction where the hall is, following behind him. My back door is located in my office. He goes into my office, opens the back door, and looks around.

Man: “Nice privacy fence you have there. Criminals also like it because he provides them privacy, too.”

I recognize he’s trying to scare me, and it’s making me annoyed. We head back into the living room where he casually sits on my couch.

Man: “Aren’t you going to come and sit down?”

I’m still keeping my distance, and I’m getting even more annoyed.

Me: “No, I’m fine standing.

Man: “Well, since you just moved, we are offering you a special deal for new homeowners. We can waive all the installation fees and fees associated with new accounts.”

Me: “And how much would the monthly fee be for monitoring?”

Man: “Our lowest package starts at $63.99 a month.”

Me: “I haven’t even been in my house for a month, so I’m not sure if I can afford that.”

Man: “Sure, you can.”

Me: “I would rather wait instead of signing up immediately.”

Man: “Oh, this promotion is only for a certain amount of time, so you need to sign up today.”

Me: “But I don’t know if I can afford it. I need to think about it.”

He pulls out a tablet and proceeds to ask me my name, number, and email. I think he’s taking my contact information to contact me later. Then, he asks for my social security number.

Me: “I don’t feel comfortable telling you that.”

Man: “Don’t worry; it’s encrypted.”

Me: “I still don’t want to tell you.”

He hands me the tablet for me to put it in manually. I start doing so, seeing that it does the stars as I put in the numbers, showing it is encrypted. I hand the tablet back to him.

Man: “And what’s a good card number that I can put in?”

It finally clicks.

Me: “Wait, are you signing me up for the service?”

The man nods.

Me: *Starting to get angry* “I told you I needed time to think about it. I’m not signing up for a service today. I don’t know what my monthly budget will look like yet.”

Man: “Well, your bank wouldn’t have agreed to give you a mortgage if you couldn’t afford it.”

Me: “I don’t know even know who you are. For all I know, you could be lying to me about working with [Security System].”

Man: “My work badge is right here with my name if you want to take a picture.”

I should have done that, looking back.

Me: “I still need time.”

Man: “Well, I can extend the offer a couple of days. Is that enough?”

Me: “No, I would need a couple of months.”

Man: “I can’t do that. The offer is time-sensitive.”

Me: “I’m not signing up for a service when I don’t know what my monthly budget looks like.”

The man stares at me for a few seconds.

Man: “I see you are getting annoyed, so I’m going to leave.”

Me: “Yes, please.”

After he left, I sat on my couch, shaken and scared by the whole event. I know what I did was stupid. I could have gotten hurt or had my information stolen. After I calmed myself down, I immediately bought a different security system out of spite. I tried reporting the guy but found that [Security System]’s customer service is basically nonexistent.

At the beginning of the health crisis, when everyone was losing their minds over product limits, I worked at a grocery store in a wealthier neighborhood. We had at least one of these interactions every day, but the one that stands out was a woman who had gotten two of every brand of flu, cold, cough, fever, and allergy medication we had on our shelf. The limit was two total; it didn’t matter what brand.

Customer: “They’re not the same thing! They’re different brands. And I have children who need medication, as well.”

Me: “All right. You can purchase two adult items and two children’s items.”

But that wasn’t good enough for her. I thought her head was going to explode. She demanded to speak with a manager when I wouldn’t budge. The manager backed me up and only allowed her to purchase two items total. So, she basically messed it up herself, as I was offering two of each, adult and children’s.

Customer: “I want your name and your store manager’s business card!”

Me: “We don’t have business cards, but you can call in the morning and ask to speak with the store manager.”

She then headed up to the customer service desk to complain. Joke was on her; I was the customer service desk manager. I never heard from the manager of the store or from her again.

The most common responses to my questions at a famous customizable sandwich chain:

Me: “Could you pull your mask up, real quick, please?”

The customer pulls their mask even farther down and leans in.

Customer: “What?”

Me: “What kind of bread?”

Customer: “Steak.”

Me: “What kind of cheese?”

Customer: “Yes.”

Me: “Heated or toasted?”

Customer: “Yes.”

Me: “Any other sandwiches?”

Customer: “Lettuce.”

Me: “Would you like a bag?”

Customer: “No… Can I have a bag?”

I was with my friend, who is black. We boarded a bus and randomly picked a pair of empty seats. A guy who was seated across and about two seats down from us pulled down his mask and snapped:

Guy: “We already have [health crisis]; we don’t need your AIDS and ebola along with it, monkey boy!”

And he moved all the way to the back of the bus.

I tried to comfort my friend and told him not to let idiots like that get the best of him. It was still clear he was very agitated and needed to cool off.

We got off at a station and moments later came across the guy walking ahead of us. My friend made a point to roughly bump into him and continue walking. I quietly advised him that this guy was accomplishing exactly what he intended in the first place, and I led him over to a bench so he could regain himself.

About a minute later, this guy came stalking up to us, ripping off his mask, and looking ready to eat melted steel. My friend immediately stood up.

My friend isn’t necessarily that large — six feet tall and about 200-something-odd pounds — but there is something about his eyes when he’s pissed that makes you stop and has effectively backed off people much larger than himself. It’s the definition of “death glare,” and the fact that he was wearing a bandana as a mask at the time only boosted it.

This guy stopped in his tracks, stared at my friend, and slowly backed away, walking away several yards. He then spent a solid five minutes pacing around in a circle, taking deep breaths, swaying his head from side to side.

He turned and then began approaching us again with a “Let’s get some!” look on his face. My friend stood back up again, and again this guy froze up, slightly opened his mouth, and visually tried to move forward, but he couldn’t. He retreated again for another silent self-pep talk.

The same scenario repeated again, and as he retreated again, I yelled after him:

Me: “Look, face it. You’re a coward, like the rest of them. You wouldn’t take him on even if he were in a wheelchair! Just go away!”

He just flipped us off with both hands and walked away, and we laughed hysterically.

Our call center uses a very good, highly accurate caller ID system that’s linked up with our computer system that will pull up all the caller’s information, previous order history, etc. — provided the caller has ever called us from that number before.

During the first days of the global health crisis about a year ago, when everyone started working from home, they were calling us from cell phones, home phones — anything but their office phones — so our system wasn’t recognizing who they were. While many people were understanding, some people… not so much.

Caller: “Hi. I want to follow up on my order from yesterday.”

The screen has come up blank; he has called us from a number we haven’t encountered before.

Me: “Sure, I can help you out. Can I get your name?”

Caller: “John.”

Me: “Okay, John, and your last name?”

Caller: “It should be in your system.”

Me: “I’m afraid it’s not coming up for me today. Can I please have your last name?”

The caller switches instantaneously from perfectly normal to raging.

Caller: “Is this how you treat your loyal customers?! I’ve been buying from y’all for thirty years, and I’ve never had to give my last name ever before, and now you’re acting like you don’t know me?!”

Me: “I apologize, please don’t take it personally. But it looks like you’re calling us from a number you haven’t used before, and—”

Caller: “Yeah, I’m calling from my cell phone. So what?”

Me: “So, we don’t have a match for your cell phone number. If you just give me your last name or the company name, I should be able to—”

Caller: *Exploding* “The number shouldn’t matter! This is John from [Company], and my voice sounds the same no matter what number I’m calling from!”

As my mind processes what he says, I can’t stop myself from blurting out:

Me: “I’m sorry, but do you think we recognize your information from your voice?”

He sputters angrily and hangs up.