We work with heavy machinery, some of it pretty hazardous. The whole shop floor requires safety boots and chemical-resistant overalls, and some areas also need earplugs and safety glasses.

The company has decided that, because people walk between these areas and a sister site recently had a bad eye accident, the whole site will now require safety glasses.

I don’t think it’s a big deal — it’s clearly for our safety — so I wear mine without complaint. 

Some people, however, have taken massive issue with it and routinely don’t wear them or wear them on top of their head.

It has gotten so bad that anyone who “forgets” their glasses at home more than once has to go home unpaid. Anyone who refuses to wear them gets written up. Repeat offenders get escalated through the discipline process.

Most people comply. Of those that don’t, most only get told off once, but one guy constantly complains, constantly takes his glasses off when he isn’t being watched, and ridicules everyone for wearing them.

One day, [Coworker] gets caught again wearing his glasses on top of his head, this time with his head inside the machine he is cleaning, where there’s a massive risk of getting something blown into an eye.

He storms back out of the office and throws his safety glasses across the workshop. The manager sees this and follows him out, shouting after him. [Coworker] shouts back, pausing only to wipe something from the side of his eye.

But he does it with greasy hands not washed since he cleaned the machine. He gets tiny splinters of metal in his eye. Everyone thinks he is joking, but when he starts to scream in pain, they get him to hospital to pick out the metal.

I don’t think he got written up for not wearing his glasses, but I think he learnt his lesson either way.

I pull into my favorite fast food drive-thru and see a big white sign saying, “We are out of large sodas.” I order my combo with a sweet tea.

Employee: “Would you like a small, medium, or large drink?”

Me: “Um… large? But—”

Employee: “I’m sorry, we’re out of large drinks.”

A few of us get transferred to a new department. A few weeks in, I get a comment that I’m not as “keen” or as “enthusiastic ” as one of the other guys that moved over with me. Turns out [Coworker] is giving me a bad name by being on the ball, and I should take his lead, or else.

This shocks me as [Coworker] is, in fairness, an idiot. He is utterly useless and can’t manage some of the simple tasks. It isn’t his fault this job just isn’t suited for him.

I am surprised, embarrassed, and a little humiliated, but I suck it up and spend some time with him. Maybe he’s found his element and has some niche.

The next day, I stick with [Coworker]. He starts by spending thirty minutes trying to find the tools he put away yesterday — only to find them in his toolbox where he left them, where he always leaves them — and another thirty minutes deciding what to do first. He then spends two hours doing a job that should take twenty minutes and rewards himself with an extra-long tea break.

Me: “I’ve heard you’ve been doing really well.”

Coworker: “Really?”

Me: “Yeah. Apparently, [Department Head] thinks a lot of you.”

Coworker: “Oh, I know him. He asks me if I’m doing some job or another and I tell him that I’ll do it next.”

Me: “Do you… actually do it?”

Coworker: “Well, by the time I finish whatever I’m doing, someone else has picked it up and it’s normally done.”

Me: “So… as far as he knows, the jobs he’s asked about, you’ve done?”

Coworker: “Maybe. They don’t let me do the important jobs.”

Eventually, and after getting berated again and again for not being as good as the superstar [Coworker], I had to point out that, actually, I was working hard. Someone got the wrong end of the stick and [Coworker] was inadvertently taking credit for other people’s work.

Due to the current health crisis, my husband and I have tried to figure out ways to limit the number of visits to various stores. We also enjoy having some beer on the weekend. Instead of going to the beer store once or twice a week, we decide to buy a month’s supply at a time. This happens while we’re checking out at the beer store.

Husband: *To the cashier* “Hi, I’ve got [number] cases here.”

Cashier: *Sucks her teeth and replies with an instant attitude* “You know, that only leaves us with [other number] of cases to sell to other customers.”

Husband: “Well, I’ll be putting this on a debit card.”

The transaction is completed. The cashier calls out to my husband as he is exiting the store.

Cashier: “And I don’t appreciate you coming in here when we are due to close in twenty minutes!”

I was shocked by the interaction when my husband told me. I have felt the attitude from that particular clerk before. I know the owner by sight and made a mental note to speak with him the next time I saw him around town. When I told him, he apologized to me and told me that his clients can buy however much of something that they want and can walk in with one minute until closing if they want. He told me that it was not the first complaint about that cashier and if there was one more, she would be gone. She must have had another complaint because I never saw her in the store again.

I often go to a specific store to buy something. Let’s just say it’s bubblegum. They have a display with the different flavors behind the counter. The employee usually hands me the container so I can pick out what I want since it is different each time.

One day, I go to the store and ask the employee to see the display.

Employee: “No.”

I am startled and it takes me a second to realize what she said.

Me: “Oh, I’m sorry. Did the policy change?”

Employee: “No. Last time you were in here, you stole some of the products.”

Now I am really confused and I start getting angry because I have never stolen anything in my life.

Me: “That’s not true. How could I have stolen anything?”

Employee: “I watched you on video. You grabbed them then slipped them into the sleeve of your hoodie. I even showed it to my friends and they agreed with me.”

Me: “I absolutely did not. I demand to see your security tapes so I can prove it to you.”

Employee: “What date did you last come in?”

Me: “I don’t remember. Maybe a week and a half ago.”

Employee: “Well, if you don’t tell me the date, I can’t find the footage.”

Me: “So, let me get this straight. You were able to show it to all of your friends, but when I ask to see it, you don’t have it available?”

Employee: “Tell me the date and I can pull it.”

Me: “I don’t remember! We’re done here.”

I walked out of the store and never went back. How can you accuse a frequent customer of stealing but not have the proof for when they return?