In my twenties, I ran my parents’ stand at the farmers’ market. I had lots of regular customers whom I adored. One morning, two of my older regulars, a man and a woman, were shopping. (They weren’t together.)

Old Man: “What shape is this melon in?”

Me: *Feeling silly* “Round.”

The old woman burst out laughing.

Old Man: “Don’t encourage her!”

I’m working at a farmer’s market. I’m surrounded by multiple banners touting our certified organic produce, with our address on them.

Customer: “Is your produce organic? And is it local?”

I pointed out our banners, as well as the sign for the product he was asking about, which had “CERTIFIED ORGANIC” right next to the price.

He got mad at me and stormed out of our booth.

A guy in his mid-fifties came into our farmstand.

Me: “What can I help you find?”

He looked confused.

Customer: “They’re out there, in the field!”

Then, I was confused.

Me: “What, deer?”

We’d seen some in the field in the evenings.

Customer: “Yes! I want some of those.”

Now, I was really confused.

Me: “I can’t sell the deer, sir; they’re wild.”

He was confused again.

Customer: “No, that’s not the word. What I want is round.”

He held up his fingers in a circle. I was even more confused.

Me: “We have lots of roundish things, sir.”

A light went on.

Customer: “Eggs! That’s what it is.”

Me: “Sorry, we don’t sell eggs because we don’t have any chickens.”

The man looked even more incredibly confused.

Customer: “No, they don’t come from chickens. They come from the field! Like I said before! They’re red.”

I was starting to feel like I was in the Twilight Zone.

Me: “Are you asking for tomatoes, sir?”

He lit up and looked very relieved.

Customer: “Yes! Tomatoes.”

He bought several pounds and left, whistling and happy.

He was a local resident. I did wonder if it was a “senior moment” type thing, or a language processing issue or something, or if he was just tired. I know I forget words sometimes, but this seemed like a really extreme form of that.

I work in a farmer’s market. There’s a woman who comes in sometimes within the last half hour before we close. We are big on customer service and will help people past close, and it doesn’t bother us because most of them try to be quick and often apologize for being late.

This woman, however, is one of the rudest, most confusing people I’ve ever had the displeasure of serving. She will come at the last minute and start yelling before she even reaches the counter.

Woman: “Doesn’t anyone work here?! Excuse me! Excuse me! Can they help me?! I need help!”

One day, I was helping a customer while almost everyone else was busy tearing things down, putting things away, etc. The woman walked up and instantly started yelling at me, demanding to know if the slicer — who was in the middle of tearing down a machine and deep cleaning it — could help her. Honestly, it is not the slicer’s job, and we try to avoid making them help customers because of how busy they are with their duties.

Thankfully, I saw another employee walking out.

Me: “Oh, [Coworker] would be happy to help!”

My customer just stood there in awe of the audacity; this woman had cut them off mid-sentence asking me about a product.

This woman has also more than once come and ignored the person of color trying to serve her and then started snapping — literally snapping — at a white employee who was clearly busy to help her. So, not only is she extremely rude and entitled, but she’s also racist to boot. It’s bad, but I always try to be as monotone as possible when helping her. I can’t even force a smile for someone who acts like that.

I was a farmers’ market vendor for a few years. Our market made a point of selling local, home-grown produce. 

One customer came in asking for avocados, which are, of course, tropical and not grown here in western Idaho. I don’t know if he didn’t understand “local produce” or “climate zones,” but he was miffed that none of us sold avocados!