In my college years, I worked in a souvenir shop in a large theme park. I had seven seasons under my belt when I took a gap year to live and work in the USA. The summer after, I returned to my old job.

Every new employee got a basic course in hospitality in their first few months, and I had already had mine. To my surprise, I got a call to do my hospitality course. Apparently, my gap year made me a new employee. I considered not going, but it was paid and I had nothing better to do, so I went.

The guy teaching the course made us all briefly introduce ourselves — name, location in the park you worked, and age. Everyone was a newbie. Then, he came to me.

Me: “I am [My Name], I am twenty-four, and this is my eighth season.”

Trainer: “Why are you even here?”

Me: “Don’t know, but yeah.”

The trainer takes a breath and smiles lightly.

Trainer: “Do you mind if I use your experience?”

Me: “Not at all.”

I then spent the next hour or two both playing the employee dealing with Entitled Jerks and playing the worst of Entitled Jerks. I had a blast, and those real newbies got a proper taste of what they could expect.

I work for a newspaper that has a copy center and gift shop attached. We are not yet ready to open the copy shop door, so people usually only use the main one.

The air conditioning recently broke and flooded our floors so, this week, the new floors are being laid, the baseboards are being painted and put in, etc. Naturally, we have a sign up in front of the main door that says, “Use Copy Door To Left,” complete with a bright red arrow.

Reactions to this sign mostly involve people completely ignoring it, but these are the most memorable reactions.

Old Man: “I saw the sign. I just didn’t know what it meant.”

Later, while one of the workers is on a ladder painting door trim, the door swings open and smacks him.

Old Woman: “Why are you in front of the door? It’s a work day!”

Sigh. I’ll be so glad when the remodel is done.

I work in a gift shop. A woman buys a cute little magnet for forty-nine cents. She leaves and comes back almost immediately.

Customer: “This doesn’t work!”

I stick it to the display tin and it “works” just fine.

Me: “Where did you try to put it?”

Customer: “My dashboard.”

Me: “Your dashboard must not be metal.”

She can’t wrap her head around that possibility.

Customer: “I want a refund! This magnet is clearly defective!”

I processed her refund as I stuck the magnet back to the display.

I work at Disneyland Paris’s Disney store. I’m on a Wednesday morning shift in the off-peak season. A grown man enters the store and walks around the store while showing signs of distress or frustration.

Me: “Can I help you find what you’re looking for, sir?”

Customer: *Rudely* “I want a Shrek [toy], and you’d better fetch it quickly! I’m [some kind of important Disney person]!”

Me: *Gently* “I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t get you a Shrek toy because Shrek isn’t licensed under Disney.”

The dude gets visibly angry and treats me like I am an idiot.

Customer: “It’s an animated movie; therefore, it’s Disney!”

Me: “Sir, Disney isn’t the only studio to make animated movies. Shrek comes from Dreamworks.” *Trying to jog his memory* “Did you see the Disney logo and castle at the beginning of Shrek?”

This was my mistake.

Customer: “OF COURSE, I DID!”

It took two team leaders and a manager to explain to him that he wouldn’t find Shrek anywhere around here and his best shot was at the nearby mall.

I’ve never seen a grown-up man so erratic and angry for such a silly reason. He was fuming!

I work in the gift shop of an aquarium. We are close to the entrance, so I often end up answering visitor questions. I generally try to be proactive in talking to guests, especially if they look confused or lost.

On this day, it wasn’t all that busy, so I had pulled a couple of boxes from the back and was restocking the shelves. A lady wandered into the store, looking around but basically making a beeline right for where I was, so I stood up as she approached.

Me: “Hello! Welcome to [Aquarium]! How has your visit been today?”

Woman: *Silence*

Me: *After a few moments* “Is there anything I can help you with today?”

She continued to not say anything, looking anywhere in the store but at me.

Me: *After a few more moments* “All right, well, just let me know if you need anything.”

I turned to start stocking again. The moment I turned away, the lady suddenly and abruptly cleared her throat. I turned to look at her, just in time to see her sharply look away and keep looking around anywhere but me.

I turned back to the box, and sure enough, she once more loudly cleared her throat. Now, while I’m more than happy to help people, I’m not really willing to put up with being yanked around, so I simply kept pulling items out of the box.

She cleared her throat three more times before finally flouncing out of the gift shop entirely.