(I’ve worked at this store for five years. I have dealt with this guy every Friday night I’ve worked, as he comes in at 8:00 pm every Friday. At first, I was just a checkout operator and didn’t know much about the store. I’m now a supervisor and am expected to know where everything is, even though I stand in the checkout section for most of my shift. The guy is okay, if you just talk to him normally and have a conversation. But if he wants to know something and you don’t immediately know the answer, he gets very condescending and sarcastic. A colleague has called me to a till to override something with a key only I have. On the way, one of the new employees on self-scan looks to me for help — a literal, wide-eyed, “oh, God help me” look — and I stop to make sure he’s okay. The sarcastic guy is behind him and is asking for help, already looking annoyed that my two-week-old colleague can’t answer his question. I sigh and resign to quickly find out what he needs on my way to the till.)

Me: “Hi. Is everything okay?”

Customer: “I’m after mulled wine. It’s a particular kind of Christmas wine. I can’t find it with the rest of the wine. Do you know if you have it?”

(I know we’ve started to sell mulled wine as I saw an entire side frame of it down near the alcohol only earlier today. I’m trying to remember exactly where the side frame was to direct the guy to. This means there’s a pause of a couple of seconds. Apparently, the concentration on my face and the fact that I don’t immediately answer makes him think the following.)

Customer: “Mulled wine… You don’t even know what I’m talking about, do you?! Do you even know what mulled wine is?! I don’t know why they employ people who don’t know basic things.”

(I blink at him for a second in astonishment.)

Me: “Apologies. I was just trying to remember exactly where I’d seen the mulled wine. I can show you if it’s easier.”

(We silently walk down past the checkouts, and I tell my colleague on the till that I’ll be two seconds, as I just want to get rid of this customer. As we’re heading to the alcohol section just beyond the checkouts, an entire aisle end of mulled wine catches my eye.)

Me: “Oh, look! It looks like they’ve moved some to this end now. Here you go!”

Customer: “Oh, uh. Thank you. Sorry…”

(He looked appropriately apologetic as he had to have walked past the aisle end twice — once to go to the alcohol, and once to find me. Hopefully, the next time he comes in, he won’t be so rude!)

(I am sixteen, working for a pub that is rather mismanaged. I am often sent down to the supermarket multiple times on a shift. It is December and there is a Christmas menu in place. My boss has sent me to the supermarket for Christmas crackers and says the kind he wants have animals on them. I get to the supermarket and head straight for the snack aisle and look at all the cracker boxes, trying to find one with animals on, whilst also wondering when we started doing cheese and biscuits. We’re not allowed phones on shift, even when running errands, so I can’t phone and ask. Eventually, I decide to ask an employee for help.)

Me: “Excuse me. Do you have any crackers with animals on?”

Employee: “What kind of crackers?”

Me: “What do you mean?”

Employee: “The food kind or the ones you pull at Christmas?”

(Cue me staring off into space for a solid minute wondering why I was so stupid.)

Me: “The ones you pull at Christmas.”

(The employee led me to the crackers and, sure enough, there was a set with animals on the front. From then on, I always made sure to get proper clarification before journeying down to the supermarket.)

This is one of the reasons why I loved working late nights at the supermarket, especially the bakery section.

The day before Christmas, we’ve baked a ton of the local traditional breakfast/lunch bread. All six of us are now packing them, and each one is packed with a complimentary sugar packet.

Naturally, some of these get damaged, so on the bench where we add these, an impressive layer of powdered sugar has accumulated.

Normally, our shift would end when the store closes at 10:00 pm, but around 11:30 we’re finally getting started on the last batch.

We’re tired, and getting a bit bored.

One coworker says he knows a way to get a little boost. He grabs one of those big bread knives, scrapes a bunch of the powdered sugar into a line, taps the knife across it as though he’s cutting cocaine, bends towards it while closing one nostril… and the manager walks around the corner!

The manager looks at him, gives a sarcastic sigh, and says, “Do whatever you have to, as long as those breads are packed before you leave,” and walks on.

Once we can breathe again without laughing, we finish the work and go home feeling fantastic.

(It is almost Christmas Eve, so there are a lot of “special meats” available, like lobster or lamb, specially made for fondue or gourmet. There’s a customer who’s asking for my help.)

Customer: “Hi. What’s the price on the lamb?”

Me: “It’s [total] per kg so it’s [grand total] in total for this one.”

Customer: “Oh, okay. Um, I have another question. What’s the lamb made out of? I mean, from which animal is it, like cow or chicken?”

(I work in the bakery department for a popular supermarket chain. It is three days before Christmas, so we are naturally busy and a little low on products. As I am refilling a display, a woman comes up to me.)

Me: “Hi! How can I help you today?”

Customer: “Hi. I’m looking for waffles and I know you sell them here; where can I find them?”

Me: “We sure do; they should be right over here.”

(The waffles she is looking for are already sent to us premade and prepackaged, but they are not a popular product, so we don’t get them regularly delivered, and of course, we have just run out of them.)

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but it appears we don’t have any more. They’ve all been sold.”

Customer: “Oh, well, can’t you check the back to see if you have any left?”

Me: “I’m sorry, but I was just in the back a few minutes ago and I didn’t see any.”

Customer: *still in a nice tone but I can see she’s getting annoyed* “Okay, but will you get them in before Christmas?”

Me: “Again, I’m sorry, but no. Our shipment day is after Christmas and because we don’t get them in often, there is a small chance they wouldn’t even be included.”

Customer: *now annoyed* “Well, then, what am I supposed to do? My family has a tradition of eating these on Christmas morning every year!”

Me: “Well, if you’d like, I can direct you towards our baking aisle for waffle ingredients.”

Customer: “No, I don’t want to make the waffles. I want to buy these waffles!”

Me: “Oh. Then I’m sorry, ma’am, but there’s nothing I can do.”

Customer: “I guess you just ruined my Christmas, then.”

(I laughed nervously and apologized again for the inconvenience as she left the store without buying anything. For the rest of my shift, I was in a daze after having been told I ruined someone’s Christmas all because of a package of waffles that, in my opinion, looked very stale and unappetizing.)