I have wildly colored dyed hair (which at the moment is blue and teal) and tattoos. I’m at a grocery store, doing my shopping, minding my own business when I’m approached by a random woman.

Random Woman: “Oh, I love your hair! Is it natural?”

Me: “…?”

Random Woman: “I asked, ‘Is it natural?'”

Me: “You’re asking me if my blue and teal hair is natural?”

Random Woman: “Yes, that seems like a reasonable question.”

Me: “Ma’am, do you really think blue hair is naturally occurring?”

Random Woman: “Oh, I guess not…”

Though she seems unsure of her own answer…

Random Woman: “Well then, where do you get it done?”

Me: “A friend of mine does it.”

Random Woman: “Can I have their number? Because I want them to do mine, too.”

Me: “I’m sorry, it’s just something they do for friends, not as a business.”

Random Woman: “That’s not fair! I want their number. They can do my hair, too. You’re not special.”

Me: “Again, this is not their business, just a favor they do for friends.”

Random Woman: “Well, that’s discrimination, and I’m going to report you, and you’re going to get sued!”

Me: “Okay, good luck with that…”

I get a call from a cashier asking for a price check.

Cashier: “Can you do a price check for some fruit rolls?”

Me: “They’re 58 cents each.”

Cashier: “Are you sure they’re 58? This guy has a picture of the 48 cents sign.”

I’m sitting there with the actual price sign IN MY HAND that says 58.

Me: “…Yeah, I’m pretty sure.”

I work closing shift at a grocery store as a cashier. One night, a mother and her baby come in. I start ringing through what she has, some necessities like a toothbrush and feminine products and a few random food items.

Me: “That will be $19.”

She gives me her card, but it declines.

Customer: “Oh, can I call my bank? I thought I had enough on there.”

It’s late at night, and all the banks are closed. These are necessities. I don’t want to deny her these things, especially when it’s under twenty bucks. I also don’t want to do anything that could be seen as theft or anything like that.

In trying to find solutions we get to talking a bit.

Turns out she was forced from her home in one of the big forest fires around here at the time. So… now I’m determined to help, somehow. I mean, I was wanting to help before, but now that I know how dire that situation is, I wanted to do everything possible to help.

I’m normally pretty broke. But… luck has it that I still have some cash in my wallet from a then-recent birthday. For once I have the cash. So now with this new puzzle piece in play, I have a plan.

Me: “Okay, I looked, and I do have the cash for this. Twenty bucks is a lot of money to me. You said you had the money for it, right?”

Customer: “Do you have a banking app? I can e-transfer you!”

I pull out my phone, we set up the e-transfer. I confirm it’s in my bank and I put my cash in the till. I wish her all the best; I give her a receipt and we smile at each other as we wave goodbye.

Sometimes… it’s not just customer service. Sometimes it goes far beyond company image. It’s just about human decency, compassion, and helping out however you can.

My dad had always liked to mix foods in unlikely combinations. For example, his “refrigerator omelets” would include whatever leftovers in the fridge that caught his eye.

One day, when he was in his nineties, I took him shopping at our local market. He stopped at the hot soup bar and pointed at the pea soup.

Me: “Okay, Dad, you want some pea soup?”

I added one ladle of pea soup into a container.

Dad: “Eh, eh.”

He stopped me, pointing at the minestrone.

Me: “Dad, you want me to mix them?”

He nodded.

Me: “Pea soup and minestrone? Do you realize what you’re creating? Peanistrone!”

He nodded. 

I did it, but I’m not proud of it.

It is Halloween night, and a group of teenagers is buying a lot of toilet paper.

Me: “Is this for some kind of trick for a house that doesn’t give out good candies?”

Teenager: “What? Oh! Crap! I didn’t even think how this would look! No, this is for my younger brother.”

Me: “What do you mean?”

The teen calls over a boy who I didn’t notice. He looks about seven years old, and he has his arm in a cast, so I am assuming the bone is broken.

Teenager: “This is my little brother. He was sad about having a broken arm at Halloween, but we’re going to make him a mummy and use the paper as extensions of his cast so it all looks the same.”

Me: “Oh, that’s so cool! But the TP might not be strong enough for that. You might be better off using medical bandages.”

Teenager: “Oh! We saw those, but they were a bit expensive.”

Me: “I think they’re on discount, and it’ll match the color of the cast better! Aisle twelve — go get some.” 

The teenagers rushed off to go fetch some, I applied the “discount” (which was my staff discount), and the teens rushed off to turn the little guy into a terrifying mummy. I hope they got lots of candy!