I’m working the customer service counter at work. A woman (friendly, joking with me) and three teenagers come up to me.

Woman: “I’ll get some cigarettes.”

Me: “No problem, which ones?”

She looks at her phone and reads it out. Again, not that uncommon, Canada recently changed the packaging requirements for every brand, they all look identical now, so you need to know the exact name.

She lists off the brand, size, etc., all the info I need, and as I am heading to the correct drawer, I hear the words that make me stop dead.

Woman: “I don’t know, I don’t smoke.”

Me: “I’m sorry, I can’t sell them to you then. I would need to ID the person they are for.”

Woman: “Are you serious? They’re for my girlfriend, she’s having a rough day, I said I would pick up some smokes for her!”

Me: “I’m sorry, but once I ask for ID, I need to see it and once I know that they are not for the purchaser, I need to see the ID for the one they are for.”

Woman: “Even if I go to another store?”

Me: “I have no control over other stores. I just cannot legally sell them to you now that I know they are not for you.”

Woman: “This is f****** ridiculous, she’s thirty-six years old!”

Teenager: “Mom, it’s the law, she can’t sell them to you because she has no proof that they are not for someone under nineteen. For all she knows you could be buying them for one of us.”

Woman: *Still complaining.* “Fine, we’ll go somewhere else. It’s still stupid.”

I couldn’t hear all of what that teenager was saying to her after, but before they were out of earshot he was still trying to explain to her that it was the law and I was only doing my job.

Not five minutes later a gentleman came in asking for the exact same cigarettes, paying cash. I have zero doubts that he was her husband, but I can’t prove that. He didn’t say that they were for anyone else, he was polite, paid, and went on his way.

My checkout’s card reader is broken so we have multiple HUGE signs up in my lane saying it’s cash only.

Customer: *Presents card.* “Amex, please.”

Me: “Sorry, ma’am, this checkout lane is cash only. My coworker in the next lane can take care of you.”

I am about to transfer her purchase code to my coworker’s checkout so she doesn’t have to scan all her items again, but she doesn’t move.

Customer: *Slowly dawning.* “Wait, is this cash only?”

Me: *Staring at the big signs everywhere that say so, including one right next to the customer’s head.* “Yes, ma’am.”

Customer: “And that’s for everyone?”

Me: “Yes, ma’am.”

Customer: “So… not just for me?”

Me: “No, ma’am. It’s for everyone.”

Customer: “Are you sure?”

Me: “Am I sure that the ‘cash only’ rule isn’t singling you and only you out of all of our customers?”

She thinks about it a moment.

Customer: “Yes.”

Me: “No.”

Customer: “Oh… well okay, then.”

She pays at my coworkers lane, but I see her hanging around for my next customer. When she sees that they also pay in cash, she seems satisfied and finally leaves.

I work as a cashier at a discount grocery store. We have an employee who is super nice and friendly to everyone. She’s worked at the company for many years. She is also taking care of her elderly mother and working full time. 

One day, she is checking out a regular customer and I overhear the conversation.

Regular Customer: “Hi, [Coworker], how are you?”

Coworker: “I’m doing well, and you?”

Regular Customer: “Good. [Coworker], are you okay? You look so tired today.”

Coworker: “Well, Mom fell again last night, and I had to take her to the emergency room. We were there for five hours. I didn’t get home until 3:00 am. Luckily, Mom is fine.”

Regular Customer: “I’m glad to hear that. Take care of yourself and your mom.”

The man standing in line behind the regular customer has heard the whole conversation.

Coworker: “Hello. How are you? Did you find—”

Customer: *Cutting her off* “Look. I don’t give a d*** how tired you are! I don’t give a d*** about your mom. Your job is to ring my groceries up. Do it!”

She was shocked by this but rang up his groceries. The man took his bags and left without another word.

My coworker turned her light off, went to the break room, and never came back.

I was shopping in a grocery store, minding my own business, when I saw someone walking a dog with a “service animal” vest.

I paid it very little mind at first.

But then, in the soup aisle, I saw the person and the dog again. When I walked by, the supposed service animal growled at me, bared their teeth, and did that stiff-legged backstep thing that aggressive/fearful dogs do.

Typically, service animals are trained not to do that sort of thing. Honestly, it scared me, and I gave the dog a wide berth, fearful of being bitten.

I considered going to an employee but decided not to because I’m fearful of confrontation.

But the story gets worse. In the milk aisle, the dog was not growling. Instead, the dog crouched down and started pooping while the owner watched. Then, the owner walked on, ignoring the pile of poo left in the middle of the milk aisle.

I decided that the next time I saw an employee, I’d let them know what was going on.

I saw them one final time in the bread aisle, where the dog was marking territory against a loaf of bread.

At this point, I figured it was time to actively go out of my way to get an employee. The poop was something that they’d notice on their own even if I didn’t manage to get in touch with one, but they probably wouldn’t notice the newly damp bread.

I didn’t see the owner, nor the dog, again, but a few days later I heard from one of the workers that when they were escorting the dog and owner out of the store, it bit one of the workers in the leg badly enough to need stitches.

Personally, I wonder if I should have said something sooner, as soon as I recognized that something might be wrong. Would that have changed events significantly? I do not know. 

Related:
Doing A Disservice To Service Animals, Part 9
Doing A Disservice To Service Animals, Part 8
Doing A Disservice To Service Animals, Part 7
Doing A Disservice To Service Animals, Part 6
Doing A Disservice To Service Animals, Part 5

I work at a large grocery store with a deli, bakery, etc.

Customer: “Do you have any cherry pies in stock?”

I go to the bakery and check.

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, but we do not.”

Customer: “You never, ever have cherry pies in stock when I’m here.”

Because I like to crack jokes every now and then, I respond:

Me: “It must be a conspiracy against you; they always take the cherry pies out of stock whenever you enter.”

After hearing that, he starts calling for a manager.

Customer: “I knew it! I knew there was a conspiracy! How do you know when I enter the store? Huh? Huh?!“

Manager: “Sir, there is absolutely no conspiracy! It’s only that it was a coincidence. We can get you a rain check on the pie.”

Customer: *Storming out* “I’m never coming back here! You’re all out to get me! You never have the pies!”

The next day, we had cherry pies. 

Related:
Never Joke With The Customers… Ever!, Part 6
Never Joke With The Customers… Ever!, Part 5
Never Joke With The Customers… Ever!, Part 4
Never Joke With The Customers… Ever!, Part 3
Never Joke With The Customers… Ever!, Part 2