I’m one of the store’s first aiders, and there are times when I am the ONLY first aider working that particular day. My colleagues are used to me having to dash off if the phone rings; I’ve left mid-transaction at the till with someone else finishing.

One time, I had to help a customer who had fallen over on the stairs. Luckily, she was okay. Per company policy, I took her details, and then when her daughter arrived to take her home, I went to the computer to enter her details into the system. This is company policy, and I think it also covers us legally if, say, she decided to sue us afterward. This information must be put into the system as soon as possible, and questions are asked if this is not the case.

I sorted the stuff out on the computer and then went back to my job. I’d been away for about forty-five minutes, and it had been busy. Then, [Duty Manager] came up to me.

Duty Manager: “You took way too long to deal with that. That woman was okay; you didn’t need to put it in the computer. You should have come straight back here to get the queues down.”

I tried explaining, but he insisted he was right and that I wasn’t being a team player, blah, blah, blah.

When the health and safety officer came in next, I told him about this and checked just in case the policy had changed. Nope, I was right, and [Duty Manager] was in the wrong.

I heard no more about it, but I have still had the odd glare from [Duty Manager].

Our grocery store has a pharmacy section.

Customer: “I was in the aisle, but I couldn’t find [Specific Cold Medication].”

Me: “That medication requires a prescription.”

Customer: “Oh, but I have a cold.”

Me: “Yes, but that specific medication contains a restricted ingredient.”

Customer: “What ingredient?”

Me: “An ingredient that’s used to make methamphetamine.”

Customer: “Like… meth?”

Me: “Yes, sir.”

Customer: “Wow. I’m gonna call my doctor to ask for some!” *Rushes out* 

I didn’t know what to make from how that conversation ended!

I saw heat exhaustion first-hand a few years ago. The air conditioning at work quit, it was August in Georgia, and we were hitting record-setting +100F temperatures. It was hotter inside the metal box of a store than it was outside. The candy aisle looked like a Dali painting with chocolate literally melting off the shelves. Ice cream was very soft inside the overworked freezer, and it melted by the time it reached the register. (It was a small building, so that was only a few yards distance.)

One night, I had to call 911 for my assistant manager; she had heat exhaustion. The medics wanted to take her to the hospital, but she refused. They made her promise to go home immediately and take a cold bath and take it very easy, with lots of hydration. We closed early since it was just two of us on the night shift, and I was a mere minion with no store-closing permissions.

With customers nearly fainting in the aisles and employees suffering heat exhaustion, that store should’ve been closed until the air conditioning was fixed. But nope. We stayed open for over a month.

Our new manager has just started. They are Irish, blunt, and suffer no fools. A customer walks in and immediately her attitude is awful. She is sneering at everyone like we’re beneath her.

Customer: “I was looking to join the gym and use one of your personal trainers?”

Manager: “Brilliant! I can set that up for you!”

Customer: “But I want to look like this.”

The customer holds up her phone and shows us a picture of a glamorous but almost dangerously thin supermodel. This is in no way body-shaming at all, but the customer is a long way from looking like that poor skeleton on the phone.

Manager: “So, you were looking for a weight loss programme, or…?”

Customer: “Yes, but I don’t want to have to change my diet, so I thought I would come here. Also, I don’t want to sweat. I hate sweating.”

Manager: “Okay, so here’s what you do.” *Points to the exit* “You go through those doors, go find a plastic surgeon, and all the best!“

Customer: “Is that how you talk to your customers?!”

Manager: “Only the ones asking for the impossible. If you wanted to lose a healthy amount of weight, we could help you with your nutrition and some exercises — and yes, they would make you sweat. If you want to lose an unhealthy amount of weight without sweating, well, that’s only happening if it’s sucked out and cut off of you. We don’t do that here.”

Customer: “Ugh! So rude!”

She stormed off, and I suddenly knew I was going to like our new manager.

I work as a phlebotomist in a hospital. I’m currently getting ready to draw blood from a woman in the emergency room. We are separated from another patient in the room by a curtain. Just as I am about to start, we hear a woman scolding her husband next door. 

Woman: “Don’t do that! It’s disgusting!”

Man: “Why? You’re the only one in here. I toot at home, and you have never said anything.”

Woman: “There are other people in the room on the other side of the curtain.”

Man: “What am I supposed to do, then? I can’t get up to go to the bathroom. It gets uncomfortable.”

Woman: “Well, just don’t. There are other people; I’m sure they think we are disgusting. No one wants to hear you, and what if it leaves a smell that wafts over there?”

Me: *Softly to my patient* “Do you care if that guy farts?”

Patient: *Also quietly* “No; everyone farts.” 

Patient’s Husband: *Loudly* “We have four kids. Farting is a normal part of our life. It’s actually one of the least disgusting parts of our day. It’s a normal, necessary process.”

At that, a loud fart came from the other room.

Patient’s Husband: “It’s just like home!”