I work at a store where we have special sales for our members. If they buy specific items, which change every week, they can get a gift card back for part or all of their purchase.

It is a few days before Christmas and we are promoting a massage gun that is on one of these sales. It is important to note that while most such guns have three or four smaller balls on the end, this one only has a single one. I’ve also only been working retail for a month. A husband and wife are looking at the massage gun while I am ringing them up.

Wife: “How much is this?”

Me: “$49.99, but you’ll also get a $30 gift card back.”

Wife: *To her husband* “Do you think [Female Friend] would like this?”

The husband has been quiet up until now, but he responds to his wife’s question. 

Husband: “I don’t know. Don’t you think it looks a little sexual?”

I was stunned. Looking at the product, I could see how he would think that, but who actually says that to the poor cashier who has to sell that product? He laughed at the look on my face and his wife scolded him for “embarrassing” me. I quickly finished ringing them up.

Fortunately, they were my last customers for a few minutes, and I was able to regain my composure.

My boss and I work in a small fashion boutique store. It’s a quiet evening the week before Christmas when a young woman and her boyfriend walk in. It’s fairly common for couples to try and steal from us, so we’re already keeping a watchful eye. Nothing happens until they get up to the till. 

Me: “Good evening! Did you find everything okay?” 

Young Woman: “Yes, thanks.” 

She hands me four items and I ring them up and tell her the total. 

Young Woman: “I was here on Monday Christmas shopping with a group of friends and I left these three items here in a bag after I paid. I called and they said I could just come in and pick them up.”

Me: “Uh, okay, did you remember who you spoke to?” 

Young Woman: “No, but they said I could just pick them up.” 

Me: “I understand that, but I can’t just let you have these items without prior proof of purchase.” 

Young Woman: *Now irate* “But I already paid!” 

Boss: “We have no record of that, and nobody here would tell you that you can just have these things without proof.” 

Young Woman: “But they said I could pick them up!” 

She and her boyfriend left after yelling that a few more times, leaving my boss and me to stare after her wondering what stores she shops in that just… allow that.

It’s around Christmas time and I’m finishing up my last-minute Christmas shopping at my local big-chain grocery store.

As I’m waiting in line to pay for my few items, I notice the man in front of me. He’s an older gentleman, probably in his late fifties. He’s talking with the cashier, obviously excited about something. I come to find out that he’s buying stuff for his new apartment, the first one he’s ever had. He’s telling her that he’s a recovering alcoholic and addict who has finally, FINALLY gotten clean, gotten a job, and gotten his life together enough to get off the streets and into a place he can actually call his own.

I smile to myself as I listen to this man gush in excitement about decorating his new place… until it comes time for him to cash out. I guess the total is a bit more than he planned on because he asks the cashier to put some stuff back. He sounds so sad that my heart breaks. I don’t have any cash on hand to help him, but I do have a plan.

As soon as he walks away toward the entrance to wait for the bus, I ask the cashier to add the items he didn’t buy to my own order. At first, she looks confused, but I quickly say:

Me: “I want to buy those for him. Can you make it fast so I can catch him before his bus gets here?”

Y’all, I’ve never seen a cashier move so fast in my life! I rush to the entrance and thankfully, he’s still there.

I walk right up to him, hand him the two bags of stuff had to put back, and tell him:

Me: “Happy holidays.”

The look on his face when he realized what I had given him was worth more than the small amount I had spent.

I work in a bar and restaurant. It is midnight, four days before Christmas. The phone rings.

Me: “Hello, [Restaurant], how can I help?”

Woman: “I want to book a Christmas party for twenty people.”

Me: “I’m sorry to say that our restaurant is fully booked until the twenty-eighth of December.”

Woman: *Ignoring me* “I have the menu in front of me. Can you tell me about the vegan options? The [dish] says it’s vegetarian, but can you tell me why it’s not vegan?”

Me: “Unfortunately, I can’t. The kitchen closed three hours ago, at nine. Only the bar staff are here and they are not qualified to answer those questions.”

Woman: “But your website says you are open until midnight.”

Me: “Yes, we are, and we close in five minutes.”

Woman: “Can you tell me more about the menu?”

The woman rambles for a few minutes, and I don’t want to hang up on her in case she does want to book a party for after Christmas.

Then, suddenly, she drops this gem.

Woman: “Is it midnight yet?”

Me: “Yes, we are now closed.”

Woman: “I’ll let you go then. I bet you’re really happy that I called you. I saw this thing on NotAlwaysRight.com about someone phoning before closing so the person got to go on time. I’ve kept you busy! Haven’t I?”

I’m gobsmacked as I turn to all of my other colleagues rushed off their feet and starting our closing duties.

Me: “It doesn’t really work that way for a bar.”

I work at a well-known “bohemian” retail store that always has a huge inventory, especially around the holidays.

We are especially slammed one day when a customer comes up to me holding a dress I have never seen before, which is very common as we accept many online returns, even if the item is usually not sold in-store.

Customer: “Do you have this dress in any other sizes?”

Me: “That dress doesn’t look familiar; it might be an online-only item. But I could be wrong. Let me check the system for you!”

I scan the dress, and sure enough, our system says that’s the only one in stock. I explain this to the customer and she storms off. Five minutes later, I am talking to my manager when I feel something thrown at my back.

Customer: *Screaming* “You filthy liar! Do you not want my business? I found the dress in the size I wanted. Why did you lie to me earlier?”

She has thrown a dress at me, which apparently was entered into our system incorrectly.

Me: “I’m sorry for the confusion, ma’am. It must not have been scanned in properly when it was returned. Isn’t this a good thing, though? Now you can try on the size you want!”

Customer: “No! I will not buy from filthy liars like you! You’re just racist!”

Me: “…”

My manager not only backed me up but let me go on break. I love it when customers are in the holiday spirit!