I am a security guard. With the outbreak, we have gotten A LOT of new companies and contracts, and there have been several stores that hire my company for “Mask Enforcement” — basically, refusing service for anyone who tries to walk in without a facial covering.

I’m working one of these new contracts for a home improvement shop. My job at this location is extremely simple and narrow. If I see someone walk in without a mask, I stand between them and the gate, inquire as to their lack of mask, and give them the option of purchasing a mask for less than fifty cents at the nearby customer service desk if they do not have one of their own.

For the most part, people are kind and understanding; many of them apologize, saying they forgot, quickly dig out a mask from a pocket or a purse, and go on about their way. One day, however, I meet [Customer].

I stop an elderly gentleman and ask if he has a mask. He laughs, pulls it out of his pocket saying he always forgets, puts it on, and walks through the turnstile. As I am having the conversation with him, in walks [Customer], staring me down, no mask, and almost runs into the elderly gentleman as she tries to rush past me.

I step in her way with a kind smile.

Me: “Hello, ma’am, do you have a mask today?”

Customer: “No, and I don’t need one, either!”

Me: “I am sorry, but the store policy states that everyone is required to wear a mask, if you need one you can get one over there—” *pointing to the customer service desk* “—for just forty-two cents.”

Customer: “I told you, I don’t need a mask. I just need a washing machine. Where are they?”

Me: “I don’t know where the washing machines are; however, I can’t let you past this point without a mask. Please either get one on or see the customer service desk to purchase one.”

Customer: “What do you mean, you don’t know where the washing machines are?! What kind of incompetent worker are you?”

Me: “I am not an employee of this store; I work for a third-party security company. I do not know the store, but you cannot go through these gates without a mask.”

During this time, the customer tries to walk around me multiple times. I keep stepping in front of her, keeping my hands low, and calmly repeating, “You need a mask.”

Customer: “You obviously work here! And I don’t like your attitude. Either tell me where I can get a washing machine or get the h*** out of my way!”

Me: “She—” *pointing to a customer service employee* “—will be more than able to help you find what you need, as well as sell you a mask so you can shop here.”

At this point, the employee realizes that something isn’t right; for the most part, as a guard, I smile and wave, pace, and don’t really interact with customers. So, when I am no longer smiling, standing still, and speaking with a customer, this usually means that something is going wrong.

Employee: “Hello! What can I do to help today?”

Me: “She is looking—”

Customer: “I want a washing machine and he refuses to tell me where they are. He just keeps getting in my way and telling me to wear a d*** mask!”

Employee: “I am sorry, but he does not work within the store. His job is just to enforce the mask rules. I would be more than happy to help. Do you have a mask today?”

Customer: “No, I don’t have a mask, and I’m not wearing one!”

She starts on some long-winded rant about HIPAA and civil rights.

Employee: “Well, ma’am, he won’t let you in without a mask, and unless you have one, I will be unable to assist you in getting the washing machine you want.”

Customer: “I’ve had enough! Get me your manager now!”

The employee then gets on her walkie and radios for a manager to come up.

Manager: “Hello, how are you doing today?”

Customer: “I’m doing horrible! Your employees are useless! They refuse to help me and won’t even let me in the store! I demand you fire them both!”

Manager: “I am sorry, but he—” *pointing to me* “—is not an employee here. We hired his company to enforce mask policies—”

Customer: “I’ve already told you people I won’t wear a f****** mask! Now fire these people and help me get my washing machine!”

She is escalating more and more and is getting very close to the manager, which triggers my training. Normally, I am not allowed to go hands-on; however, there is an exception when there is a significant threat of violence to me or employees of the company I am working at, and it’s starting to appear as if some violence may happen.

Me: “Ma’am, I am going to need you to calm down and please back away from the manager. We don’t want any physical contact.”

Customer: “I’m not talking to you. You’re about to be fired, anyway; you might as well go home already!”

Manager: “He’s not going to be fired; he’s doing his job. I would be more than happy to take you to our washing machines, but you need to get a mask first.”

There’s another five-minute argument, during which I am forced to stand between the manager and the customer as she is getting more and more aggressive. The manager takes this chance to motion for the customer service employee to call the police.

Manager: “At this point, I am going to have to ask you to leave. I won’t have you yelling at our security or refusing to follow our policies.”

Customer: *To my manager* “I’m not leaving until you fire this a**hole and I get my washing machine!” *To me* “And get out of my way! Don’t you know it’s rude to get between two people talking?!”

Manager: “He is doing his job making sure no violence happens. We have called the cops. Leave now!”

About five minutes later, the cops arrived. [Customer] was screaming that we had physically assaulted her and hit her when all she wanted to do was get a washing machine, and even after the police reviewed the camera footage, she held to her story. As they attempted to trespass her from the store, she swung at me and luckily missed. That, however, was enough for her to leave the store in handcuffs.

I’m not sure why she thought I was an employee. My uniform is grey and black with a bright red logo, and the store’s uniform is a lot of blues and greens. But all’s well that ends with an entitled customer in the back of a police car.

Related:
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 11
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 10
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 9
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 8
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 7

I work at customer service at a home improvement store. I am training a coworker. He and I have been processing returns and we’ve been really busy. I notice there is a problem with the return he is processing, so I stop what I am doing to find out what’s going on.

The customer and her husband paid with their store credit card. Immediately after their transaction, they paid off the bill. They want cash back for the return, which is a little over $600.

Me: “Sorry, ma’am, we can’t do that because it has to go back to the original tender.”

Customer: “I don’t understand.”

Me: “You can’t get cash for the return; it was paid with the credit card.”

She keeps repeating that she doesn’t understand.

Me: “Would you like to talk to a manager?”

Customer: “No. I don’t think that’s how it should be.”

The return is processed, and they stand off to the side and call someone. They talk for a couple of minutes and leave, thank goodness.

A couple of hours later, we’re slammed. I’m coming back to customer service when who do I see? The same lady and her husband. They are also joined by another woman and a toddler.

I don’t have the pleasure of dealing with them. The seasonal/outside supervisor gets called because he is the only available manager. It goes back and forth for a while. He calls the credit center to find out what can be done, which is nothing! All four of them finally leave after wasting time and gas because they thought they could get a manager to override it.

Don’t expect cash back on a return just because you paid off the bill. There are some things that not even managers can do.

I was stationed at the self-checkout of a home improvement store and I had a guy come through with $400 worth of tools. All seemed fine until he went to swipe his store credit card and the register alerted me that he needed assistance.

I walked over to him and scanned my badge to switch the register to assisted checkout mode, finally discovering the “call credit center” message on the screen. No big deal, right? Wrong.

I informed the guy I’d have to call to get the transaction approved and he started acting super shady — fidgeting back and forth, getting really huffy that I was taking so long, the works.

I called the credit center, and when the representative asked me for the name on the card, I realized something was off. The name on the card was a pretty common woman’s name and this guy didn’t seem to fit that bill. I asked him about it and asked for an ID to verify, and all of a sudden, he tried to pull the “Oh, this is my mom’s card” trick on me. He asked me if I wanted him to go get her from the parking lot.

Of course, I said yes; not all the red flags had gone up in my mind yet. He hurried out the door without another word. My manager had been standing nearby at the exit door watching this all go down and told me to give the guy four minutes to come back and then void the transaction if he didn’t.

Well, surprise, surprise… He didn’t. According to my manager, the guy was walking back and forth outside for a little bit before he just left. Maybe he was trying to find a woman he could potentially rope into going along with this scheme. I don’t know. Regardless, my store narrowly avoided a loss and both my manager and our asset protection associate were extremely pleased that I was able to put a stop to the shenanigans.

I have a coworker who fancies himself a handyman. The trouble is, because he leads a very busy life — in addition to having a full-time job, he’s the father of two young boys and coaches junior-high soccer — he has trouble finding the time to handle construction projects.

One day, he announces that he is going to install an in-ground pool at his house himself. All of his coworkers are a bit worried, because that’s a huge job. He waves away our concerns.

Coworker: “I can do it, and it’ll be a lot cheaper than hiring a company.”  

At the beginning of the summer of 2014:

Coworker: “I’ve started working on the pool.”

At the end of 2014:

Coworker:  “I didn’t manage to finish the pool.”

At the end of 2015:

Coworker: “Still working on the pool.”

Mid-summer 2016:

Coworker: “I finished the pool!”

Mid-summer 2017:

Coworker: “My pool is leaking.”

At the end of summer 2017:

Coworker: “I fixed the pool.”

At the beginning of summer 2018:

Coworker: “My pool is leaking again.”

At the end of summer 2018:

Coworker:  “I fixed the pool.”

Then, one day, a few months later:

Coworker: “My wife wants to put in new front steps, and she wants to hire a company to do it. I keep telling her that I’ll do it. Why on earth would she want to hire someone?”

Everyone: “BECAUSE SHE WANTS IT DONE FAST AND DONE RIGHT THE FIRST TIME?”

Coworker: “Shut up.”

I have finally taken some time off, and I have my nephews come over for a staycation. On day three of my vacation, my phone rings and I foolishly answer. It is the head cashier from work. 

Head Cashier: “Heyyyy, [My Name], this is [Head Cashier] from [Home Improvement Store]! How are you?”

Me: “I’m fine. What’s up?”

Head Cashier: “I was wondering if you could possibly come in and close tonight. We had a ton of call-offs.”

Me: “I’m on vacation.”

Head Cashier: “Okay, so… you want to come in?”

Me: *Facepalms* “Nope.”

Head Cashier: “Why not?”

Me: “Because I’m on vacation. I’m not working for another [number] days.”

Head Cashier: “But we really need someone to cover! Half the girls have called off today!”

Me: “Bummer. But you’ll have to call somebody else, as I’m on vacation.”

Head Cashier: “But—”

Me: “No. See you in [number] days, [Head Cashier].” *Click*

I walked in after my vacation was over, and a manager tried to chastise me for an inappropriate drawing that had been hung up in the break room. I told him that it wasn’t mine, and he said that one of the cashiers claimed I had hung it up before leaving.

I asked him when it had been found, and it turns out it had been hung on the same day I had refused to come in. I told him point-blank that I had been away on vacation for three days at that point and had refused to end my vacation to come in on that day.

He dropped the matter pretty quickly. I found out later that the group of gals who had called off were part of what we soon dubbed the “Cool Kids Club,” and they had all been closing that day and wanted to go party together. Somehow, they get away with just about everything, call off all the time, and never get reprimanded, not even for insubordination. 

I started screening my calls properly from then on.