(I am the cashier at a popular ice cream fast food chain. This occurs as I am serving a couple who are approximately in their late sixties.)

Me: “Hello! What can I get for you today?”

Customer #1: “Hello, I’ll take a chocolate sundae and whatever she’s having.”

Customer #2: “I’ll just have an ice cream cone, please. Thank you for paying; that’s quite sweet of you.”

Customer #1: “Eh, from this I’m just hoping to get lucky!”

(The customers chuckled a bit as I was struggling to contain my laughter!)

I work at an ice cream parlor and sell ice cream to many elderly couples. One such couple walks into the door.

Me: Hi, welcome to (ice cream store), what can I get for you?

Couple: Can we have (order)?

Me: Sure! *gets them the ice cream*

Me: The total comes to… $6.66.

Couple: Oh! That’s ummm…

They quickly pay and rush out of the store!

(I am fifteen years old and I work at an ice cream shop. I’m the only person working the opening shift and when I come in, I realize that we are all out of waffle cones. All of our ice cream and waffle cones are made right in the store, and the night staff didn’t make any more waffle cones the night before. Waffle cones only take thirty seconds or so to make, but they are hot when they come out of the iron and would melt the ice cream if used right away. I’m in the middle of making more cones when an elderly customer comes over. She asks for her ice cream in a paper bowl, and I finish up her order, as she requested, in no time at all.)

Customer: “Excuse me, I changed my mind. Could I actually have this in a waffle cone, instead?”

Me: “Oh, I’m sorry, ma’am! We’re actually all out of waffle cones at the moment. I’m making some more right now!”

Customer: “But I see some right beside you!”

Me: “These ones just came out of the iron and they’re still very hot. They would melt your ice cream if I tried to use them.”

(The woman starts screaming at me and demanding a waffle cone or her money back. My supervisor comes over.)

Supervisor: “What’s going on here?!”

Customer: “This little brat doesn’t know how to make good food! If I don’t get some decent customer service, then I want a refund!”

(My supervisor is a mother herself, and her daughter and I are about the same age, so she is always pretty protective of me.)

Supervisor: “Look, these kids work too d*** hard to have to put up with the likes of you! There aren’t any waffle cones ready for you, so take your ice cream in a paper bowl and stop insulting my staff!”

Customer: “Give me my money back!”

(The customer slams her ice cream against the desk and holds out her hand, expecting cash. The supervisor gives her the refund, if only to get her to leave. The customer storms off and we’re left in an empty store. There are still no customers.)

Supervisor: *to me* “Sweetie, take that order and put it in the freezer. You can have it on your break, all right? My treat!”

Me: “Are you sure? Won’t you get in trouble—”

Supervisor: “After what that b**** put you through, you deserve it. Enjoy, kiddo!”

(It is a weekday afternoon and business has been decent. During a lull, my coworker is dipping chocolate-covered cones. A group with several children walks up, and I step up to the counter to help them. I am very tired and a little bit sick, but I attempt to be as pleasant as possible.)

Me: “Hello, how are you?”

Lady #1: “Yeah, give me a sample of that.” *points*

Me: “Okay, the chocolate?”

Lady #1: “No, that.” *points again*

(It is very difficult to tell where people are pointing in the ice cream case.)

Me: “Oh, the coffee?”

Lady #1: “Yes. And he wants a sample of the chocolate chip.”

(I get the samples, and they proceed to look at every flavor, pointing and asking for samples. Finally, they begin to order.)

Lady #1: “Okay, a scoop of that on a cone.”

(I get the scoop, and as my head is in the case, I hear the little boy say:)

Boy: “Why is the mint chip white?”

(We hear that question a lot, so as I pop my head back up, I tell him…)

Me: “Oh, the mint chip isn’t green because we don’t use any fake stuff!”

Lady #1: *suddenly and with a rude tone* “Are you going to keep being rude, or do I have to ask for the other girl?”

Me: *surprised* “I’m sorry? I wasn’t being rude…”

Lady #1: “Oh, you so were. You’re being very rude. What’s it gonna be?”

Me: *evenly* “I’m sorry, ma’am. What else can I get for you?”

Lady #1: “You have two minutes to decide! Are you going to keep being rude?”

Me: *as pleasantly as possible, as I’m fuming inside* “What else can I get for you?”

Lady #1: *growing increasingly irate* “What’s it going to be? Are you going to keep being rude? I will ask her to help me, and I will speak to your manager. Are you going to be nice?!”

Me: *sickeningly fake sweet* “I’ll be nice. What else can I get for you?”

Lady #1: “Okay. Good choice. Give me another one of these.” *holds up her dripping cone*

Lady #2: “Yeah, and I’ll take that.” *points* 

(They order over $30 of ice cream, and I struggle to remain civil. [Lady #2] never bothers to even look apologetic for her friend’s behavior. The kids are loud and messy. [Lady #1] continues to act rude and entitled. When I ring them up, they don’t tip. Finally, they leave.)

Me: *to my coworker* “Oh. My. Gosh. So rude.”

Coworker: “Really? I’m sorry.”

Me: “You didn’t hear all that?!” *tells her the story*

(Thirty minutes later, I see the group back at the counter. My eyes widen as I turn to my coworker.)

Me: “I am not dealing with that. You help them.”

(I run in the back, but I have to come to help other customers. I avoid eye contact with the rude lady. After they leave…)

Coworker: “Wow, I can see why you got frustrated with her. She had such an attitude.”

Me: “Yeah, I wanted to tell her to come and scoop her own ice cream. It’s a good thing we’re out of comment cards!”

(Our ice cream shop regularly gives free samples to customers making difficult decisions among the flavors.)

Customer: “Could I try the pistachio?”

Coworker: “Sure. Here you are.”

Customer: “Hmm. Get me a scoop of the cappuccino.”

(My coworker starts scooping the coffee ice cream while the customer tastes the pistachio.)

Customer: “Oh, s***. I can’t taste anything.”

Me: “What happened? Are you okay?”

Customer: “Oh, it’s okay. I just have a nut allergy, that’s all. But don’t worry; I didn’t actually bite down on the nut, so I’ll be perfectly okay.”

Me: “Oh… is there anything I can do for you? Do you have an EpiPen or something?”

Customer: “No, no. I did it on purpose. I just wanted to see what would happen to me.”

Coworker: “Okay… your total is $3.48… Have a nice day.”