I’m a supervisor at a movie theater. It’s a very slow weekday. We’re only projected to do about fifty people from open to close since that’s been our weekday average for several weeks now, so we only schedule one person each on box office and concession, since that’ll be enough. But we unexpectedly get a rush of about forty people in the afternoon for one show. Every once in a while, you’ll just have one show time that randomly sells very well.

To help expedite the line at concession, I leap onto one of the registers that haven’t been opened. There’s no money in it, but I can still run card transactions. I look at the next person in line, [Customer #1].

Me: “Hey there! I can take card payments at this register. Are you paying with a card? If so, I can take you over at this register. If you’re paying with cash, the person at the other register will be able to ring you up.”

The customer smiles, nods, and walks over. They order their food.

Me: “All right, that’ll be [total].”

The customer pulls out their wallet and begins to count out cash.

Me: “I’m sorry, but as I said, I can take card payments at this register. The person at the other register can take cash payments.”

Customer #1: “You never said that!”

The customer huffs and puffs and argues and tries to force me to take cash before literally throwing a debit card at me and stomping away. I shrug and look back at the line at [Customer #2].

Me: “Are you paying with a card? I can take card payments at this register, but I can’t take cash. If you’re paying with a card, I can help you.”

[Customer #2] gives me a thumbs up and walks over. They order their food and I give them their total, which is less than $10. They then throw a $100 bill at me.

Me: “As I said, I can take card payments at this register, but I cannot take cash. Do you have a card you can pay with?”

Customer #2: “This is bulls***!”

Cue another short argument before he just leaves without buying anything, mumbling a string of profanity under his breath. I look up at [Customer #3].

Me: “Are you paying with a credit, debit, or gift card? I can take card payments at this register, but I can not take cash payments.”

[Customer #3] walks over, orders their food, and is given their total. They, of course, pull out cash.

Me: “As I said, I absolutely cannot take cash at this register. I can only take card payments.”

Customer #3: “Wwwhhhaaattt?! What kind of a movie theater is this?!”

Cue ANOTHER argument before he very reluctantly gives me a card. I look at [Customer #4].

Me: “I can help you at this register, but only if you are paying with a card. I absolutely can not take cash at this register.”

Customer #4: “I have a gift card! Does that count?”

Me: “Yes, I can take a gift card. But I cannot take any cash.”

[Customer #4] comes over, orders, and hands me his gift card. I run it and it only takes off half the total.

Me: “All right, you owe a balance of [total]. Do you have another card you can pay with?”

Customer #4: “I’m gonna have to give you the difference in cash.”

Me: *Glaring* “I cannot take cash on this drawer. I repeatedly said that.”

Customer #4: *Shouting* “OH, COME ON!”

Yet another argument follows, and I end up just refunding his gift card. I turn and look at [Customer #5].

Me: “I absolutely, positively can not take cash on this drawer. But if you are paying with a card, I can help you over here.”

Customer #5: “All righty!”

[Customer #5] walks over.

Customer #5: “All I have is cash.”

Me: “Then why did you come over when I said I cannot take cash?”

Customer #5: “Because I have cash.”

Me: “You’ll have to get back in line over there.”

Customer #5: “You mean I have to go to the back of the line?!”

Me: “Unfortunately.”

He storms away. [Customer #6], a young woman who appears to be in her late teens, starts to approach without me even saying anything.

Customer #6: “You can only take cards, right?”

Me: “Yes.”

[Customer #6] orders and pays with a card! It’s a friggin’ miracle!

Customer #6: *Shouting at the line sarcastically* “It doesn’t take that much effort to listen, guys! If he says he can only take cards, he can only take cards. It’s not f****** rocket science!”

[Customer #6] gives me a wink and walks away. [Customer #7] begins to approach.

Me: *Turning to them quickly* “I can only take a card payment! No cash! Are you paying with a card?”

Customer #7: “…no?”

I point to the other register.

Me: “They can take cash. I can’t.”

I turn to [Customer #8].

Me: “Are you paying with a card? I can take a card payment, but I cannot take cash on this register.”

[Customer #8] walks over and orders. They pull out cash.

Me: “I can take card payments, but I cannot take cash on this register.”

Another argument ensued. Thankfully, the next two people actually got the message and paid with cards, and by that point, the line was over. I really, really, REALLY don’t understand people sometimes.

Two customers walk into the restaurant where I work, and they order two orange juices and a hot chocolate to go. This is fine, but our orange juice doesn’t come in a bottle, so I have to pour it into a takeaway cup.

Usually, I would label drinks, but I feel no need as it is pretty obvious which one is the hot chocolate.

They pick them up, and in all seriousness, one says:

Customer: “But how are we supposed to tell which one is the hot drink?!”

At this point, it is like 10:00 am and I am already too tired for this, but I plaster on the customer service smile, blink, and reply:

Me: “I would say it is the cup that’s warm?”

They looked as if I had revealed the secrets of old to them.

I know we all have brain-fart moments, but seriously?!

My dad lives in Canada. I live and work in the USA. 

My dad has been suffering from liver problems lately. He’s been in and out of the hospital a few times. I’m working when I get a call from him. According to the doctors, he has about a 20% chance to live to the end of the week.

I immediately go to my super and ask for the day off. This is granted, and I drive pell-mell to the Canadian/American border. Border security has been tighter lately, and my nerves and twitching attracted some unwanted attention from the border agents. They insist on doing a full search of my vehicle.

Of course, they find nothing.

Halfway through the search, I get another call from my dad. It turns out there was a mixup at the hospital. His test results were mixed up with someone else’s. He now has about a 40% chance of living to the end of the year. Which is better.

I meet with him with a lot of relief, we chat about it, and then I get ready to go back to work. I let my super know what happened.

And he’s pissed. He accuses me of faking the whole thing to get an extra day off, as if I would want to spend half a day getting my car stripped to the g**d*** nuts in customs. He insists that no reasonable doctor and no reasonable hospital would make a mistake like that.

Accidents happen! Especially in stressful environments like that!

After that, I feel like my super is watching me closely and trying to track my paid time off. Finally, I leave for another similar job. The pay’s not better, but at least they don’t treat me like a criminal, you know?

Dad got a new liver before the end of the year, so he’s probably got at least ten more years in him.

I had to make a last-minute appointment with the doctor. (It wasn’t an emergency; I just forgot to do it before my prescription ran out.)

When I was on the phone, they said they would have to look at their schedule, so I received the notice of my appointment over text. There were also a few missed calls and a voicemail from [Nurse #1] telling me when my appointment was.

There was no way to confirm that I had gotten the text, so I called them up and let them know that I had gotten the text and would like to confirm that the appointment was fine.

Nurse #2: “Okay, I have it marked down that your appointment is confirmed.”

The next day, I got a text with a link for pre-check-in to fill out paperwork before I got there. I also got a few phone calls and a voicemail from [Nurse #1], wanting to confirm my appointment. I filled out the paperwork and called up the office.

Me: “Hi, I just filled out the paperwork and I wanted to make sure, again, that my appointment is confirmed.”

Nurse #3: “Yes, I will mark it as confirmed.”

The next day, I had a little time off to do housework and noticed I had ANOTHER few calls from [Nurse #1], wanting to confirm my appointment. I called up the office. 

Me: “Hi! I got the text, I filled out the paperwork, I called in, and I’m still getting calls from [Nurse #1] about confirming my appointment. Can someone please tell her that I got the message and would like to confirm my appointment?”

Nurse #4: “Yes, it is now marked on your chart that your appointment is confirmed.”

I used the break to spend a few minutes being useless and scrolling on my phone. Suddenly, I got a phone call. It was from the doctor’s office, so I answered.

Nurse #1: “Oh, good! I got a hold of you! I’m calling to confirm your appointment for tomorrow at [time].”

Me: “Yes, thank you. I got your messages and the texts, I filled out the paperwork, and I called three times to confirm. I guess they didn’t tell you.”

Nurse #1: “They did not, but I’ll mark you down as confirmed now! Thank you!”

I really hope my appointment is confirmed this time.

One evening, my wife and I went out in Belfast to see a friend who was performing at a comedy club. After the event was over, we said goodbye to our friend and walked back to the car. It was early summer, so even though it was well after 9:00 pm, it still wasn’t dark yet.

As we reached the street where our car was parked, we were approached by a young man in his late teens or early twenties on a bicycle.

Young Man: “Excuse me, guys, can you help me?”

We stopped walking.

Me: “What’s up, mate?”

Young Man: “I’m a bit lost. I’m trying to get into Belfast. Can you give me directions?”

My wife and I looked at each other.

Me: “You’re in Belfast. Are you trying to get to the city centre?”

Young Man: “No, I need to get to Belfast!”

Wife: “My husband already told you that you’re in Belfast! If you want to go to the city centre, then…”

She gave him directions to the city centre from where we were.

Young Man: *Nodding* “Oh, right, and that’s how I get to Belfast?”

Wife & Me: “You’re in Belfast!”

Young Man: “Really?!”

Me: “Yes! This area you are in now is the Cathedral Quarter. It’s all Belfast.”

Young Man: “Are you sure?”

Wife: “We’re definitely sure!”

Young Man: “Oh. Okay. That’s strange!”

He cycled off. My wife and I looked at each other and laughed.

This remains the weirdest interaction we’ve ever had with a stranger. If the young man had smelled of drink or drugs, we’d have known what was up, but he didn’t! He appeared to be completely clean and sober. We’re not sure if he was joking around or just really confused!