(This is just an average day, a little bit slow after the Holiday Rush. I get a page to a point in my department. When I reached the customer this happened.)

Me: Can I help you with something ma’am?

Customer: I was looking for an iPad Air 2.

Me: What size ma’am?

Customer: (Makes a scene with her hands describing the size) A big one.

Me: What memory size ma’am?

Customer: 64 gigabyte.

Me: I’m sorry ma’am we do not have any in stock.

Customer: Fine. What’s your name. (Looks at my name tag.)

(They move away and straight to the guest service desk. My manager is then paged to said desk. My manger then comes over to me 5 minutes later.)

Manager: Just to let you know you had a customer complain about you. What happened?

(I go over what was said and be careful to explain my tone of voice. His response.)

Manager: Well some people are like that.

(I go the rest of the day without a complaint and in fact have many customers thank me for helping them with products. I wish people could remember that retail employees are people too and that we aren’t mind readers.)

(I have pretty mild Tourette’s syndrome, with my only real vocal tics being a wheeze, a cough, or consistent sniffling. Most people understand once it’s explained to them. I’m at the gym, working on the arc trainer, and my Tourette’s is having a bad day, so I’m making all manner of noises. Next to me are two ladies. I have my headphones on, so I’m pretty oblivious to the goings-on around me, when suddenly I’m being tapped on the arm. I take my headphones off and look over to see one of the ladies standing by the machine I’m on.)

Lady: “Excuse me, but you should be wearing a mask if you’re sick.”

Me: “Huh? I’m not sick. I feel fine, but thanks?”

Lady: “You’re coughing and wheezing and sniffling. You must have a cold or the flu. You shouldn’t even be here, but if you’re going to be, you need a mask!”

Me: “Oh! I’m sorry; I actually have Tourette’s. I’m not sick; those are just my tics.”

Lady: “If you’re sick, you should wear a mask.”

Me: “But I’m not sick. I just told you. I have Tourette’s. It’s a neurological thing. I’m not physically ill.”

Lady: “I’m a nurse! I know what Tourette’s is, and you should be wearing a mask!”

(At this point, I’m more annoyed by the fact this lady is interrupting my workout than her insistence she knows more about my health than I do.)

Me: “If you know what Tourette’s is, then you know a mask wouldn’t do any good. I am not sick. I’m sorry if the tics caused some confusion.”

Lady: “You should be wearing a mask if you’re going to be sick here! I’m going to complain to the front desk!”

Me: “But I’m not sick. And really, if you’re worried about germs, is this really the place for you to be?”

Lady: *after a moment of silence* “You should have a mask.”

(She and her friend then moved down to the end of the row of cardio machines and went back to their workout, and I went back to mine. They kept shooting me dirty looks throughout. The worst part is my Tourette’s gets worse when attention is drawn to it, as I get very self-conscious and nervous. So, thanks. Nice job breaking it, lady.)

(My older brother and I are at the skating rink. I’m tall — six feet- and he’s about average — 5’7” — but we wear the same shoe size, which is a reasonable size for a guy, but rather large for a girl like me and hard to find in women’s sizes. As such, I decide to ask for my skates in men’s sizes, and this happens when we get to the skate rental:)

Brother: *to rental attendant* “Yeah, can I get a nine?”

Rental Attendant: “Sure, man. And how about you?” *looks at me*

Me: “Same as him.”

Rental Attendant: *looking skeptical* “Uh, okay, sure. Coming right up.”

(He goes to the back to get skates and then returns with two pairs of skates that are clearly not the same size. One is a women’s nine and one is a men’s nine. It’s an understandable mistake. He gives the men’s skates to my brother and starts to hand the women’s skates to me.)

Me: “Oh, no, I meant I wanted the same size that he got.”

Rental Attendant: “You mean a men’s nine?”

Me: “Yeah, that’s what I meant.”

(I have always thought that “their jaw dropped” was an inaccurate representation of shock, but then I see this guy’s jaw quite literally drop.)

Rental Attendant: *incredibly loudly* “What? Really? D***, girl, your feet are huge!”

Me: *a little surprised and quite embarrassed* “Yeah, um, I know. Can I just get my skates, please?”

(The rental attendant goes to the back to change out the skates, all the while muttering about huge feet. He brings my new skates out, and my brother and I go to put them on.)

Brother: *while tying skates* “How is he less okay with someone your size having big feet than a short guy like me?”

Me: *shrugs* “I don’t know. Weird logic.”

Me: “Hey, sir, what brings you in today?”

Customer: “Sir, I need help booking airline tickets.”

Me: “Airline tickets?”

Customer: “Yes, I need to book a flight.”

Me: “Sir, this is a cell phone store. We can help you with your phone, but we cannot book airline tickets.”

(The next day the customer comes back.)

Me: “Good afternoon, sir. Welcome back.”

Customer: “Sir, how do I send this resumé?”

Me: “…”

(My two friends and I are walking around the mall. We happen to be rounding a corner when a customer comes rushing out of the store right in front of us.)

Me: “Man, that store is really bright.”

Customer: “That store is s***!”

(We stop and look around. The customer is standing about 15ft behind us and looking right at us.)

Customer: “That store is s***. Everything in it is s***!”

(He then proceeds to rush off into the rest of the mall. My friends turn and look at me.)

Me: “I think he was talking to me. All I said was that I thought the store was really bright.”

(My friends couldn’t believe that he was yelling at us like that. I just felt bad for the workers in the store who had to deal with him.)