I posted a few things on our community’s Facebook page — a desk, some board games, and other odds and ends — and said they would be on my porch for pickup. I did not add my address because I didn’t want people randomly showing up. Almost immediately, a woman reached out.

Woman: “I’ll take it.”

Me: “All of it?”

Woman: “No, the desk. I don’t want all your s***.”

Me: “Okay, well, I posted a couple of things; that’s why I asked.”

Woman: “When can you deliver?”

Me: “Oh, sorry, I don’t have a car big enough to deliver. If you can pick it up, I’ll gladly help you load it.”

Woman: “Then you owe me $100.”

Me: “No, I don’t.”

Woman: “You do. It’s for taking it off your hands, you f****** idiot.”

Me: “As I’ve listed, the items are pick-up only.”

The woman commented on the post, saying I was a scammer and trying to rob people (though everything was FREE) and all kinds of other things. I replied with a screenshot of our conversation and she blocked me, which also deleted all of her comments.

I boarded a full flight, took my seat, and waited for takeoff. A woman was standing in the aisle holding her child — maybe five years old — in her arms, looking distressed.

Woman: “How can we not be seated together? I have to be with my baby!”

Attendant: “Okay, where are your seats?”

Woman: *Pointing* “Mine is this window and hers is the middle behind me.”

Attendant: “Okay.”

She addresses the older woman sitting in the middle seat in the same row as the distressed mother.

Attendant: “Miss, would you be willing to switch seats with the child behind you so she can sit with her mother?”

Woman: “No, that’s my mother. She’s elderly; she can’t be moved.”

Attendant: “Okay.”

Now she addresses the woman sitting in the window seat beside the child.

Attendant: “Miss, would you be willing to switch seats with the child behind you so she can sit with her mother?”

Woman: “That’s my sister! What is wrong with you?”

She points to the six seats taking up two rows.

Woman: “This is my family.”

Attendant: “So… you’re all together.”

Woman: “Yes! But I’m supposed to be sitting with my daughter.”

Attendant: “Well, if they’re all your family, perhaps one of them can switch with one of you so—”

Woman: “No! I will not make my family move!”

Attendant: *Throwing her hands in the air* “Well, I don’t know what to tell you, ma’am. You can sit with your family, and your daughter can be with her aunt, or—”

Woman: “You are useless!“

Attendant: “I am about to have you removed from this flight.”

Woman: *Quietly* “Please don’t.”

Attendant: “Your daughter is sitting with family. If you don’t want to trade or have someone trade with you, there is nothing I can do.” 

The woman scooted into her window seat, her daughter sitting in the middle behind her. I’ve thought about this moment off and on for years and still cannot determine what she wanted the attendant to do.

About fifteen years ago, I worked as an assistant manager in a pub restaurant that was very popular for lunches, evening meals, and Sunday dinners.

During the week, it would get quite quiet in the afternoon. Our prices were at the low end of expensive, so during these quiet periods, we would get random low-income people who would come in and just order a couple of starters to share: a portion of garlic bread and some chicken wings between four, for example.

One afternoon, I was having a smoke in the back with the owner when a waitress came through with a perplexed look on her face, requesting advice on how to deal with her customer.

The customer had called her over and complained that her meal did not have any crisps with it. (That’s potato chips for you Americans.)

The waitress explained that it did not come with crisps.

The customer stated that on the menu it clearly said that it came with a “crisp salad”. 

After we split our sides laughing, the owner just said to take her a handful of tortilla chips, as it wasn’t worth the effort of explaining.

I worked in reservations for a major airline. This was back in the mid-1990s, and the Internet was not really much of a thing yet. Airline tickets were still printed and mailed when you bought them. The only options were to buy them at the airport, through reservations, or through your travel agent.

I had a passenger who called to get the name changed on his ticket. He couldn’t take the trip, so he wanted his wife or someone else to take the trip instead.

Passenger: “I would like to change the name on my ticket.”

Me: “Do you see at the bottom of your ticket where it says ‘Non Transferable’? That applies here; you cannot transfer your ticket to another passenger.”

Passenger: “I don’t want to ‘transfer’ the ticket. I can’t take the trip, so I want [Person] to travel instead.”

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, but the name on the ticket has to stay the same. It is not possible to reissue the ticket with a new name and transfer it to another traveler.”

Passenger: “You aren’t understanding. I don’t want to transfer it. I just want you to change the name on the ticket.”

Me: “So… you want me to take your original ticket, backspace over your name, enter a new name, and then reprint the ticket?”

Passenger: “Yes! You’ve got it.”

Me: “That is exactly what transferring a ticket is. I can’t change the name.”

Passenger: “Argh! You still aren’t getting it. I. Don’t. Want. To. Transfer. It. Just change the name. That’s all.”

Honestly, I don’t remember if his head exploded or if he just hung up in rage, but he never did get that regardless of what you call changing the name on a ticket, it wasn’t an option for him. I remember people looking over at me as I was genuinely confused as to why he wasn’t getting it. I was like, am I seriously missing something here? It will always be something I think about fondly, wondering if this guy ever finally understood why he couldn’t get the name changed.

I work in the front checkouts of a grocery store. We’re required to ask all the customers who come to the checkouts if they’ve found everything they need. Many people take the opportunity to joke about how they couldn’t find, for example, a winning lottery ticket or a bag of cash, but this is one exchange that still stands out in my mind.

Me: “Did you find everything okay?”

Customer: “I couldn’t find inner peace.”

I actually had to pause for a moment because I was not expecting such a philosophical conversation at a cash register.