I work for an insurance company, and as we are closed over Christmas, the day after Boxing Day is busy. 

Caller: “Please cancel my policy. It’s taken twenty-seven minutes to get through. And I don’t want your apologies or your excuses that it’s busy. I’m not interested!”

Me: “Okay, sir.”

Caller: “SEE?! THAT’S THE KIND OF ATTITUDE THAT TELLS ME YOU LOT DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR CUSTOMERS! GET IT CANCELLED NOW!”

I’m in the ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat)  department in the local hospital, waiting for an appointment with many other people. A woman’s name is called; she’s an older woman in a wheelchair, accompanied by her two daughters, who checked in just before me.

A woman with a cane follows them out of the waiting room, which seems odd because I haven’t seen her with them at all.

The nurse asks the woman with the cane if she’s with the patient whose name was called.

Woman: “No, I need insulin. Can you give me insulin?”

Nurse: “No, I’m sorry. We don’t have insulin here. You’d have to go to the ER.”

Woman: “I don’t want to; I’m here. I just need insulin.”

Nurse: “This is the ENT clinic. We don’t have insulin here. You need to go to the ER if you need insulin right now.”

Woman: “It’s too far!”

It’s in another wing of the hospital. If you use a cane, maybe it’s too far.

Woman: “I have an appointment here. I just need insulin.”

Nurse: “We really don’t have any insulin.”

Woman: “If I have to go to the ER to get it, it’ll be your fault I’m late for my appointment!”

Nurse: “Appointment?”

Woman: “Yes, I have an appointment with [Ear Doctor] in twenty minutes!”

She did end up leaving, I assume to go elsewhere for insulin. She wasn’t back by the time my name was called! I’m not sure if she thought the ear doctor is a one-stop-shop for all your medical needs?

When I was eighteen, I was the manager at a mom-and-pop restaurant that was connected to a hotel. The holidays were always super busy with mainly big groups of families who had come into town together for vacation.

A week before New Year’s, I got a call from a hotel guest.

Guest: “Would you be willing to keep your restaurant open until midnight on New Year’s? I want my family to ring in the New Year there. It would be six kids and four adults.”

Me: “Because it’s New Year’s, we will actually close an hour early, at 8:00 pm.”

Guest: *Yelling* “That’s inappropriate! It shows poor work ethic to leave early. How in the world can you think it’s okay to close early so you can all go drink and party when we want to dine there and give you extra business?!”

Me: “It’s not my decision but the owners’. We’ll be closing early because we’re understaffed. Those who work the night shift have to be back in the morning to open the restaurant, and we want to ensure that everyone will get enough rest to work a busy breakfast shift.”

Guest: “You should’ve been smart enough to hire more people on for the holidays!”

I am working at the fabric counter in a craft store when a little old man wanders in, looking extremely lost and clutching a scrap of fabric for dear life.

Me: “Hello! Can I help you find something?”

Customer: *Very hesitantly holds out the fabric scrap* “My wife sent me to get more of this fabric.”

Me: “No problem! This looks like a cotton quilting fabric. Let’s go over to that section and see if we can find a match.”

I take the customer to the quilting fabrics section and start looking for a match. As I look, the customer stands nearby, still seeming confused. I finally find a fabric that’s a close match, but because of different dye batches, the colors are very slightly different.

Me: *Shows customer the fabric* “This one is almost the same as what you have. The colors aren’t quite an exact match, but very close. Do you think this will work for your wife?”

Customer: *Looks at me with a look of panic in his eyes* “I don’t know. I’m color-blind!”

I ended up sending him home with a sample of the new fabric to show his wife and told him that if his wife approved, he could come back and buy more.

A year ago, I did tech support for a TV company that also handled Internet. I was a part of something called the “advanced resolution team”, meaning I had the power of a manager (credits, extra offers, and such) without the pay but got all the angry people who continued to call in.

One day, I get a call from a customer.

Customer: “I’m not able to download a show on my TV to play it back, and my TV apps aren’t working.”

I go through all the normal questions. “Is everything else working? Is it only affecting Internet-related TV items?” So on and so forth.

I begin my flow for Internet issues and do the basic troubleshooting.

Me: “Can you please check your router and tell me what you see?”

Customer: “There are no lights on my router.”

I guide him through resetting the router. Four minutes later:

Me: “Do you see any lights on the router now?”

Customer: “No, still no lights.”

Me: “All right, sir, is anything else in your home experiencing Internet issues?”

Customer: “The Wi-Fi on my phone isn’t working, and neither is the Internet on my computer.”

I halt my troubleshooting.

Me: “I’ll have to transfer you over to our Internet department due to your Internet being down and your router not working properly.”

The man begins to laugh.

Customer: “I don’t care if anything else has Internet. I just want my TV to have Internet.”

I let out a sigh. I know this is going to be a battle.

Me: “If your router isn’t showing lights, your Internet is down. We cannot only put Internet on your TV since your Internet itself isn’t working.”

Customer: *Irritated* “You don’t want to help me. You only want to pass me off because you don’t know how to do your job!”

Me: “I can only troubleshoot TV tech issues. Because of the issue being your Internet, the Internet department needs to further assist you.”

I was so aggravated. I was yelled at for seven straight minutes about how he only needed the Internet on his TV and we controlled the Internet. My supervisor came over due to my call time being high. I explained the issue and their only resolution was to be a broken record. After ten more minutes of explaining that I couldn’t magically turn on the Internet for only his TV, I cold transferred him to the Internet department, took off my headset, and sat under my desk for the next five minutes.