I am no older than thirteen when this happens, so I haven’t learned to speak up for myself yet. My dad is recovering from surgery, so I am running a lot of the household errands, including the shopping. 

I have just finished getting what we need and join the queue for checkout. The woman in front of me has a baby in a pram and a toddler so I am giving her a fair amount of space to manoeuvre.

I am just about to move up to the cashier when another woman with a trolley full of stuff blocks my path and then starts loading her stuff onto the conveyer. I might have thought she just hadn’t noticed me, had she not made eye contact with me and then looked away like she was pretending not to have seen me.

Me: “Excuse me, there’s a queue.” 

She blanks me and keeps loading her stuff up. The cashier apparently doesn’t hear me, but the mother in front of me does.

Mother: “That girl should have been next.”

Woman: “No, I was next. The kid can wait.”

The woman reaches a point where it will probably be quicker to put her order through than for her to unload it all again and let me go first. Both the cashier and the mother look over at me. I feel really embarrassed so I just shrug. The mother gives me a sympathetic look and moves off.

Then, another cashier starts opening a lane and calls over to me.

Other Cashier: “Come over here, sweetheart.”

I oblige, feeling really grateful but still very embarrassed that I don’t have the courage to speak up. The cashier pushes my shopping through very quickly and keeps me chatting the whole time, clearly trying to making me feel more at ease.

Then, I hear the original cashier at the other till say:

Cashier: “I’m sorry, the whole system’s just frozen. You’ll have to go to another till.”

I looked over to see the woman grumpily reloading her shopping and getting in line behind me. It was only a small victory, but it made me feel just a little better.

Related:
In Line And Out Of Line, Part 16
In Line And Out Of Line, Part 15
In Line And Out Of Line, Part 14
In Line And Out Of Line, Part 13
In Line And Out Of Line, Part 12

This story is part of our Best Of March 2021 roundup!

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Read the Best Of March 2021 roundup!

I’ve been at my part-time job for seven or eight months, so I’m still new, but not brand new. I have just printed some things from my computer at my desk and head over to the department printer, located in a small room near the secretary’s desk. The secretary is on the phone as I walk by. Some of my pages were printed before the printer ran out of paper. I grab a new package of paper, open it, and open the paper drawer, and then the secretary bursts in.

Secretary: “What are you doing?! Don’t touch that!”

Me: “Oh! I’m just… It’s out of paper. I’m putting more in.”

Secretary: “That’s my job! Get away! You’ll break it!”

Me: “No, it’s okay. I know how to do this; we had the same printer at my old job.”

Secretary: “This. Is. My. Job. If you break the printer, you’ll be in trouble!”

Me: “It’s… just paper. It’s not hard.”

Secretary: “Give me that and go away!”

She takes the fresh paper out of my hand and starts to load the paper tray. It takes her a few times to get the paper in right.

Secretary: “See? Only I know how to do it right. You’d break the printer.”

And she stomped back to her desk and her phone call.

The irony is that every time I asked her to do something that was her job, she ignored me. The one time I could do something for myself, she wouldn’t let me. Fortunately, she retired a few months after that and her replacement was excellent!

We have a rude, entitled coworker in our office. She gives her opinion on everything, even though no one asks.

I’m eating my lunch; it happens to be a prepared sushi pack.

Coworker: “Ugh, what’s that?”

I sigh internally, as I know what’s coming.

Me: “It’s sushi. It’s quite nice.”

Coworker: “You would never catch me eating that. Isn’t it slimy?”

Me: “No, it’s… quite nice, actually.”

Coworker: “No, no, no. You wouldn’t catch me eating raw fish.”

Me: “Oh, this isn’t raw, actually.”

Coworker: “Of course, it is; sushi means raw fish.”

Me: “Not these ones. If you check the packet… Yes, there it is. ‘Does not contain raw fish.’”

Coworker: “Why don’t you just have a sandwich or something?”

Me: “Because I like sushi, it’s… quite nice.”

Coworker: “Okay.” *Laughing* “No accounting for taste, I suppose.”

She toddled off. I started taking my lunch a little later just to avoid her and her opinions. I feel much better for it.

I work for an insurance company. I’m in the department that assists with level of coverage changes — “cover review” is the internal term for it. People call my area to upgrade or downgrade their coverage, depending on whether they need insurance for certain procedures in a private hospital. Usually, people have a general idea of what they need and what they don’t need.

Customer: “Apparently, I need to review my coverage. It’s too expensive! What can you do for me?”

Me: “I’d be happy to help with that today, ma’am. I can see here that you are currently on our highest level of hospital coverage.”

Customer: “What does that mean?!”

Me: “It entitles you to be covered for—”

Customer: “Stop! Just tell me what I need!”

Me: “All right, ma’am, you are currently covered for pregnancy, hip and knee—”

Customer: “Stop! Stop! Stop! I don’t want to hear all that! Just tell me what I need!”

I think, “Okay, perhaps she needs me to slow down and check each item of coverage individually.”

Me: “Okay, ma’am. Do you need to be covered for pregnancy?”

Customer: “What does that have to do with anything?!”

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am. I’m just going through the items your current policy covers to see if you still need them and therefore would need to stay on the highest coverage. If there’s something you don’t need, you can go to a lower coverage that doesn’t include it.”

Customer: “I do not understand why you are making this so hard. Just tell me what I need!”

Me: “Okay, the difference between your current policy and the one below it in coverage and price, is that it does not include private hospital coverage for hip and knee replacements, pregnancy—”

Customer: “Oh, my God!”

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, is there something wrong?”

Customer: “You’re just going to read everything, aren’t you?! You’re just going to read it! What the h*** use is it speaking to a person if you can’t just tell me what I need?!”

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am? I’m not permitted to make assumptions—”

Customer: “Fine! What is the difference between the coverages?! Since you’re soooo good at reading!”

Me: *Pauses* “The highest coverage includes everything you would ever need to be insured for in a private hospital, the medium coverage excludes hip and knee, pregnancy—”

Customer: “You already said that! Oh, my God! I cannot believe how useless you are! This has been a complete waste of my time! Complete waste!” *Click*

Yes, ma’am, I agree.

I have just started double-masking. The disposable ones are a little large for my face, but they fit fine under cloth ones.

I am getting a customer checked in for a haircut. I start fidgeting with the masks because they are getting in my eyes. I explain this to the customer’s wife and we laugh it off. The husband is the one getting the haircut, and he has his mask under his nose.

As I’m settling into the haircut, the customer asks me condescendingly:

Customer: “Why not just wear three masks?”

Me: “Because two is just fine.”

There’s silence for a moment while I think of a cheeky comeback.

Me: “Besides, at least I can wear two masks properly on my face, unlike others.”