I’m waiting in line, and it’s abundantly clear that there is only one staff member in the coffee kiosk at the local grocery. She’s doing her absolute best. The customer in front of me is being rather demanding.

Customer: “I need three large specialty drinks, extra hot, and one with an extra shot. AND YOU’D BETTER MAKE IT FAST!”

Barista: “Sure thing!”

The barista hustles off to start drinks while the customer fiddles with the payment and goes to the side and sits down, huffing and rolling her eyes. Eventually, she stands up and leaves the coffee shop area, just as the barista puts the last large specialty drink on the counter. Note that the customer walks directly past her three drinks on the counter. The barista turns to me.

Barista: “And what can I get started for you?”

I order.

Me: “I hope she comes back for her drinks. They won’t be hot for long.”

Barista: “Of course not! And I’m here alone open to close, so I’ll get a kick out of remaking them!”

Me: “I am so sorry.”

The barista made my drink, and that of the lady behind me. The three “extra hot” drinks were still on the counter when I left.

I work at the salad bar in a grocery store. At around 8:00 pm we start to take it down to clean it so I go through the dining room telling customers:

Me: “We’re just about to take down the salad bar if you want to get something quickly.”

Customer: “Can I get some food quickly?”

I agree. I unplug the soup pans so they can cool down. When I get back, I hear the woman on her phone saying:

Customer: “—yes, you can come, too.”

A few minutes later she, another woman, and a few kids are all getting food. Fifteen minutes later, I’m bringing back cleaning supplies to clean the area and they’re still getting food.

Me: “Are you almost done? I really need to take it down.”

Customer: “I haven’t got my food yet.”

My coworkers and I wound up finishing it almost a half-hour later than usual because they wouldn’t leave. We became much more strict about it after that. You can get a bowl of soup or a plate of salad, but you only have five minutes to get food. No exceptions.

My brother and I are twenty-six and thirty-two respectively, and we live with our parents because the economy sucks.

One of the fuses in our apartment went out. I contacted the property manager, but it was Saturday night and she couldn’t get someone from maintenance to come out until Monday, seeing as it wasn’t an emergency — just that a couple of lights and outlets weren’t working, but nothing pressing. One of the lights not working was in the bathroom. 

Around midnight that same night, Dad had to pee. Instead of sitting on the toilet or something, he apparently just could not aim properly and peed all around the area of the toilet. Mom overheard him cursing about it and came to get me, because she’s blind and, well, that shit is nasty. So, I had to get out of bed and go wash the bathroom floor.

When I asked him why he couldn’t just sit to pee until it was fixed, he angrily retorted, “Well, if someone would finally call the property manager so we can get the fuse fixed, then I could see what I was doing!“

“Dad, I already called,” I explained. “They can’t send anybody out until Monday.”

“Oh.”

For the rest of the weekend, he was able to magically not pee on the floor, even at night. That’s when I knew it was done out of spite.

I am trying to decide which yogurt I want to buy. A woman comes up to me and hands me a container of yogurt, asking me a question about it. Of course, I apologize and explain that I don’t work in the store. She apparently doesn’t want any excuses, so I try to help as best as I can. I ask her what her question was again, since I didn’t hear her the first time. 

Customer: “Ugh, you workers are all the same. I said, do you know if this yogurt has fruit on the bottom? I don’t like yogurt with fruit on the bottom.”

She hands me the cup. It is clearly labeled “caramel spice cake” flavor, which I am safely going to assume does not have fruit on the bottom. 

Me: “Well, ma’am, that cup of yogurt is a cake flavor, so I don’t think it has fruit on the bottom.” 

Customer: “I didn’t ask what flavor it was! Just answer my question!” 

Me: “Honestly, ma’am, I don’t think it does.” 

Customer: “You don’t think? Give me a yes or no answer!” 

I pause for a moment, wondering how stupid this woman might actually be, and then the demon in me slips out. I just can’t help myself. 

Me: “Yes, ma’am, this yogurt has blackberries on the bottom of it.”

Customer: “Ugh! I hate berries. And how difficult was it to give me a solid answer? God, this store needs to not hire people who don’t understand basic English.” 

She put the yogurt back on the shelf and walked away. Thinking I had had my fun for the day, I continued shopping. As I was checking out, the freaking woman reappeared with the store manager, complaining loudly to him that I needed to be fired for not speaking English. AS I WAS CHECKING OUT. For the record, I’m also a very pale redhead from Massachusetts. 

The manager looked at me and then back to the woman before wishing me a pleasant day and walking off, much to the bewildered woman’s shock.

Honestly, I think I’ll shop there more, simply to run into this snot again!

I work for a budget airline. A passenger is speaking to his daughter in front of us.

Passenger: “You’d better hurry up and do your homework, or you’ll end up with a low-level job like her.”

The passenger points to a flight attendant, my coworker. My coworker, quick as lightning, turns to the daughter.

Coworker: “Well, you know what? If your daddy had done his homework, he could afford to fly you [Expensive Airline] instead of [Budget Airline].”

After that, he kept his mouth shut until we landed.

This story was featured in our May 2020 roundup!

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