(My boyfriend and I are out in town, picking up some emergency items a few days before Christmas. There are charity volunteers all over the place collecting change.)

Volunteer: *singing loudly but in tune with a big smile on his face*

Random Woman: *as she passes him, yells* “Oh, shut the f*** up, would you?”

(I and two other passers-by react at almost the exact same time.)

Passer-By #1: “Oi! No need to be rude!”

Passer-By #2: “You shut the f*** up, love! It’s Christmas!”

Me: “Calm down, Mrs. Grinch!”

(We shared a laugh and a couple of people around popped a few coins in the guy’s bucket. Lady, I don’t know what your problem was, but don’t take it out on a guy volunteering to stand outside in freezing weather for hours to collect money for sick children!)

I work in a small village pub which is well known for our food. Every Saturday and Sunday since I have started working there has been fully booked. We have a waiting list and you have to make a reservation about three weeks in advance for the weekend because it’s so popular.

That said, my manager/the landlord isn’t a local to the small village. Because of this, she feels that she has to accommodate the locals to foster goodwill. The locals get away with so much crap that it’s rather impressive.

One day, I start work on a Saturday and quickly realise that all of the tables in the restaurant have been rearranged and there are massive 50th birthday banners everywhere.

Parties are not unusual, and the restaurant is typically “free” to hire out as long as you pay for the buffet and you bring enough people which makes up the cost to the business in drinks.

Quickly, my colleagues and I realise that the people in our restaurant section — separate from the bar — are not drinking any alcohol and only drinking iced tap water. Combined with the cheapest option of the buffet, the loss to the business worked out at about £1k by the end of the evening.

It turned out that when the local woman had booked the restaurant, she had assured my manager that enough people would be coming to the bar to drink. She didn’t mention that they were all of a religion that doesn’t allow alcohol.

At the end of the evening, when they settled the bill for the buffet, we were treated to a sermon about how immoral we all were for serving alcohol.

We made no money from tips that evening.

(On a very hot day, I am operating a ride which spins and goes side to side… which makes people sick. Very often. The ride seats about 32 people at a time and seating can be difficult once in a while. On this particularly hot day, we have been struggling to seat a taller but very fit guest and have to do some moving around to get him in a more comfortable spot.)

Other Rider: “Dude, suck in your gut! You’re wasting our time!”

Me: “Don’t listen; you’re just taller so we need to switch your seat so your shoulders fit better.”

Coworker: “Hey! No need to be rude; we’ll get it started soon enough.”

(The rude rider then thought it was funny to start chanting with two of his buddies, saying, “Suck it in, suck it in, suck it in!” My co-operator and I started the ride and, as usual, everyone was having fun… until we heard a loud gasp and screaming… followed by a ton of puke hitting the center platform. I hit the emergency brake and waited for the ride to stop. It took a few minutes for it to stop completely turning and for the platform to rise… and then, like music to our ears… the taller guest and some strangers around him could be heard chanting, “He ate puke, he ate puke, he ate puke!” A kid decided to eat too many snacks before riding and puked all over that rude guy. Cleaning that vomit was definitely worth watching him do his walk of shame!)

(I work at a very popular fast food restaurant, which happens to stop serving breakfast and switch to lunch at exactly 10:30 every day and has for many years. I am handling the headset to take orders in the drive-thru.)

Me: “Hello, thank you for choosing [Restaurant]; what can I get for you?”

Customer: “I’ll take the [new breakfast sandwich], that is all.”

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, we’re doing lunch now.”

Customer: “B****, its 10:57, not 11:00. You’re still doing breakfast.”

Me: “Ma’am, we stop breakfast at exactly 10:30, not 11:00.”

Customer: “Since when?! Ugh, hold up.”

(I hear her begin talking, clearly on the phone.)

Customer: *over the phone* “I’m in the drive-thru at [Restaurant] and this girl is telling me I can’t get my d*** breakfast. I know! How stupid is she?”

Me: *annoyed, as I can see we have many cars waiting behind her* “I’m sorry, ma’am, will you be ordering?”

Customer: “Excuse me, but I am very pissed off about this. I wanted breakfast and I’m being forced to get lunch?!”

(There is a restaurant across the street that serves breakfast all day.)

Customer: “I can’t believe this treatment! I’ll take the number 16 with a diet.”

(The customer was extremely rude when I handed her food out later, grumbling about how I forced her to eat lunch at 11:00!)

(I’ve recently been diagnosed with an issue that will require multiple surgeries to fix. I go to my manager to request a leave of absence. Another manager is in the office at the time and overhears.)

Manager #1: “Okay, so, you’ll be out for six weeks starting on [date], assuming nothing goes wrong.”

Manager #2: “What?! You can’t be out that long!”

Me: “I know, it’s a while, but surgery is the only option.”

Manager #2: “No, you’re the only person trained for [service]! If you leave, we won’t be able to do it!”

(The service in question isn’t my main job, and only very few people use it. We also have someone who’s trained on it, though they have limited hours.)

Manager #1: “She can’t exactly wait for this; it’s for her health.”

Manager #2: “But what will we tell customers?!”

Me: “You can tell them that [Other Location] offers the same service, see when [Coworker] is in, or have them wait until I come back.”

Manager #2: “Ugh, it’s going to make us look bad!”

Manager #1: “Really?! You want her to set aside her health and well-being for the sake of customer service?!”

Manager #2: “You’re making me sound bad! Don’t word it like that!”

Me: “That’s what you’re asking, though. The surgeries are necessary and unavoidable, and I need recovery time. I can’t wait or just not do it.”

Manager #2: “Ugh, you just don’t understand!”

(She left the office grumbling about me. I went on leave and had my surgeries and am currently recovering well!)