Many years ago while I was driving my vintage extended-cab pickup, I noticed a newer extended cab on a dealer’s used truck lot. I pulled in, got out, walked to the truck, and checked its bed length. It was the shorter bed of that era — six and a half feet instead of the long eight-foot bed.

A salesman arrived and asked my thoughts on the truck.

Me: “Not interested. It has the short six-and-a-half-foot bed; I want an extended cab with the long bed.”

Salesman: “Oh, no! You wouldn’t want a truck that long. They are difficult to drive on city streets and in city traffic.”

Me: “Gee, I had never heard that. Are you sure?”

I know that many even longer trucks are being driven in the city daily.

Salesman: “Oh, yes! They are a real problem driving in cities.”

Me: “I’m not sure about that.”

After a few more exchanges of the same basic views, I decide it is time to give my closing declaration.  

Me: “I have been driving my truck with the extended cab and the long, eight-foot bed for thirteen years. When do you think I might finally notice this problem?”

He walked away with a deer in the headlights look on his face.

I manage the sales department at a salvage yard — a type of recycling facility that buys old vehicles and then allows people to come in and pull parts off them to purchase.

This is currently a male-dominated field, and unfortunately, theft and aggression are an everyday issue for myself and my mostly female coworkers. Because of this, I open-carry my .380 handgun while I’m working. It’s worth mentioning that I am a female in my mid-twenties, and I do have my handgun license, even though I don’t need one to open-carry in this state.

These are just a few of the things that have been said to me, all by men, while carrying:

Customer: “That’s cute. Is it real?”

Customer: “Better not argue with her; she’ll shoot you!”

Customer: *Whispering* “I’ll bet she doesn’t even know how to use it.”

Customer: “I’d better not steal anything today, huh?!”

Customer: “How many people have you shot?”

Customer: “Can I hold it? I just want to see how heavy it is.”

What surprises me most is how offended they get when I tell them that, no, they can’t hold it. What sane person would hand a loaded firearm to a complete stranger?!

I’m talking to an old high school friend I haven’t seen in years. The discussion turns to a second high school friend that I talked with recently.

Friend #1: “So, did [Friend #2] ever have any children?”

Me: “No, he was married twice but he never had children.”

Friend #1: “I guess that makes sense.”

Me: “How do you mean?”

Friend #1: “Well, he was adopted. If his dad couldn’t have children, it makes sense that he couldn’t have children, either.”

Me: *Half-laughing* “Do you want to think about what you just said?”

I’m a service representative at an IT help desk for [Company]. One of our most basic functions is resetting the passwords for the various applications our clients use for their jobs. A customer calls in requesting a password reset, backed up by his manager, who insists it be done here and now. I happily oblige, but due to company policy, reset passwords in this particular application come out looking a bit like user IDs, and that causes some confusion.

Me: “So, were you able to log in with the new password?”

Customer: “No, it just keeps reloading the log-in screen. You said it was [password], right?”

Me: “Yes, [password].”

Customer: “Yes, I’m putting that in as my username, and the password is…?”

Me: “That is your password. Your username is the same as always.”

After clearing that up, the customer is able to log in. I go through my usual ending spiel, and the call wraps up per usual.

Me: “Thank you for calling [Company’s] service desk, and have a wonderful day!”

Customer: “You, too.”

I stay on the line for a few seconds more, just in case he suddenly remembers something else he needs, and this is what I hear.

Customer: “I swear, they do this s*** just so some people can have a job.”

Manager: “Yeah, I’ll bet if I weren’t here, they would’ve been like, ‘Oh, let me send this ticket up and we’ll have it sorted out in two days!‘ F****** unbelievable…”

Bold words for two folks who put in a reset password for their username!

Related:
The Final Word On Passwords, Part 8
The Final Word On Passwords, Part 7
The Final Word On Passwords, Part 6
The Final Word On Passwords, Part 5
The Final Word On Passwords, Part 4

I am at a sandwich shop that lets you pick your own ingredients and have the sandwich made in front of you. As I’m picking my vegetables, the customer ahead of me at the register suddenly shouts.

Customer: “What do you mean, no?!”

I look over, as does the employee helping me.

Cashier: “I mean that I know that that woman is not paying for your sandwich.”

She gestures her head toward me, which baffles me, as I’ve never seen this man before in my life.

Customer: “Well, that’s… I mean…”

He blusters a bit, glancing over at me a bit awkwardly.

Cashier: “This is the third time you’ve come in and tried to convince us that someone else is paying. Yeah, we remember. Now, that will be [price], and if you think about coming back to do it again, just don’t.”

The customer stands there, looking like he is flipping between being angry and being intimidated. Finally, he does pay, takes his sandwich, and shuffles out. I get up to pay and glance back over my shoulder.

Me: “Wow. Did he really try that before?”

Cashier: “Yeah. The first time, we didn’t catch it until after the other person had paid, so that was a whole mess, because of course, he’d run off.”

Me: “Ouch. Well, glad you could call him out now.”

Cashier: *Nods and leans in* “Yeah. Just, don’t tell my boss. He’ll just get mad about me ‘upsetting a customer.’”

Me: *Raising an eyebrow* “As if I wouldn’t be upset about being charged for someone else’s sandwich?”

The cashier just gave an eye-roll and a shrug, while his coworker nodded and laughed. Here’s hoping that guy learned his lesson and didn’t try that again.