(It’s just after work. I head over to a store where I saw a cardigan during lunch. It has been a long day and I am exhausted. I only have enough money in my account for the cardigan. I get stopped by an employee working a skin care stall.)

Employee: “Could I interest you in a free face cleanse and massage?”

Me: “No, I am sorry. I don’t want to waste your time as I do not have the money to buy anything off you.”

Employee: “No, no obligation. You look exhausted and I thought you would just like to relax for a moment.” *takes hold of my arm, leads me to a chair*

Me: “No, thanks.”

Employee: “Come on. You are exhausted. Just do something for you for this once.”

Me: *giving in* “Okay, but remember I can’t buy anything.”

Employee: “Okay.” *starts rubbing lotion on my face and gives me relaxing massage* “You’ve had botox!”

Me: “No”

Employee: “Wow, your cheeks are really nice and firm. No wrinkles.”

Me: “Um, thanks.”

(He finishes the massage and I am feeling a bit refreshed until he starts ringing up items on the register.)

Employee: “You need this, this, and this. Total is $120.”

Me: “No, I am not buying anything. I already told you that I don’t have the money.”

Employee: *starts slamming things down* “But…”

Me: “No buts. I didn’t want to do this but you pretty much dragged me over until I agreed even though I told you I had no money for it. Anyway, I like to feel how things go on my face and if there is a reaction before I buy. I was thinking of coming back tomorrow to purchase but your attitude now has put me off that.”

(I got my cardigan, which was the most expensive I’d ever bought. It has been five years and it’s still beautiful.)

(I am 15 years old, and I work in my cousin’s burger van or cafe during the school breaks. Often I will be in the kiosk late at night when all the clubs close while my cousin is still working. One night a group of guys in their 30s comes up, slightly drunk, and ordered a bunch of food.)

Customer #1: “You having fun tonight?”

Me: “Uh, yeah. Sure.”

Customer #2: “Oh, god, leave her alone, dude!”

Me: *laughs nervously*

Customer #1: “Oh, come on… Hey, you see that sausage on the hotplate?”

Me: “Uh, yeah?”

Customer #1: “I could give you double the sausage on that hotplate if you come back with me.”

Me: “Oh, is that so?”

Customer #1: “Oh yeah, totally.”

(I laugh and let him carry on, his friends just laughing at him.)

Me: “So, I’m curious. Do you always talk to minors like that?”

Customer #1: “What?!”

Me: “Well, I’m 15.”

(Customer #1 runs off in a hurry without his order, red faced.)

Customer #2: “Well, he won’t live that down any time soon!”

(I am a customer in this story. I’m queuing for ice cream at a mini fast-food stand in a well-known flat-pack furniture shop. Ahead of me is a father and mother with two children, an older girl around 10 years old and a younger boy. The system is that you buy tokens and cones from a cashier, and then put the tokens in an ice cream machine to make your own soft-serve in the cones.)

Cashier: “These cones are smaller than our usual ones. You have to wrap a napkin around them so the machine registers them. Okay?”

Father: “Yeah, yeah.” *hands the stuff to his wife and she takes the kids to the ice-cream machine while he gets their furniture*

Me: “One ice cream, please.”

Cashier: “Sure.”

(The cashier hands me my change, my token, and the cone, and repeats the information about the small cones and to be sure to use the napkin.)

Me: “Okay, thank you!”

(I follow the mother and children to the ice cream machine.)

Mother: *repeatedly trying to use the machine* “What is wrong with this stupid machine?”

Little Girl: “You have to wrap the napkin around the cone, mammy.”

Mother: *ignoring child* “[Father], the machine isn’t working!”

Father: *coming over* “Let me try.”

Little Girl: “You put the napkin around the cone, daddy.”

Father: *also ignoring child* “Piece of crap machine.”

Little Girl: “Daddy, you have to put the napkin around the cone!”

Father: *raising his voice, sarcastic* “I heard you the first time! Thank you for your input!”

Mother: “Forget it.”

(The father takes the tokens and cones back to get a refund, while the kids’ faces fall. The mother turns to me.)

Mother: “The machine is broken. Don’t bother.”

Me: “Are you sure? The–”

Mother: “You’re seeing me walk away, aren’t you?”

(The mother grabs the disappointed kids and stalks off to wait for the father. I step up, wrap the napkin around the cone, pop the token in the machine, and voila! Ice cream! I take the ice cream and go look for my own parents, and immediately walk past the waiting mother and children.)

Little Boy: “Look, mammy. Why did hers work?”

(Feeling bad for the kids, I walk off quickly so they don’t have to watch me eat my ice cream. I find my own parents, and we go to our car with our new furniture. As we’re walking, another car screeches out in front of us rudely and dangerously, and drives past: it’s the same family, and the smart, ignored little girl and the disappointed little boy both look out the window to see me still eating the delicious ice cream. Wherever you are, little girl, I hope your parents’ total lack of listening skills aren’t getting you down. You were right!)

(I’m the customer in this story. I’ve come to the mall and on the way out I visit a stall that makes crêpes.)

Me: “Yeah, I’d like a ham with manchego one, please.”

Worker: *Inputs the order in the computer* “Would you like chipotle or jalapeño, sir?”

(I’ve wandered into my own thoughts and don’t listen.)

Worker: “Sir?”

Me: *snapping back* “Uh?”

Worker: “Chipotle or jalapeño, sir?”

Me: “Yes.”

(The worker stares at me awkwardly and then I realize what I just said.)

Me: “Sorry, sorry! Chipotle, please.”

(The rest of the transaction goes without any trouble and then they proceed to make the crêpe.)

Worker: “You tell me how much chipotle do you want, sir.”

(I look at her dabbing a little of the stuff and then adding more and more.)

Worker: “Uh… are you distracted again?”

Me: “Not this time. I just like it spicy.”

(As a Girl Scout, we have no control over the price of Girl Scout cookies. They have gone up to $4 for around two years now.)

Me: “Would you like to buy any Girl Scout cookies?”

Lady: “Yes, I love Girl Scout cookies! How much are they?”

Me: “They are $4 a box, ma’am.”

Lady: “YOU’RE LYING TO ME! MY DAUGHTER USED TO SELL THEM FOR $3.50!”

Me: “Ma’am, they have been $4 now for around two years. That is the price and we have no control over it.”

Lady: “You are just trying to make some extra cash! My daughter used to charge 50 cents extra all the time! Now give me the real price!”

Me: “That was against the rules, and we have never done that! If you refuse to pay the full price, we cannot sell cookies to you!”

Lady: “FINE! Do you take checks?”

Me: “Yes, ma’am, we do! What would you like?”

Lady: “I want two boxes of cookies! NOW!”

Me: “Yes, ma’am. That will be $8.”

(She gives us a check, takes the cookies, and walks away. As I look at the check I notice it is only for $7! I run after the lady.)

Me: “Excuse me! We need another dollar!”

Lady: “F*** you! You are just cheating me!”

(She backs up in her car, almost hits me, and throws a dollar out the window! Then she races out of the parking lot!)

This story is part of our Girl Scouts roundup!

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