My coworker gets a lot of extra slack around the office, even though he is a truly difficult, aggravating, and even rude person at times. We all give him extra time and space. He puts his attitude down to his injury he picked up in active service; it causes him a lot of pain and affects his mood. The owner is a massive supporter of injured service personnel, so we all genuinely try to be more mindful.

One day, [Rude Coworker] loses it and has a massive shouting match over nothing with one of the office girls. She leaves in tears and ends up quitting. [Rude Coworker] is called into a meeting with Human Resources and the owner. Somehow, he keeps his job.

Even so, the rest of the staff aren’t happy; most people are angry. We are chatting in the break room later that day.

Coworker: “[Rude Coworker] has gone too far.”

New Guy: “He has always had a bad temper.”

Me: “Oh, did you serve with him?”

New Guy: “Serve?”

Coworker: “In the military.”

New Guy: *Laughing* “[Rude Coworker] was never in the military; they wouldn’t take him cause of his record.”

Me: “This is [Rude Coworker] [Last Name] we are talking about? The one with a limp?”

New Guy: “Yeah, that [Rude Coworker]. I was with him when he got that limp, in fact, climbing out of that factory window. We were stealing a load of copper wire. Of course, I got a suspended sentence because it was his idea.”

Coworker: “Right! I am not having this.”

She marched into HR in a fury and told them everything. The new guy got pulled in, and then so did [Rude Coworker]. [Rude Coworker] was sent home while they investigated, but he didn’t wait for the outcome and quit the next day. 

I heard when the owner found out, he told the team that he would personally give any recruiter the honest truth about him should he dare put the company down as a reference.

A man comes in with a paper coupon that looks like someone has doodled it up in MS Paint. It doesn’t mention our store by name at all; it just has the words “$1 Burger Meal” printed on it, with some clip-art of a burger and fries next to it, and the word “Valid” in one corner.

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, I can’t accept this coupon.”

I’m expecting him to laugh as if it was a joke, or try and argue, but he just stands there and stares at me silently.

Me: “Can I get you anything else?”

Customer: “What are you going to do to satisfy me?”

Me: “I’m willing to sell you a burger for [our price].”

He shook his head and rolled his eyes at me before turning and walking out of the building. Sorry I’m not willing to just hand you food for not falling for your scam.

I work in a suit shop. We sell a range of shirts which are piled on tables, folded along the sides. A woman comes in and starts rearranging the shirts by ninety degrees so that they barely fit along the table.

Me: “Can I help you, miss?”

Customer: “No.”

Me: “I’m sorry, but we are told how to arrange our shirts by our area manager, and you can’t move them around.”

Customer: “It’s okay; I’m the manager.”

Knowing this is a lie, I go and get our manager to talk to her.

Manager: “Sorry, miss, but we are told explicitly how our shop should be laid out by our area manager, so we can’t have them rearranged. Can I help you look for a shirt you’d like?”

Customer: “No, I’m not looking to buy anything. I’m the manager.”

Manager: “No, I am.”

Customer: “I mean I’m the area manager.”

Manager: “Oh, your name is Tom? That’s weird, you look different from how you did last Tuesday. Did you shave your beard?”

Customer: “Fine. But you’re not going to sell any shirts this way.”

It’s a Saturday, nothing especially noteworthy going on. I’m on my computer in my room and my mom’s down the hall watching TV. Suddenly, my phone rings; it’s my grandpa.

Me: “Hey, Grandpa! How are you?”

Grandpa: “[My Name], I’m at the bank. I have the money! Are you all right?”

Me: “What? I’m fine, Grandpa. What money?”

Grandpa: “The money you told me to send you! Are you all right? Are you in prison?”

I leap up, freaked out.

Me: “Prison?! What are you talking about?! Grandpa, I’m at home!”

Grandpa: “You’re… not in prison? Does your mother know?”

Me: “No! I’m in my room, at home! Mom’s right down the hall. Do you need to talk to her?”

Grandpa: “I think I might, yes.”

I go to my mom’s room.

Me: “Hey, uh, Grandpa’s on the phone, and I think something weird is going on.”

I handed her the phone and they talked for a while.

Apparently, some scammer had called my grandpa with the ol’ “Grandpa, it’s me, your grandson!” And my grandpa, being, you know, old, didn’t realize it wasn’t me, dropping my name and giving the scammer a chance to latch onto it. The scammer then gave him a sob story about how “I” had taken a trip to the city and gotten “myself” arrested somehow and that my grandpa needed to wire “me” a large sum of money to pay bail. The scammer also insisted that my grandpa not tell my mother about this, which he agreed to for some reason. He was already at the bank, checkbook in hand, but luckily, he had the presence of mind at that point to call my actual cell phone to confirm I was okay. 

The good news is that he didn’t lose any money. The bad news is that my mom was pretty pissed at him for a while for nearly getting scammed and for the notion that if I were in prison, he would attempt to keep that secret from her.

Every time this customer comes in, she comes up to the registers with some bakery item that she has pulled out of a bag and tries to insist she should be able to buy it separately — something like a single roll out of a bag of rolls or a single chocolate chip cookie out of a package.

We never actually sell it to her, but our spineless manager never kicks her out, either. He just wrings his hands and says it isn’t worth the trouble. Finally, one day, I have had enough when she approaches me with yet another product — a bagel this time.

I pull it out of her hand before she can say anything.

Me: “Oh, thank you.”

I drop it directly into the wastebasket behind my register.

Me: “I don’t know how these baked goods keep getting loose from their packaging, so thank you for bringing that up so we can dispose of it.” *Big slasher smile* “Is there anything else I can help you with today?”

Apparently, my sudden actions had stunned her into silence, as she just kind of gaped before scurrying off. Shortest interaction with her yet. I told a few of my coworkers, and they are going to do the same thing. Maybe we can drive her off with kindness if our manager isn’t willing to do it with policy.