I’m a customer in this story. I don’t live in the best part of town but I have a good relationship with many local store owners. I get to the counter just behind another customer. He has a four-pack of mixed drinks, which he holds in his hands instead of putting on the counter. The cashier reaches out to get them to scan, and the guy loses it.

Customer: “What the f***?! You touched my hand! Don’t touch me, you homo! I don’t want those; I’m not buying anything from this homo shop!”

The cashier thinks the guy is making some off-colour joke and gives a half-hearted laugh.

Customer: “Why are you laughing?! What is wrong with you, you homo?! Everyone in this shop is a f****** homo! I’m not buying s*** from this homo shop!”

The awesome owner comes out of the backroom:

Owner: “Good, get out! We don’t want your money! Piss off!” 

The customer stormed out, got in his car, and gunned it, screeching out of the carpark and screaming out his window about how no one should go to this shop because it’s a “homo shop.”

I turned to the cashier and both of us just had “What the f***?” expressions on our faces.

I work for a family-owned chain of liquor stores in Texas. It’s the day before Thanksgiving, and we’ll be closed the next day due to Texas liquor laws. I’m the wine department lead; one of my coworkers comes up to me to ask me to help a customer that’s looking for wine.

Me: “Hello, sir, what can I help you find today?”

Customer: “Yeah, I need a case of this [Sweet, Cheap Sparkling Wine]. You’re supposed to have a case set aside at all times for [Customer], but you never have it!”

I’ve never seen this man in my life, and we’ve never had a standing order for this wine since I’ve been working at this location.

Me: “Let me check our inventory for you, sir.”

We only have three bottles at my location, but another of our locations less than ten minutes away shows that they have two full cases.

Me: “I’m so sorry, sir, but you’ve got the only three bottles we have in the store. [Other Location] has two cases, though, so they should be able to help you. Do you want me to call them and ask them to set nine more bottles aside? We can give you the case price at both locations.”

The customer has been rude up until this point, but he starts yelling in our packed store.

Customer: “I need those bottles, now! Here, not at [Other Location]! Call them and tell them to bring it to me!”

According to Texas liquor laws, we can’t transfer across the county line, and our other location isn’t in the same county as us — never mind the fact that our transfer trucks aren’t running during the third busiest day of the year for us.

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, but [Other Location] is in [County], so we can’t do a transfer. Even if we could, though, we wouldn’t be able to get it until next week.”

Customer: “You’ve just ruined my Thanksgiving! I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY!”

He stormed off and complained about me to my store manager, who ended up checking him out. He got even angrier when my manager pointed out, cheerfully, that the other location was just a straight shot ahead, with only one turn.

This story is part of the Thanksgiving 2022 roundup!

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Read the Thanksgiving 2022 roundup!

I’m standing in line at my local liquor store and see three young lads attempting to buy a carton of rum. 

Cashier: “I’m sorry, but I can’t sell this to you without seeing some form of ID.”

Customer #1: “Oh, yeah, sure.”

The customer hands over his license.

Cashier: “This says you’re only sixteen. I can’t sell you alcohol.”

Customer #1: “Oh, it’s just old. Can’t you accept it?”

Cashier: “Doesn’t matter how old it is; your birthday never changes.”

Customer #1: “All right, I got another way.”

He takes out his mobile phone and begins tapping, and then he holds it up to the cashier.

Customer #1: “See? It says you must be over eighteen to access this website. I hit this, and I’m in! I must be over eighteen!”

Cashier: “That doesn’t tell me your age. It just says to me that you know how to access an adult website. You need to leave now.”

The kids seemed really disappointed and left at that point.

I work at a chain liquor store in my state as a wine specialist.

Customer: “So what’s the difference between cabernets and merlots?”

I explain the differences between the two wines, like what they taste and smell like.

Customer: “No, what do they do differently so they’re called cabernet, or merlots, or chardonnay?”

Me: “Oh! That’s easy, ma’am; it depends on the grape used to make the wine.”

Customer: “But… all wine is made from grapes. So what do they do differently?”

Me: *Pause* “Ma’am, they use different grapes to make different wines. Cabernet, chardonnay, and merlot are different types of grapes.”

Customer: “There are more than two types of grapes?!”

I can’t tell you how loud I was screaming in my head.

This story is part of the second Wine roundup!

Read the next Wine roundup story!

Read the Wine roundup!

In my town, there is a mask mandate ordinance: customers who shop in town must wear a mask, with the exception of those who have medical conditions, or businesses may be fined. There are several signs on the door stating this.

A man walks in without a mask.

Me: “Sir, do you have a mask?”

Customer: “No, why do I gotta have one? I’m just getting one thing.”

Me: “I can’t check you out if you don’t have one on; it’s city ordinance.”

He leaves, cursing under his breath, and I assume that is the last I’ll see of him. Two hours later, my coworker tells me that the next gentleman in line has a medical condition that prohibits him wearing a mask. Even if he doesn’t have a condition, we aren’t allowed to inquire further and are just supposed to let them through, so that’s what I do. It just so happens that the man from before comes back as I am ringing this customer up and immediately becomes enraged. 

Customer: “Oh, so you just let him through because he’s white? I see how it is, racist f***!”

Me: “No, he has a medical condition and we can’t force people who say that to wear a mask.”

Customer: *Yelling* “Oh? Well, I gotta condition, too! That’s mad disrespectful to me!”

Me: “You didn’t state that you had a condition. I wouldn’t have made you put a mask on had you said something.”

I’m getting agitated because he’s screaming that I’m a racist across the store.

Coworker: “Sir, she just followed what we were told to do—”

Customer: *Cuts her off* “This doesn’t concern you.”

He turns back and continues to yell at me. I’m doing my best to get him to leave while helping other customers since we’re busy and understaffed.

Me: “Sir, I already said that if you had mentioned you had a condition, I would have let you through!”

I yell over him, completely pissed off at this point, before turning away to continue working.

Customer: “Yeah, all right, I see you.”

He slammed open the door and walked out. My coworkers did their best to calm me down since I was shaking and furious at being screamed at in front of a dozen other customers. Please don’t verbally assault us for having to enforce the rules that the city put into place! We don’t like it any more than you do.

Related:
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 6
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 5
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 4
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 3
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 2