(I’m moving in with my boyfriend and will be looking for a new job soon. My coworker and I are discussing job possibilities and a customer, who has already paid for his items, is eavesdropping.)

Me: I’d really like to try to get a job at the [well-known videogame store] because I think that would be so much fun!

Customer: *scoffs* You have to actually KNOW something about videogames to work at a [well-known videogame store]!

Me: Yeah, I know they generally want someone that knows about games. That’s the whole idea.

Customer: *rolls his eyes* Like you would know anything about videogames!

Me: *arches one eyebrow* I’m guessing you’re saying that because I’m a cute girl, right?

(Much to his shock, I start naming my favorite videogames and the systems I have owned through the years.)

Me: …Oh and I had the Sega CD. *wrinkles nose* It wasn’t that great.

Customer: *triumphantly* Ha! That shows what you know! It’s a Sega SATURN not a Sega CD!

Me: *smugly* On the contrary, my dear: the Sega CD came out before the Sega Saturn. It was an add-on for the Sega itself.

Customer: There’s no such thing!

Me: Google it.

(The customer whips out his smartphone and furiously types on it. He reads something then gives me dirty look.)

Customer: *snidely* I’ll bet you just found that out by chance while searching for something else! I bet you were just doing videogame related searches to impress your boyfriend!

Me: *snorts* Not likely.

Customer: *nearly shouting* There’s no way you knew that on your own! You had to have found it out from the internet because gamer chicks are ugly!

(With that he stormed out, nearly knocking over a regular, who has known me since I was a child, in the process.)

Regular: Why did he say female gamers are ugly?

Coworker: *shaking her head* That guy was all mad because [my name] said she wanted to work at a game store. According to his logic, pretty girls don’t know anything about videogames and don’t play them, either.

Regular: *arches one eyebrow and looks at me* So what does that make you then?

Me: *without skipping a beat* A figment of my boyfriend’s imagination.

(I work as a cashier. I wear a name tag, and I have a VERY common name: Amber. I can’t tell you how many times I had interactions like this one.)

Customer: *smiling* “Hi there! What’s your name?”

Me: *politely smiling as I scan their items* “Amber.”

Customer: “Ember? That’s neat, since you’re a redhead. Did your mom name you that because of your hair?”

Me: *shaking my head* “No, no. AMBER, not Ember. Like the stone, not like fire.”

Customer: *completely ignoring what I just said* “Ambra? What kind of name is that?”

Me: “Italian, I think. But that’s not my name. It’s Amber.” *points at name tag* “See? Amber. A-M-B-E-R!

Customer: *finally looking at name tag* “Oh, AMBER! Well why didn’t you say so?”

Me: “…”

I work with kindergarten students with special needs. A majority of the students I work with are on the autism spectrum, and because this school is small, every staff member who has been around for a long while knows my students. The cafeteria staff is also well aware, and knows most of the students by name, especially kindergarteners.

I was in line with one of my girls on the spectrum, who normally is very self-sufficient and doesn’t need me one-on-one very often. I just happened to be with her for lunch due to my other students being out of school, or not in lunch at that time.

Lunch was hot dogs, with optional chili and optional cheese. Unbeknownst to me, students weren’t allowed to get cheese unless they had chili. My student only wanted cheese, so she poured some melted cheese onto the hotdog, just in time for the lunch lady to yell at her from across the room, “No chili, no cheese!”

My student started bawling for fear of being in trouble.

The lunch lady then took the hotdog off her plate and placed a plain one on it, mumbling about students not paying attention and wasting food.

I had another member of cafeteria staff make fun of one of my boys on the spectrum, who is self-sufficient and will get his own items, even if it means returning items an adult placed on his tray. When I mentioned that he had OCD, the staff member rolled her eyes and proceeded to mock him.

Both students were six years old at the time of these stories.

Sometimes, I have to remind myself that prison orange is not my color and that these students need me more.

(The bank calls the store as my manager is getting ready to open for the day.)

Manager: “[Store], how can I help you?”

Banker: “Good morning. This is [Banker] from [Bank]. I’m calling to let you know that your deposit from last night is one hundred dollars short.”

Manager: *shocked* “A hundred?! There’s no way I would have missed that much of a difference!”

Banker: “I’m afraid so, ma’am. The deposit is one hundred dollars short of the number on the envelope.”

Manager: “But how could that even happen?”

Banker: “Well, ma’am, the hundred-dollar bill from your deposit is, unfortunately, a fake.”

Manager: *pause* “You could have just told me that.”

So this customer wants to get service with a company I’ve represented and done sales for for about 4 years. She wants service features that cost a one-time fee of $100 but her husband doesn’t want to pay the $100. I agree to cover the $100 OUT OF MY OWN POCKET. We also give her an EXTRA $60 device FREE of charge. On the day the service is due to be hooked up the technician doesn’t have the equipment and mistaken says to the customer that she will have to pay the $100 for the equipment (she has my direct number and instructions to call me if she needs anything). She instead calls everyone but me until I hear that she is having an issue. I call her to explain that we are still going to cover the $100 that EVERY other customers has to pay but she is upset because she says she didn’t know I was a 3rd party. I say to her, “ma’am it doesn’t matter. Your customer service is better because you are able to contact us directly instead of having to call into a 1-800 number. She is still mad. She feels mislead. In spite of the fact that she is the person asking for special treatment that she would NEVER get from anywhere. We extend her every courtesy available and instead of being a normal human being decides to hang up on me and start texting me nonsense about how she should have went through the company directly. Just another example of a customer too focused on being ad instead of focusing on getting satisfied.