(It’s the first real, nice day of spring and I decide to treat myself on my lunch break by going to the drive-thru of a popular coffee chain. Everyone else in town has had the same idea as me, apparently, as the line is almost into the road. I am only about two minutes into an hour-long lunch, so I roll the windows down and get in line, deciding to enjoy the weather while I wait. After about fifteen minutes, I finally pull up to the order speaker.)

Barista: *sounding frazzled, even through the speaker* “Thank you for choosing [Coffee Shop]; I’ll be right with you.”

Me: “Absolutely, take your time! No rush.”

Barista: *now sounding relieved* “Thank you so much.”

(I settle back in and wait. And wait. Ten minutes pass before I hear a voice again, the same person.)

Barista: “Oh! My! God! I am so, so sorry for that wait! Thank you so much for your patience!”

Me: “No worries! You guys seem busy today; I don’t mind waiting.”

Barista: “Thank you so much. Ohm my gosh. My apologies again. What can I get started for you?”

(I order my drink — a medium specialty latte — and pull forward to the window with $10 in hand to pay. The barista opens the window and holds her hand up in a sort of “stop” gesture.)

Barista: “Please, don’t worry about the total. It’s on me today.”

Me: “What? Are you… Are you sure?”

(The drink I ordered is almost $10, and I’m worried the cost will come out of either the barista’s pocket or tips.)

Barista: “Absolutely. I can’t even tell you how much I appreciate your patience. It’s been an incredibly hectic day.”

Me: “Oh, my God, of course! I understand; it looked like Hell when I pulled in. If I wasn’t prepared to wait, I would have gone somewhere else.”

(The barista flashes me a huge, grateful smile and hands me a large-size cup. Before I can even say anything, the barista says:)

Barista: “Thank you again for understanding and your patience. This is just the least I can do to show you my appreciation. I hope you have a fantastic rest of your day!”

(Before she closed the window, I launched myself up to toss the $10 into the tip jar just inside. She laughed and shouted, “Thank you!” as I drove off. It was easily the most delicious and satisfying latte I’ve ever had!)

(We offer both hand-cut regular fries and sweet potato fries as choices of sides on our menu. A group of three older ladies sit and order, one of them ordering a side of sweet potato fries. Once they receive their food, the lady that ordered sweet potato fries beckons me over.)

Customer: “I am not happy with my sweet potato fries.”

Me: “I’m very sorry to hear that. Is anything wrong with them?”

Customer: “They’re not very crispy or cooked. I would like a side of regular fries, instead.”

(I bring her a side of regular fries, which are fairly crispy. I know that our sweet potato fries are dropped raw, which will never result in a crispy texture like regular fries. To get a crispy sweet potato fry, you have to do something to it, like put flour or cornstarch on them.)

Me: “Here is your side of fries, ma’am. We cook our sweet potato fries raw, so they won’t get crispy like you wanted, I’m sorry.”

Customer: “Raw? Well, you put your regular fries in raw, as well, don’t you?”

Me: “Yes, but they’re untreated–”

Customer: “Then they should be the same!”

Me: “But sweet potato fries are more fibrous; they won’t cook the same.”

Customer: “If you cook regular fries raw, then the sweet potato fries should be the same.”

Me: “Okay. Enjoy your meal, ma’am.”

(I’m working with one other girl when a regular customer comes in. My coworker is on the register, so she takes the woman’s order.)

Customer: “I’d like a medium French vanilla iced tea with whipped cream and caramel swirl.”

(I can tell my coworker is confused, but we’re trained to repeat the order back to the customer.)

Coworker: “That’s a medium French vanilla iced tea with whipped cream and caramel swirl?”

Customer: *smiling* “Oh, no, no one in my family drinks iced tea. I want a medium french vanilla iced tea with whipped cream and caramel swirl.”

(I’m watching all this go down and I know that our customer wants an iced coffee, but my coworker is just getting more frazzled. She repeats the order back again, saying “Iced Tea” instead of replacing it with “Iced Coffee.”)

Customer: *getting irate* “No! You won’t ever hear me order iced tea! I won’t drink it, my husband won’t drink it, and my daughter won’t drink it! Now, I want a medium French vanilla iced tea with whipped cream and caramel swirl!”

(My coworker looks helpless and this is the last straw for the customer. She demands to see the manager. No manager is on duty at the moment. She storms out, saying that she knows our assistant manager and is going to call her. Sure enough, the phone rings about thirty minutes later and it is our assistant manager.)

Manager: “Did you see all this happen?”

Me: “Yes, I did.”

Manager: “And what did she order?” 

Me: *quoting* “A medium French vanilla iced tea with whipped cream and caramel swirl.”

Manager: *laughing* “Well, that sounds gross, doesn’t it? Tell [Coworker] to make what she wants next time, not what she orders.”

(I am an assistant junior preschool teacher. Our class consists of kids age eighteen months to three years. This happens while reviewing animals with a pair of twins in the class.)

Me: “[Twin Sister], what animal says, ‘moo’?”

Twin Sister: “Cow!”

Twin Brother: “Vodka!”

(The lead teacher and I go dead face, wondering where on earth a near two-year-old could hear the word “vodka” and say it with such clarity.)

Me: “Did he just say, ‘vodka’?”

Lead Teacher: “I think so. [Twin Brother], what animal says, ‘moo’?”

Twin Brother: “Vodka!” 

(He is clearly proud of himself because he thinks he said the right word. By the end of the day, my coworker leaves instructing me to tell the twin’s mother what her son said and ask if she knows why.)

Me: “So, [Twin Brother] said something today and we really don’t know where he heard it.”

Twin’s Mother: *shocked* “Oh, really? What was it?”

Me: “Well, we asked what animal says, ‘moo,’ and [Twin Sister] said, ‘cow,’ but [Twin Brother] said, ‘vodka.’”

Twin’s Mother: *sighing with relief* “Oh! He’s saying, ‘vaca.’ It’s Spanish for ‘cow.’ I’ve taught them a couple of words and numbers in Spanish.”

(I decide to spoil my daughter and myself on this particular day. I have just gotten paid, as I get paid monthly through Social Security Death Benefits, and have just finished paying all bills and doing whatever shopping we need. I have taken my daughter out to dinner at a restaurant we don’t normally go to, as it is a bit pricey. While we are there, an older lady is trying to get ahold of a pharmacy and her insurance. I happen to overhear a snippet of her saying she was just released from the hospital after having a heart attack, and doesn’t know how she’ll be able to afford her medication. It is all I could do to hold tears back, remembering how hard it was when my husband was alive, and we were struggling to pay for his medication after his first heart attack. I tell my daughter to stay where she is and I walk up to this lady.)

Me: “Ma’am, I couldn’t help but overhear, but did I hear you correctly when you said you were just released from the hospital after a heart attack and didn’t know how you’d be able to pay for your medication?”

Lady: “It’s $1,100 a month! I don’t know how I’ll afford that and my insurance is being a pain. They may not get it going until tomorrow, but today I have no idea how I will get that medicine. I need it.”

Me: *understanding exactly how much she needs this* “Miss, if you allow me…”

(I press $40 into her hand, and hold it.)

Me: “My late husband had a heart attack, and it was a struggle to pay for his medication. Please accept this to get you by for today, at the least.”

Lady: “Oh, you don’t have to.”

Me: “Ma’am, I want to. I know how hard it is.”

Lady: “Thank you so much!”

(My daughter and I left before finding out if her insurance was able to cover today or not, but lady, I sincerely hope it got better for you. I know $40 is hardly enough to cover the cost of medication in this place, but I know even a little can go a long way.)