(The weather has turned cold, and as I arrive for work I notice that inside feels colder than outside. I turn on the AC, which has been put on cooling. We have one coworker who complains about the heat; even in the middle of winter she will sneakily put the AC on to cooling. She cannot be made to understand that customer comfort comes first over staff; if it’s too cold, even in summer, they will leave the shop. The place starts warming up, but not enough for me to remove my cardigan that I am wearing over a long-sleeve top. Customers have their jackets on and are complaining about the coldness of the place. As a supervisor, I carry a set of manager’s keys that access the office.)

Coworker: “[My Name], can I have the key for the office?”

Me: “What do you need it for?”

Coworker: “Uh… I was going to adjust the AC; it’s soooo hot out here.”

Me: “I’ve got work to do in the office. I’ll do it when I get there.”

(I leave it for about ten minutes and then set it just one degree down as I sit down to do my work. Several minutes later the internal phone rings.)

Coworker: “[My Name], did you forget about the AC? It’s still too hot out here.”

Me: “I’ve already turned it down; it should be cooling down out there soon.”

Coworker: “Okay, thanks. I think it does feel better.”

(I get into work early one morning on my opening shift. I see a pile of stock on the counter, a note from my manager to me saying that a coworker wanted to buy these, and instructions on how I should ring them up and the discount I am to use. I leave the items at the counter with the note. When coworker finishes her shift, she comes down to buy the items.)

Coworker: “These are part of some damaged stock. [Manager] said I could get 50% off. Can you ring me up?”

Me: “Wait a minute. Wasn’t there note with them? Where is it?”

Coworker: “Oh, it just had my name on it. I threw it out.”

Me: “There were some specific instructions on it that I had to follow.”

Coworker: “No. I don’t think there were. It was only my name.”

(I check the bin and can’t find it amongst the other papers in there. I also look in a bin that is hidden at the back of other items. We only ever use this one to replace the other when it’s full because it’s so far out of the way. I find the note in it, all smashed up. I ring up the sale with the discount that the manager had written, a lot less than 50%. I see the manager the next day.)

Manager: “So, did [Coworker] buy items yesterday?”

Me: “Yes, lucky I saw that note you wrote when I got in.” *I explain everything*

Manager: “I knew she was up to something. She tried asking me for 50%; I told her I couldn’t do it but was able to offer her 30%. She told me she would buy it the next day. I wanted to see what she did, and this was also a test to see what you would do.”

(It’s not the first time that this coworker did something like this, but she never got into major trouble because she claimed mental illness. On the other hand, a manager, who has sworn to me before and since that she does not set “tests” for her staff, would have happily given me a warning.)

(I am having a horribly frustrating day at this point. I’m overworked. The weather is horrible. Walking back to work, a construction worker with his mates wolf-whistles at a girl a couple of feet ahead of me.)

Me: *turning to face him* “Thanks, mate, but sorry; I’m straight.”

(The guy went red as his mates laughed. Made me feel better.)

(My university tutor, an incredibly strict and intimidating old man with a thick Danish accent, is briefing us on our upcoming assignment.)

Tutor: “For the first part of the assignment, you must write definitions for these terms.”

(He writes the terms all out on the board.)

Tutor: “Do not come to me for definitions; I will not tell you. You must find them yourselves, either through research or looking back over your notes.”

(He takes a seat at his desk and sits there, silently staring at as all, for about fifteen seconds before jumping to his feet again.)

Tutor: “You know what? I’ll just write all the definitions up on the board. What are they going to do, fire me?”

(He writes each and every definition up on the board and tells us all to write them down in our notebooks. When I come to actually work on the assignment, I decide to reword the definitions as best I can, so as not to blatantly plagiarise him. The following week he sees my work.)

Tutor: “No, no, no, write down the definitions I gave you the other week, word for word. Do not reword them.”

(I went and reworded them and submitted it the following week. Needless to say, the whole class got 100% on that part of the assignment, and to my knowledge, the tutor never got in trouble for it.)

(I’m a property manager. I’m showing a house for rent to a young couple. Having just been in the house to unlock and check it over, I cringe a little when I see the couple pull up and get out of their car. The man is very clearly wearing a collar that indicates he is a priest or pastor of some kind. I’m an atheist and don’t have a lot of good experiences with religious people, plus, I’m well aware of what the inside of the house looks like. They greet me very warmly, take their adorable toddler out of the backseat, and start commenting on how nice the street is.)

Preacher: “Shall we go inside? It’s in a great location, only a few blocks from my church! We’re so excited to finally take over our own church; our last one was a challenge.”

Me: “Uh, yes, but I have to warn you, it’s currently being used as a share house for a few university students.”

Wife: *laughs* “We’re no strangers to a bit of mess!”

(We walk inside the house and I brace myself for impact. Obviously the occupants of the house are an eclectic bunch, because in the lounge-room there is some kind of Wiccan altar set up, and nailed above the door is a Jewish star. Just inside one of the rooms there are mannequins set up with drag costumes hanging on them, several pictures of two young men dressed in said costumes, along with pictures of those two young men out of drag, kissing. The couple says nothing about any of this. They ask me about school districts, local shops, and other mundane questions about parking and ceiling fans. I relax more and more as they talk, and eventually they glance at each other and start laughing.)

Preacher: “Ma’am, if you don’t mind me saying, you walked in here as nervous as a lizard on a hot road.”

Wife: *still laughing* “Did you think we were going to flip out?”

Me: “Well, I wasn’t sure how you were going to react to all this. I mean, it is a lot…”

Preacher: *points at the Star of David and addresses his daughter* “What’s that, honey?”

Little Girl: “Star of David! Like Aunty’s necklace! And look, Daddy: those boys have pretty dresses! They’re in love!”

Preacher: “They sure do!”

Little Girl: “They gonna get married?”

Preacher: “I hope they can soon!”

(While the couple ended up going with a different house closer to their church, I will never forget the faith in humanity they restored for me that day. I feel like they are what Christians are supposed to be. I still see them regularly; their church rents a few of my houses as women’s safe havens and a halfway house for homeless in our area!)