There’s a public park next to our store situated on a popular walking trail. During this particular summer, the city has closed the public parking lot that gave you access to the trail due to road work, so people take it upon themselves to think that they can park in our parking lot — for free — and use the park. Most of the time, if they come in and purchase something, my boss — who also happens to be a lawyer — will let them park there. There are two incidents, however, that stick out in my mind.

A woman with THAT haircut parks in our lot and goes to the park. My boss comes outside.

Boss: “You can’t park in our lot if you’re not a customer.”

She starts screaming and yelling at us.

Woman: “I’ll be sending a letter to the city mayor about this!”

Boss: “Go ahead. You send her a letter and I will send her two.”

The second incident involves a man who parks his car DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF OUR WINDOWS and then tries walking to the park.

Boss: “Sir, you need to move your car.”

Man: “No.”

Boss: “Either you need to move the car or I will move it for you.”

Man: “No.”

He then ignores my boss and waves him off.

My boss gets our large commercial truck we use to move things and parks it directly behind this man’s car. Then, he gets on the phone and calls a tow truck. The man comes over and begins complaining.

Boss: “Are you going to move it now?”

Finally, after much complaining, he agrees to move his car.

I get that the city had no backup plan for parking and many of the people who wanted to use this park could not because they didn’t want to purchase anything from our store. The city’s lack of planning isn’t everyone else’s fault, but still, I wonder to this day: why do people think that because a city closed the public parking lot it gives them the right to park wherever they want?

Related:
A Parking Spot Of Bother

I work at a small hotel on a popular tourist island. After the boats leave for the day, there is no other way to leave the island, and there is no other choice but to stay in a hotel or sleep outside.

This guest is someone who has missed the boat and is desperate for a room. We oblige, though because it is late, this involves calling in housekeepers who are off the clock. It is important to note that normally we are an expensive hotel, but the walk-in rate this time of year is 50% off.

It is about ten minutes after the guest has checked in.

Guest: “Excuse me, I have an issue with my room.”

Me: “I’m so sorry, ma’am. Could you tell me what the problem is so I can help resolve it?”

The guest slams the hot water knob for the bathroom sink onto the counter.

Guest: “I am appalled by your establishment. My son went to use the hot water in the bathroom, and the knob fell right off! I paid a lot of money to be here, and this is unacceptable! I NEED TO SPEAK TO A MANAGER THIS INSTANT!”

I know for a fact that this can’t be true, as I had helped the housekeeper get the room ready, and the knob itself looks like it was ripped forcefully from the base it attaches to. But we have been taught to never question a guest. My manager does not live on the island, so I get ready to fill out the appropriate forms myself.

Me: “I’m so sorry that this happened. Unfortunately, there is not a manager on property right now. However, if I can have you fill out this form, I will make sure you are not charged for the damage, and I will either call maint—”

The guest interrupts before I can give her the options.

Guest: “I know it wasn’t our fault. How dare you accuse me of that?! I can’t believe the service here! I am an important guest here! You need to do something about your behavior! Let me speak to a manager! You don’t deserve to work here!”

I am starting to lose my patience.

Me: “As I said, I’m sorry about the issue you are experiencing, but there is no manager here right now. I will let him know you would like to speak to him tomorrow. Now, I can call maintenance to fix your sink, or I can call someone to clean another room so you can move. What would you like to do?”

Guest: *Starting to yell* “I am an important guest! I don’t deserve this treatment! It’s late and we are tired. Those would take too long. You are forcing us to wash our hands in cold water like dogs!”

Me: *Taken aback* “May I suggest that, if the water is an issue but you don’t want us to fix it tonight, that you use the sink in the kitchenette next to the bathroom?”

The guest shrieks angrily and throws the faucet handle on the floor.

Guest: “I refuse! We will have to use cold water and it is all your fault! I will be back tomorrow to talk to your manager! I’ll have your job! I demand you give me the room for free for this treatment! This is not how you treat VIP guests!”

I am just done with this situation entirely.

Me: “I will see what can be done. Here is my manager’s card.”

The guest takes the card and storms off, still shrieking. I send an email detailing the entire situation to my manager, and the rest of my shift passes uneventfully. The next day, when I come into work, my manager asks to speak to me.

Manager: “I just wanted to let you know you don’t have to worry about the guest from last night.”

Me: “What ended up happening?”

Manager: “The guest told me you were rude and swore and refused to give her a room, and then, once she got one, it was trashed and you wouldn’t do anything. But I know you, and from the report you gave me and the housekeeper’s account, you did nothing wrong. When she checked out, I told her that we wouldn’t be giving her a discount for that, and she ran out screaming that we rob innocent people who just want a place to sleep.”

It turns out that she didn’t want to pay for a room after missing the last ferry boat, and didn’t want to pay for her mistake. I’m just glad that, for once, my manager stood behind me instead of the guest! The things people do…

I’m waiting on a couple and, as I give them their check, they also ask for the bill of a single army veteran I’ve also been waiting on. I happily give them the check and wait for them to leave before telling the man his bill was paid by a couple that wanted to thank him for his service.

Veteran: “Well, I really appreciate that. Honestly, I don’t need help with money, but here. Take this and if another veteran or just someone who seems to need the extra help comes in use it to pay for their bill and tell them ‘Merry Christmas.’”

He gives me $15, about the cost of his meal.

Me: “I would be happy to, sir, and thank you very much.”

All of this occurs as another table I have of two ladies that just ordered kids’ meals are getting up to leave. They are at the table right next to the veteran; they head out to the store area, I’m assuming to pay their bill and leave. I quickly clear the table and pick up the $4 left on it. About two minutes later, they return and stop me as I come out of the kitchen.

Lady #1: “How much money did we leave on the table?

Me: “There were $4 dollars left there.”

Lady #2: “Are you sure? Because she is missing a $5 bill?”

Me: “I’m sorry, I did not see it. There were only four ones on the table, but feel free to look around that area in case it fell on the floor.”

Lady #1: “Oh, no! What am I going to do?! I’m just not sure how I’m going to pay this check without it.”

As she is saying this, she keeps glancing at my server book where I have the money the veteran gave me separated from my own.

Me: “I’m sorry. I did not see it, again, but feel free to look around.”

I walked away thinking, “Your bill was only $5; it should not be that hard to come up with.” Later, I realized that the first lady had walked out without paying her bill after hearing the guy give me money to pay for someone’s meal. She decided to try and get the money from me, and after I ignored her fishing attempt, she just left figuring that I would have to do so anyway. Fortunately, my manager just wrote off the check and, by using my employee discount, the money the veteran gave me was enough to buy two meals for the many veterans that frequent my restaurant.

It is the holiday season. A customer is making a rather large purchase of about $400. Everything is going well until the customer’s credit card gets declined.

Customer: “Can I try it again?”

Me: “Yes, you can, but it will be the same result.”

The customer runs his card again and it is declined again.

Customer: “Why is my card being declined?”

Me: “We do not have access to that information. Perhaps your card has reached its limit.”

Customer: *Loud and angry* “What do you mean, my card has reached its limit? I put $2,000 on it this morning!”

Me: “Do you have another card you can use?”

The customer mumbles under his breath about our store declining his card. He finishes his purchase with another card, and as he walks away, he says:

Customer: “My card was good at [Other Store] so it should be good here! I’ll never shop here again!”

Me: “Have a very merry Christmas!”

When I’m walking somewhere with a lot of people, like a hallway, I tend to unintentionally make eye contact, smile, and then look away, whether or not I know the person. Most of the time, the only thing that happens is once in a while someone will tell me it’s cute that I smile at everyone. This is not one of those times.

I’m at a park, getting some family photos taken. While my mother and I make our way to a new photo site, I make accidental eye contact with a woman passing us on the path, so I smile, look away, and think that’s the end of it. Instead, the woman sees me smiling, stops, and doubles back to catch up with us.

Woman: “Do I know you?”

Me: “No?”

Woman: “But you smiled at me.”

Me: “I smile at everyone.”

Woman: “But you don’t know me.”

Me: “No.”

Woman: “But you smiled.”

She walked off, still muttering about how I’d smiled at her even though I didn’t know her. I’m still not sure whether to laugh at her confusion or feel sorry about whatever circumstances led her brain to short-circuit over something as simple as a stranger’s smile.