My family was down by my college for a surgery that my mother was having so they decided to come to visit me. We all decided that we were hungry and went to a popular taco fast food place in town.

When we got there, we pulled up to the speaker and no worker said a thing. We tried around five times to get their attention, including backing up and pulling forward to set the sensor off. No response.

We finally pulled up to the window to see what was going on. When we got up to the window, they told us that they were so short-staffed they didn’t have enough people to man the drive-thru. The thing was, there was no sign out front or on the speaker to say so.

We went inside to order and found out they were out of nachos and their pop machine was not working. One of the employees apologized about it and the drive-thru and said that their boss told them they could not put up a sign saying the drive-thru was closed.

I get that you have to look professional, but if the drive-thru is closed, you need to tell the customers before they pull up. We watched at least five people pull up to the drive-thru and sit there for minutes before driving away.

I work as a teacher’s assistant for a first-grade class, meaning I follow students to their specials. We are currently in art class watching the art teacher give a demonstration on how to draw an owl.

Two boys are sitting together at a table. [Student #1] is new to the school, while [Student #2] went here as a kindergartener. 

[Student #1] is impressed with the teacher’s work and upset with his own.

Student #1: “Aw, man, she’s really good!”

[Student #2] is trying to be comforting.

Student #2: “Don’t worry; she’s been doing this for 2,000 years!”

A woman comes in to visit her mother. She’s been here several times before, each time signing in with no trouble. She’s in her forties and doesn’t have any visible disabilities.

Visitor: “Where’s my badge?”

I tilt the sign-in tablet so I can see it.

Me: “Oh, you just need your mother’s last name here.”

Visitor: “It is there! See?”

She points to it as if I don’t know where to look.

Me: “Yes, but you need just her last name, not her first.”

I fix it for her and hand her badge to her. She just stares at me a second.

Visitor: “Oh… that’s so confusing.”

She wandered off, leaving me thinking, “Why wasn’t it confusing the last dozen or so times you did it?” She must have been having a really off day.

I’m on an overnight trip with minimal phone usage allowed. I’m desperately missing my girlfriend, so I find somewhere quiet and give her a call, even though it’s nighttime and I very rarely call people. The conversation greatly helps to soothe my loneliness and homesickness, and the call comes up in a later conversation.

Girlfriend: “I saw your number pop up on my phone and I kid you not, my first thought was, ‘Oh, crap, she’s dead.'”

Me: “How would I have called you if I was dead?”

Girlfriend: “I’m sure you would’ve found a way.”

I have owned a small shop that sells local items for over twenty years. It is located near a large university and is surrounded by expensive neighborhoods, so we have three general groups of customers: college students, wealthy locals, and tourists. Over the years, I have grown weary of bad customers, and our policy now is to dish out whatever we are served. This goes over well with the college students, who are some of our best customers. The others, though?

Customer: “Can you open this box so I can inspect what’s inside? I’m buying it for my daughter’s dorm room.”

Me: “Absolutely!”

I open the box and let her inspect everything inside. She hands the box back to me and says she’s going to look around and then buy the item after. I go back to serving other customers.

Customer: “I tried looking for another one of those, but I can’t find any. Do you have any more?”

Me: “Unfortunately, the local seller that made that recently died, so this is literally the last one we have. Did you need more than one? Maybe I can find someone who could produce something similar.”

Customer: “No, I just didn’t want to get the one that was already open.”

I look back at the box, which I just opened for this same customer just a few minutes ago. It has been taped shut, and the tape has not been disturbed.

Me: “What?”

Customer: “That one’s tainted! I wanted a fresh one!”

Me: “Ma’am, you are the only one that has handled that item since we received it.”

Customer: “Well, it’s tainted! You shouldn’t sell opened items!”

Me: “It’s not a perishable item. It’s not a hygiene issue. The product was in perfect shape and you were satisfied with it.”

Customer: “That’s not the point!”

Me: “Yes, it is. I’ve had enough of this. Get out.”

And with a huff, she did leave. That last product, opened box and all, sold by the end of the week.

Related:
Thinking Outside The Box, Part 6
Thinking Outside The Box, Part 5
Thinking Outside The Box, Part 4
Thinking Outside The Box, Part 3
Thinking Outside The Box, Part 2