(I work at a store in my hometown. It’s the Sunday after Thanksgiving and my mother, sister, and I have gone shopping in a larger town with a larger location than ours. We walk around looking for Christmas gifts and then get to the checkout area.)

Mom: “OH MY.”

(There is still a long line, stretching back several aisles from the registers.)

Mom: “I’m not waiting in that line.”

(She sets the item she was going to purchase down on a display.)

Me: “You know, you could give that to an employee instead of leaving it sitting there. We have buckets at our registers for that.”

(Mom picks her item back up and asks one of the employees directing traffic if she can take the item.)

Employee: *cheerfully* “I’d be happy to take it for you!”

(My least favorite thing is picking up stray items that are left in areas they don’t belong. Bring it to the register with you and we’ll take it. Or flag down an employee on the floor and ask if we can put it back instead of leaving it for us to find later.)

(I work in a small-town location of a very large fast food chain that is known for its signature burgers. I am working an afternoon shift with several other employees and the general manager of the location. A little while after I have clocked in, the fryer station begins beeping very loudly and displays the word “HELP” on its LED screen. After about five minutes, it starts to get a little annoying.)

Me: “Why does the fryer station keep beeping like that?”

Coworker: “Nobody really knows. We think it’s probably faulty wiring, but we aren’t really sure.”

(Suddenly, the general manager storms out of her office and starts pressing buttons on the fryer station to get it to shut up.)

General Manager: *to the fryer station* “YOU DON’T NEED HELP! We’ve talked about this!”

Related:
Inhuman Resources

I work in a fast food restaurant that is inside a convenience store. One day, the store manager had five cartons of “soft pack” cigarettes set aside to be returned. They had been ordered by mistake, as most smokers prefer the standard, harder packs.  

When the vendor came to pick them up, only four cartons were there. The manager started looking at the cameras to try to catch the thief. While he was looking, another employee came in and told him that one of the fast food workers who was working that day was outside smoking those specific, uncommon cigarettes.

The manager confronted the employee, who confessed and offered to pay for them to keep his job. The manager refused, and the employee was fired.

Who is stupid enough to smoke the very things you stole at the place you stole them from?

When I was ten years old, the summer program I attended went on a field trip to a local indoor waterpark. I tried using a feature where one walked across on lily-pad-like flotation devices while also using a net above, but ended up slipping off and getting trapped underneath one of them.

The worst part was that the lifeguard — nor anyone else, for that matter — seemed not to notice, and the other kids continued to walk on the lily pads, despite my predicament. After what felt like forever, I freed myself, but due to embarrassment, I said nothing about it and went to do something else.

Ten minutes later, the summer program staff announced we were going back to the site early — we’d been there for only an hour — due to inattentive lifeguards, which made me wonder what else had happened, since none of them asked if I was okay.

While shopping at a mall, I walked past a kiosk and the saleswoman at the kiosk tried to get my attention. I did what I normally do and ignored her. She tried to grab my shoulder as I walked past, so I grabbed her hand with my own hand, pulled it off my shoulder and twisted it to put her wrist into an uncomfortable angle before telling her never to touch me again. At that point, I let go and walked away.

After leaving the store I was visiting, I returned the other way and saw that the same saleswoman was at the kiosk. As I was watching her, she approached a female shopper and did the same thing when that shopper ignored her: she put her hand on the female shopper’s shoulder and tried to turn her around.

The female shopper screeched, whirled around, and hit the saleswoman in the side of the head with her purse. I don’t know what was in that purse, but the saleswoman dropped like a stone and was out cold on the floor. Mall security was there within a minute or so, and by that time the saleswoman was starting to come around.

Police were called — they happen to have officers stationed at the mall, so it didn’t take them long to arrive — and they started collecting statements from witnesses. I gave a statement from what I saw and also relayed my previous encounter with the saleswoman. I also saw them ask something of the mall security guard, who pointed up at the black domes on the ceiling, clearly indicating to the police where the security cameras were located.

The saleswoman refused medical attention and insisted on pressing charges against the shopper. The police officer laughed and said, “Lady, if the security camera footage matches up with what the witnesses have said, you’re the only one who’s going to be charged with anything.”