(I have just turned 16. I work in the game department of an amusement park, where we operate the games and give out prizes to the customers manually, as only a few games start when the customer puts money in. I am stationed at one of the more stressful games, where up to fourteen people can play against each other, and the winner gets a prize determined by how many people are playing. I have had several full rounds with 14 people playing, and have a big crowd waiting to play. A young couple and their son, maybe five or six years old, come up and join the next game. It’s full, and I activate all the sections, but manage to deactivate the sections that the father and son are playing on. I realize midway through the game, and talk to them after it has ended.)

Me: “I’m very sorry; I managed to deactivate your sections before we started the game. I would be happy to either refund your money, or let you play a game with just the two of you so that you are guaranteed a prize, but I cannot give you the first prize since it would only be the two of you.”

Father: “I just feel like we should be allowed to play for the first prize, since you messed up.”

Me: “I am very sorry for messing up, but I cannot let you play for the first prize as I would get in a lot of trouble.”

(I can see the mother getting angry as I apologize, and before the father can get another word in, she snaps.)

Mother: “I JUST CAN’T BELIEVE THAT THEY HIRE SUCH STUPID CHILDREN FOR THIS JOB! IT HAS BEEN A HOT DAY, AND THE LINES HAVE BEEN SUPER LONG, AND WE CAME HERE TO WIN A BIG PRIZE FOR OUR SON BECAUSE HE HAS BEEN HAVING A HORRIBLE DAY!”

Me: “I’m very so—”

Mother: “THIS SHOULD COME OUT OF YOUR PAY! YOU SHOULD GIVE US THE FIRST PRIZE AND PAY FOR IT YOURSELF, YOU USELESS B****! I’M GOING TO SUE YOU AND THIS WHOLE STUPID PLACE, YOU STUPID B****!”

(The father finally manages to calm her down and turns to me.)

Father: “We will take our money back, please.”

(I give them their money back and realize that there are several people still around the game. As soon as the couple and their son leaves, all the people that had gathered also leave. Shaking, I step out of the game booth to breathe, when a coworker comes up to me.)

Coworker: “Are you okay? I could hear her screaming all the way up at my game. You’re doing a great job.”

(I promptly start crying and ask her if she can watch my game so that I can go and breathe in the office for a second. My supervisor hears me crying and asks what has happened. As I tell her, she gets more and more angry, and asks me to come back out and see if the lady is still there so that I can point her out.)

Me: “That’s her, over there.”

(The lady obviously spots me with my supervisor and comes stomping down towards us.)

Mother: “Look, I obviously upset you earlier, so I’m here to apologize.” *steps a little closer to me* “I’ve been working in this kind of industry for several years, and you just have to suck up and get used to it. I mean, you have to just own up to your mistakes and listen to the customer.” *steps even closer, causing me to step back*

Supervisor: “Ma’am, you need to step back from my employee.”

Mother: “I’M JUST TRYING TO APOLOGIZE! SHE MADE A MISTAKE AND SHOULD OWN UP TO IT; LET ME APOLOGIZE!” *looks as if she is going to shove my supervisor.*

(My supervisor then radioed in to security that they needed to get up there ASAP, and not even two minutes later they came running. I had started crying again, and two of the security officers took me away with them to calm me down. I ended up getting a free soda from one of them, and the lady was told if she ever got within a 50 meter radius of me, they would kick her and her family out permanently.)

Because of the layout of our house at the time, [Brother #1] had to walk through my bedroom, which used to be [Brother #2]’s before he moved abroad, in order to get to his. It was the middle of summer. [Brother #2] was visiting, and our parents were away on holiday, leaving just the three of us. I was lying in bed one morning when [Brother #1] returned from the shower. Wearing only his boxers, he proceeded to throw a towel around his shoulders like a cape, exclaim that he was Superman, and run around my room making “woosh” noises for a solid minute. He was 20 at the time.

I also had a problem with the both of them using my room as a meeting and dressing room, especially while they were getting ready for work in the mornings, which I was reminded of a few months ago: My father, in the process of changing out of his work outfit, entered my room in just his boxers and socks to ask me a question.

My mother only sighed when I asked her why none of the boys in the house would get dressed in their own rooms.

(I am starting my shift as a receptionist at the local hotel. I get a call from one of the rooms.)

Guest: *shouting* “Our sink is clogged! I find it horrible that you rent out such expensive rooms that are not properly maintained.”

Me: “I’m sorry to hear that. I’ll have someone check it out right away.”

(I called around to see if anybody could go up and check it out, but everybody else was busy. I had to run up a take a look myself. I got to the room and two angry women were waiting, muttering about the bad maintenance of our rooms and slow service. I went into the bathroom, took a quick look at the sink, and saw that they had not opened the drain using the very visible handle behind the tap. I pushed the handle and voila! The water ran out. I then looked at them and bit my tongue to avoid saying anything rude. They just looked embarrassed and said that they didn’t have drains like that where they came from. I left the room and continued my shift with a little less faith in humanity.)

(My boyfriend is notorious for not noticing things in our living space. I have to put things right in front of him for him to notice, and even then it’s 50/50 chance he’ll react. I just put up a small picture of a character from a comic. A few minutes later he walks past it.)

Boyfriend: “Oh, I see you’ve put up a picture of [Character].”

Me: “Yes, I did. I’m surprised you noticed it this quickly.”

Boyfriend: “Why, has it been there long?”

Me: “No, I put it up like five minutes ago. But usually you never notice these things.”

Boyfriend: “Like what?”

Me: “The hedgehog figure I put in the window sill in our previous apartment? It took you weeks to notice it, and it wasn’t even that small or hidden away.”

Boyfriend: “That was just because I never looked at the window sill! Like, right now you could hide a dead body by the living room window and I wouldn’t notice because I never look that way!”

Me: “…Okay.”

Customer: “Do you sell iPods?”

Coworker: *doesn’t quite hear* “Sorry, did you say iPods or iPads?”

Customer: “iPods.”

Coworker: “Sorry, we don’t sell those.”

Customer: “Oh, okay. But you have iPads?”

Coworker: “No, sorry. We don’t sell those.”