My store used to do free samples for the beauty department on weekends. One particular weekend, we had little pouches of a moisturizer that was supposed to be from one of our more “clean” brands. A woman approaches me about the samples.

Me: “Hi, would you like any free samples?”

Customer: “What do you have?”

Me: “Well, our most popular item has been this moisturizer from [Brand]. It’s regarded as one of our “clean” brands, so no harsh chemicals, it’s cruelty-free and vegan.”

Customer: “We’ll see about that. I hate it when brands do this and are not completely honest. I have this app here that’ll show you’re lying.” 

I’m confused because she’s being weirdly hostile to me.

Me: “I’m not intentionally trying to lie if that’s what you mean. I’m just reading the prompt I was given. I can personally vouch that I am having an eczema outbreak right now, and it’s helped so much with moisturizing and calming down the skin. My coworker is having a random rash on her face that’s pretty painful, and I gave her my sample, and she also said it has helped a lot.”

Customer: “Stop talking and let me get my app to work! Ugh, it’s not wanting to load, but I just know you’re talking out of your butt.”

Me: “Ma’am, if you want, you can take the free sample and try it out yourself.”

Customer: “Fine, but this better not mess up my skin!”

I’m thinking, wow, what a weird interaction, but leave it at that. Next week, again, we are doing free samples, and the woman comes running up.

Customer: “Please tell me you have more samples of that moisturizer from last week! My skin has never been more hydrated and healthier looking.”

Me: “I’m so sorry, but that moisturizer was an incredibly popular free sample, and we were cleared out pretty fast. We do sell the product in stores, though.”

Customer: “Please, show me!”

All that weird hostility and indifference towards the product, only to end up loving it.

I am helping two customers in the very back corner of the store. The gentleman is on one of the store’s electric scooters when it starts beeping indicating low battery.

Customer: “Ah s***. Well, I guess we’re going to have to finish up here.”

Me: “If you want, I can bring you up a fresh scooter so you can keep shopping.”

Customer: “That would be perfect, thank you, darling. We’ll stay right here so you can find us.”

Off I set and began driving the cart to the back. A few customers see me and are giving me dirty looks because a seemingly abled-bodied adult is just riding the cart around for fun/laziness (sadly happens a lot with teenagers). 

I’ve made the swap with the customer and am now driving the dying scooter to the front which is extremely slow so I can hear someone comment.

Other Customer: “God, these millennials are just so lazy and disrespectful. Can’t even bother to walk around and are taking carts away from those who need it.”

I ignore her because I know the real story and don’t have the energy to deal with her, so I just keep going.

Later, I am called up to the registers to help with the lines and get the customer who made the nasty remarks. She’s shooting me dirty looks the whole time but while checking her out, the original customers show up at the front.

Customer: “Thanks again sweetie for getting me a fresh scooter. We were able to finish Christmas shopping for my granddaughter.”

Me: “Not a problem at all! Would you like an escort to your car so you can take the scooter out into the parking lot?”

Customer: “Oh, that would be lovely!”

At this point, my new customer is realizing what happened and begins to look a little ashamed as I call for a coworker to follow the couple out so he can take the scooter back in.
She stayed quiet for the rest of the transaction, and I hoped she learned not to be as judgy.

Also, if you are in a store and need the electric carts, let us know if you need a fresh one or if you’re taking it out to the car because if they die, they are a massive pain in the ass to drag back to the charging station.

I work in a big box superstore. A customer is throwing a tantrum because our lines are long.

Customer: “This is absolutely ridiculous! All I need is ONE gallon of milk, and you expect me to wait twenty minutes in line. YOU ALL JUST LOST A CUSTOMER!”

She drops the milk (thankfully, it didn’t break) and storms out.

Dear readers, it was Black Friday at Target, of course our lines were long. And there was a gas station a minute down the road that she could have purchased her milk from.

I was interviewing for a position in a factory. Had pretty good pay and benefits, and I’m a certified welder, so I was looking forward to starting.

I had one of those ‘panel’ interviews where you sit down across from three people: My actual to-be manager, someone from HR, and a bigwig.

However, during the interview, the fire alarm went off. The person who was supposed to be my manager, of course, stood up and started to leave, faster than I did, but the bigwig demanded that the manager (and I) sit down and that they finish the interview. The HR representative remained calmly sitting.

I was already by the door myself at this point, so I just shook my head and left.

I stuck around in the parking lot just long enough to figure out who the fire safety representative was, tell him my name and that I’d gotten out of the building safely, and then I drove home. I did hear fire trucks at some point as I was driving home, but I never saw them. They must have come from another direction.

I don’t know what happened to the three interviewers. I glanced behind me at the end of the hall and didn’t see anyone leaving the room, so I assume that the manager sat back down at the table, but why they would bother staying after the person they were supposed to be interviewing left is beyond me, especially during a fire alarm.

I later read in the news that there’d been a fire on the production line and several people had to be treated for smoke inhalation, so it wasn’t a false alarm.

Related:
An Alarming Lack Of Alarm, Part 5
An Alarming Lack Of Alarm, Part 4
An Alarming Lack Of Alarm, Part 3
An Alarming Lack Of Alarm, Part 2
An Alarming Lack Of Alarm

Our family is going to be all together for the first time for Christmas since my sister had her kids. I figure I should get an extra car seat just in case. I’m at the store looking at my options and decide to call my mom since I know my sister is working.

Me: “Hey, how much would you guess niece weighs? I’m trying to get a car seat, and the weight requirements are throwing me off.”

Mom: “Hmmm, I would say she at least weighs seven pounds.”

Me: “Are you joking right now?”

Mom: “Why?”

Me: “She’s five! I hope she would weigh more than a newborn baby.”

Mom: “Well… maybe fifteen pounds.”

Me: “I’ll just ask my sister and come back another day.”

Later, I’m on the phone with my sister.

Sister: “What the f*** is wrong with her?! She’s at least thirty-five to forty pounds!”