I was having lunch at this restaurant last Sunday with my friend. All the other tables were occupied. Two girls appeared, but since it was packed and there were no empty tables or vacant seats, they just stood there awkwardly, looking around, waiting for some people to get up and leave.

Me: “We’re almost finished. You can have our table after we leave.”

But instead of being thankful, they just threw me a dirty look and rolled their eyes as if I were trying to flirt with them. My face went red, and I didn’t know what to say. I was just trying to be nice. It wasn’t as if I was trying to initiate small talk with them or something. Then, my embarrassment turned to anger. The least they could do was just nod their heads.

Then, I heard one of them speak to the other.

Girl #1: “Maybe we should just go to another restaurant.”

Girl #2: “No, this is the only Chinese restaurant near our place. And that guy—” *points at me with her lips in a not-so-subtle way* “—is almost done.”

Fine. I raised my hand and called a waitress over.

Me: “We would like to have a few more drinks, please.”

She brought them out a few minutes later. My friend was trying so hard to stifle his laughter that I swear he broke a rib or two as we VERY slowly ate the rest of our meal. The rude girls left quickly soon after.

I run into a bath and body store during lunch because I think it won’t be very busy. I am wrong. They mailed me a coupon for 20% off my entire purchase, so I plan to buy a few of their scent pod things.

I have the coupon sticking out of the front pocket of my purse. It’s not sticking out super far; it is tucked in safely in the front pocket. I don’t know why anyone would notice it there. I never look at other people that closely when I’m out shopping; I kinda just keep my eye on the prize, so to speak. I’m not looking around at other people’s purses, that’s for sure.

I’m looking at the scent pods, smelling some, staying in my lane, and someone taps my shoulder. I turn around.

Lady: “Are you going to use that coupon?”

I’m really taken aback. I’m literally in the store that the coupon is for. If I’m shopping in the store with a coupon… I’m probably going to use it. So, even though I’m usually polite, I’m shocked enough at being interrupted by such a brazen question that I’m like:

Me: “Yes, that’s why I’m here.”

Lady: “Oh. The 20% off coupon?”

Me: “Yes.”

I try to turn back around, but she taps me again.

Lady: “Do you think they’ll let us both use it?”

Me: “Um… I don’t think so.”

At this point, she changes her tone and gets rude with me.

Lady: “Well, how do you know? Have you asked before?”

I am not the most assertive person.

Me: “Well, I could ask when I go up to the register…”

Lady: *Holding out her hand* “You can let me try it first, and then I’ll ask them.”

And I’m just standing there staring at her like, “What the f***?” The audacity! And does she think I’m dumb? Like, sure, you use the coupon first on your stuff and THEN ask if I can use it, they’ll inevitably say no, and I’ll be the one to be out of luck!

I finally just say:

Me: “No, sorry, I’ll ask when I go up.”

And then I turned around and walked a few steps away. I tucked the coupon deeper into my purse pocket because at this point she was bold enough that I was worried she’d just grab it. She watched me for a while, but I just kept looking at other things and trying to avoid eye contact.

When I did go up to pay, the cashier just took the coupon away and put it in their register. I didn’t even ask if I could use it again because I didn’t want to be THAT person. Then, I just quickly walked out of the store, eyes forward so I wouldn’t have to see this woman again.

And the thing is, she was already at the store with stuff in her bag! She was already planning to buy things. Nothing in that store is necessary. She just spied my coupon and was like, “Hmmm… I could get this stuff cheaper.”

Shaking my head.

A few years ago, I was flying to Canada for a trip. Midway through the flight, I was awakened by the person behind me kicking my seat. I thought it was a kid, so I ignored it.

After a few minutes of non-stop kicking, I turned around and saw that it was a guy in his mid-twenties.

Me: *Politely* “Can you please stop kicking my seat?”

I could hear him and his friends snickering, saying something in a language I did not understand. He stopped for a moment but then restarted.

So, I took my water bottle and slowly emptied half of it on top of his backpack, which was under my seat.

I heard him freak out when we landed, and it was satisfying as f***.

I work in a hotel. A couple of nights ago, I received a call from the front desk at a neighboring property, telling me about a lady who was in their lobby. To sum up the situation: this lady was a local who said her pipes had frozen and burst, causing a flood in her home which she rents. The landlord was out of town for the holidays and she needed a place to stay. She had four kids with her as well.

The front desk attendant explained to me that her manager wasn’t on duty, so she couldn’t get permission to lower the room rates. She wanted to know what my property’s rates were. I said I had permission to lower rates in certain circumstances and to send the guest my way. She told me how grateful the guest sounded after being told this and to expect her shortly, as she only had a certain amount of money.

A few minutes later, this visibly distraught woman appeared in my lobby, and I proceeded to offer my condolences on the situation. She thanked me and even showed me pictures of the damage. She then went on to ask what my rates were and if she’d be allowed to stay for two nights. I explained that we’d need a card to be authorized for the full two nights plus tax, and I saw her face drop. The woman asked me if there was any way possible to only authorize one, as she gets paid shortly and the rest of the funds would be on her card by checkout time.

Let me be clear. I know the policy. I also know what it is like to be in a bad situation and seemingly alone with nobody who can help. So, I decided to authorize her card for one night and made keys for the room for two. She thanked me multiple times, and I felt good about myself for being in a position to help.

This good feeling only lasted a short while, however.

Two days later, I received a call from my general manager at home informing me that this lady and her four kids skipped out on the bill when she came down to ask that her room be extended… and her card declined. Since I was the one who had checked her in — and chose to try to do a good deed — I was responsible for the unpaid nights.

This both infuriated me and saddened me. I am not mad with my company, my boss, or even myself. I knew the rules and consequences. What is getting to me is the lack of ethics in this world. Desperate people making unwise choices is one thing. But to take advantage of someone who offers assistance and a listening ear in a troubling time? Lesson learned. Be very careful who you choose to trust.

My roommate and I (both women in our mid-twenties) lived together for three years. It was great the first couple of years, but this past year has been a nightmare.

In 2020, when [Roommate] was moving in, she talked me out of putting her on the lease. Honestly, I should’ve said no to her moving in just for that, but at the time, we were best friends, and I thought I could trust her.

At the beginning of 2023, [Roommate] went to some classes and met a guy there. They had a thing together, but there was a rule set in place stating you couldn’t date within the class. They decided to date on the down-low anyway, and then they got scared that they were going to get caught, so they ended things a couple of months into it.

Fast-forward to the time when they both graduated from this class. [Guy] had a new girlfriend who attended. [Roommate] was infuriated by this and kept saying he was doing it to get at her. Really, he had just gotten a new girlfriend, and she couldn’t cope with that.

Fast-forward a little bit more. [Roommate] and [Guy] continued to hang out behind his girlfriend’s back. It got to the point where they were drinking together one night at a bar, and on the way home, [Guy] got pulled over and got a DUI.

This is where it started affecting me. [Roommate] owed me rent right around the time this was going down. And instead of giving me rent, she spent $1,000 bailing [Guy] out so his girlfriend wouldn’t find out. I confronted [Roommate] about not paying rent.

Roommate: “You’re just throwing my mistakes back in my face!”

She never ended up paying me back for rent.

Then, [Roommate] got in a wreck at some point and still owed quite a bit on her totaled car. She had GAP (Guaranteed Asset Protection) insurance, but it was taking a while to go through. Instead of waiting, she decided to get into another car payment before the insurance company paid off her other car, so she was paying on both cars and still struggling to pay me rent. I said something about it to her.

Roommate: “But I need a car!”

Me: “You could ask your dad to use his since he works from home, and he uses your mom’s car most of the time, anyway.”

She got really mad over this and flipped out about how I thought she was privileged or whatever.

At some point while we were arguing, she suggested moving out.

Me: “Okay. The lease is up in a few months. We can revisit this then and see if anything has changed.”

She liked that, so we stayed until the end of the lease, and then we both decided this wasn’t working and to go our separate ways. [Roommate] told me she’d found an apartment in the same complex.

She also kept asking to get a dog this past year, and I kept saying no because I didn’t think she could afford it, and I wasn’t going to pay for her to get a dog to tear the place up more. A couple of days before her move-out date, [Roommate] posted on her Snapchat story that she had gotten a dog. She didn’t even tell me that she had this giant pitbull in the middle of our tiny apartment when I went to move some more of my stuff out. That infuriated me; she really couldn’t wait two more days or warn me about the dog?

I told her what we needed to replace to get my deposit back, to which she replied over and over again:

Roommate: “That’s what the security deposit is for!”

Since she moved in, she ruined all of the blinds somehow, broke my bedroom window by breaking in a couple of times when she locked herself out, tore up the floor in the kitchen and the entry moving the dryer in, tore up the washroom door because “it was in the way”, poked several holes in the walls hanging things, and so much more.

When she finally moved out, I went to clean the place up a bit and spent four hours alone cleaning trash out of her room and cleaning out the fridge, which she left packed full of gross food. I also spent a whole day scrubbing the tub, which she left full of gunk, and scrubbing all of the other surfaces. (I say “she” alone because it was getting so hard to live with her that I basically stayed with my boyfriend for most of this past year.)

I was going to put all of this behind me and move on, but I got a bill in the mail from our old apartment for $1,776.08, and my security deposit covered $820. So, I texted [Roommate].

Me: “They sent me a bill for $956.08. Are you able to send half?”

She replied with a bunch of questions asking everything they charged us for, and I answered and sent pictures of the documents with receipts for everything. I knew in my gut that she wasn’t gonna pay anything, but she straight-up said:

Roommate: “Okay, so, looking at what all the deposit covered, it looks like damages and cleaning expenses, other than the vinyl repair, which was $520.86. I don’t feel like I am responsible for the utility fee or the carpet cleaning because that was on the lease as your responsibility. You also told me you were going to get the carpets cleaned. So, I’m willing to send half of the $520.86 for the vinyl replacement. I don’t feel like I am responsible beyond that.”

Basically, she was saying, “Screw you,” to me because her name wasn’t on the lease. I also never told her I would get the carpets cleaned; I asked her to do it and she said, “That’s what the security deposits for.”

She sent me $260 and that’s it for all of this. She moved in after I was already living there, so that security deposit was mine alone, and it’s very frustrating that she just straight-up didn’t care about ruining this whole friendship over this.

After she sent that, I felt defeated, thinking I couldn’t do anything about it. Then, I remembered that we had a phone plan together. I looked up how much I owed on my phone; it was $400. In the policy, it said that if you cancel, you’re still responsible for any fees on the phone. So, I called them, canceled it, made sure to remove my card information and my autopay, and told them to bill [Roommate] for it. Since it was under her name and she doesn’t care, why should I? And that ensures that she can’t contact me anymore, either.