A customer walks past me. I want her to know I’m here and not ignoring her.
Me: “Good morning, ma’am!”
Customer: “That’s it! I want to talk to a manager! Too many people have said hello to me. You’re all too happy to be doing your jobs!”
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I have just rung up this older couple.
Me: “That will be $27.51, please.”
The lady hands me a ten. I wait for a second.
Me: “Ma’am, you only gave me a ten. The total is $27.51.”
She gives me this incredulous look.
Customer: “You want more?!“
She then started grumbling and looking through her purse, eventually pulling out a twenty. We finished the transaction, and they went on their merry way. I just stood there wishing I’d had a witness.
An angry customer comes up to my counter.
Customer: “I want a refund! This tasted like s***!”
Me: “Sir, this is incense.”
At my first office job after working retail throughout uni, I’m assigned to work under a manager who, in her own words, is inexperienced. Unfortunately, within the first month, I need to take a day off for some medical appointments.
Me: “Hey, boss, can I take Friday off? I have—”
Manager: *Holds up a hand* “Stop.”
“Oh, s***,” I think.
Manager: “Do you have anything due on Friday?”
Me: “No.”
Manager: “Are you on top of all your work and not running late for anything?”
Me: “Yeah.”
Manager: “Do you have enough flex or personal time built up to cover a full day?”
Me: “Yeah.”
Manager: “Is this going to be reoccurring?”
Me: “I mean, probably not.”
Manager: “Then I don’t need to know why.”
Me: “…seriously?”
Manager: “Deadly. Thank you for letting me know. Since it’s Monday, you’ve given me enough notice to make it work. Put a note in the team calendar, and let me know on Thursday if there’s anything I need to keep an eye on while you’re gone.”
Me: “No, but really? That’s it?”
Manager: “That’s it. It’s your personal life. Tell me if you want me to know, not because you think I’m going to ask for it. Anything else you need from me?”
I said SHE said she was inexperienced as a manager. I didn’t say she was bad at it.
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I’d been having a bad day, and I had ridden with my daughter to the store. I’d finished my shopping and was sitting on a bench by the registers waiting for her to check out, and while I was waiting, I was coloring a picture of a dragon on a color-by-number app on my phone. I glanced up as a young boy, I’d guess to be four or five, approached me. I have a large facial birthmark and it’s not unusual for youngsters to ask about it, so that’s what I was expecting.
Boy: “Whatcha doing?”
Me: *Turning my phone so he can see* “Coloring. Do you want to see?”
Boy: “Oh, a dragon! But it’s not real, you know.”
Me: “I know, it’s a drawing of what someone thought one would look like if it was.”
Boy: “But it’s wrong; dragons aren’t blue!”
Me: “Oh, they aren’t? I didn’t know that! What color are dragons?”
Boy: “Red and green, and they have fire coming out of their mouths.”
Me: “Okay, I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for the correction!”
Boy: “You know, I have one of those.” *Points to my face* “It’s right here!”
He lifted his shirt to show me a red mark on his belly.
Boy: “My mama says it’s a birthmark. I really like yours; it’s pretty!”
The woman he was with — I assume his mother — who was checking out at the closest register to where I was sitting, came to collect him and apologized for him bothering me. I assured her that he was not bothering me — in fact, he was quite delightful — and thanked her for sharing him with me for a moment.
It still wasn’t my best day, but I was still smiling a few minutes later when my daughter came to collect me.
