A customer came in asking about ink for his wife’s printer.

Customer: “This is the one she wants; she wrote it down.”

I showed him the correct one and it was rather expensive.

Customer: “Can I buy this one that’s cheaper? You’re trying to overcharge me!”

Me: “The cheaper inks are okay but don’t always work so well. It’s always dependent on how much you print and the quality, etc.”

Customer: “You don’t know anything!”

He bought the cheaper ink and left.

A few days later, I saw the man shopping with his wife who called me over. She was very polite.

Customer’s Wife: “Can you help me choose a new printer, please? My husband broke mine a few days ago with some cheap ink he bought.”

The man stood there looking very sheepish and wouldn’t look at me the whole time I was helping his wife.

This happened during the time when everyone bought up horrendous amounts of toilet paper during the health crisis.

At one point, I had worked at the store I was shopping in, but at this point, I was not working there and it had been over two years since I had.

The store only let you have one pack of toilet paper; it didn’t matter if it was four rolls or sixteen rolls. You only got one pack. I had to get to the store extremely early and stand in line for two hours before they opened, and the lucky ones of us that actually ran to the toilet paper aisle were the ones that got the big packs.

I was fortunate enough to get one of the larger packs. I actually did need toilet paper, and it was my mother’s regular shopping day, so I grabbed two packs to put in the cart. I called my mother to see if she needed toilet paper because if she did, I was going to do the rest of my shopping, wait on her, and then hand it off to her; by the time she got to the store, there wouldn’t be any left. She told me that she had enough toilet paper and she didn’t need any.

By this time, the shelves were pretty bare; all that was left was basically paper towels. I heard an elderly woman on the phone sounding like she was about to cry.

Elderly Woman: “I even got here early… But then everybody ran, and when I got to the toilet paper, there wasn’t any left. I’ve not had any toilet paper for two days. This is the third store I’ve gone to this week. This is just horrible.”

I didn’t need the extra toilet paper in my cart anymore, so I approached the woman.

Me: “Are you looking for a specific brand or anything like that?”

Elderly Woman: “I don’t care what brand it is; I just need toilet paper.”

I took the spare out of my cart and gave it to her. She seemed so happy, but then she seemed sad.

Elderly Woman: “I don’t want to take this away from someone else.”

Me: “I grabbed it for my mother, but she doesn’t need it. We’re only allowed to buy one pack, anyway.”

Elderly Woman: *Extremely happy* “You must have been sent from God to bless me, then!”

The sweet elderly woman walked off. Then, another lady came walking up to my cart and started to take the toilet paper out of it.

Me: “Hey, HEY! What the h*** do you think you’re doing?!”

Lady: “Getting my toilet paper.”

Me: “That ain’t your toilet paper; that’s my toilet paper! Get your hands out of my d*** cart!”

Lady: “No, this isn’t! You’re handing out toilet paper!”

Me: “No, the h*** I’m not!”

Lady: “You just gave some to that hag over there!”

Me: “I had extr—”

Lady: “BECAUSE YOU WORK HERE AND YOU’RE HANDING IT OUT! STOP DENYING ME TOILET PAPER!”

Me: “Lady, I ain’t worked here in two years. You can just go f*** off.”

I start to walk away with my cart and my toilet paper.

Lady: “YOU STUPID B****!”

She comes walking up behind me and tries to rip it out of my cart. I swing my cart from under her and she falls forward onto the ground.

Lady: “I’M GOING TO HAVE YOU CHARGED WITH ASSAULT!”

Me: “Good luck. This place is covered in cameras, and I wasn’t the one that jumped on your cart, so… have fun.”

I went and checked out. I don’t know what happened to that lady, but I’m glad I’ve never seen her again. I hope she never found toilet paper and had to wipe with paper towels.

A customer comes to my checkout with an expired coupon.

Me: “I’m sorry, but I can’t take this coupon. It’s expired.”

He shoves it out at me.

Customer: “You’re going to take this coupon, and I’m not gonna take any more of your crap!”

Me: “You’re right, sir. You aren’t gonna take any more of my crap.”

I then hit the void button after I have everything of his rung up.

Me: “You can go to another cashier. I’m no longer helping you.”

He went to another cashier, and that cashier told him the same thing: that the coupon could not be used. He ended up buying his stuff without using the coupon and walked out of the store. I heard he was still fuming.

My paternal grandparents own a custom frame store that also sells giftware, jewelry, and needlework supplies. My daughter is maybe a month old when my grandmother calls me asking if I would be able to help her for a day. She has a craft show she is going to and she needs to pack a bunch of giftware, but she is being dragged away by errands. She already has everything set aside on one of the side counters; all I have to do is pack them up safe. I won’t have to deal with any customers or other store stuff, just packing giftware. There is no heavy lifting, and I can bring my daughter. Of course, I say yes since I love helping at the store.

The next morning, I get to the store and my grandma shows me everything she needs packed and takes off to her errands. I begin packing while my daughter sleeps in her playpen off to the side of the counter.

A couple of hours later, an elderly woman comes in and begins to look around. I keep an eye on her but don’t notify my grandfather right away in the back because sometimes people look and go. This lady does not and instead comes to the counter.

Lady: “Hello, is [Grandma] here?”

Me: “No, unfortunately, she’s out of the store at the moment. However, [Grandfather] is in the back; I can go get him for you.”

The lady looks annoyed and nods.

I go to the back and let my grandfather know there is a customer. He comes out and I go back to packing. A few minutes after, my daughter starts fussing. I quickly grab a bottle from my little cooler and pop it in her mouth, and off to sleep she goes while drinking. She was crying for maybe thirty seconds. I give her a little cheek rub and go back to packing.

Lady: “You know, you’re really lucky that you have such nice bosses that they allow you to bring your child to work. Though you and I both know she should be in daycare, and you should be focusing on your job. Your baby is a distraction to your work; you couldn’t even help me without getting someone else to do it.”

Me: “Oh!” *Laughs* “I don’t actually work here. I’m just here helping with wrapping giftware for the craft show. My grandparents own the store; [Grandfather] is my grandfather and [Grandma] is my grandma. This is their great-granddaughter.”

The lady then looks at my grandfather in disbelief. He immigrated from Hong Kong, married my grandma, and adopted my dad; my grandma and dad are both white. My grandfather then looks back at me with a look that says, “You know I hate dealing with these people.” All I can do is shrug; I’m sorry but it’s not my fault Grandma didn’t warn us about this one.

Then, because the silence is getting awkward, I blurt:

Me: “Yeah, my grandma, [Grandma], was super excited when she found out I would be bringing her today.”

Lady: “Oh.”

She then went back to her transaction with my grandfather and left. My grandfather shook his head and went back to framing, and I finished packing. I later told my grandma what happened, and she laughed.

I was talking to a customer who had found out that she may not be able to have kids and was pretty bummed out. I, having PCOS, can relate, so I spoke to her to encourage her. Another customer who overheard me chimed in.

Customer: “You can’t bear children because God hates you and want to end your bloodline.”