(I’m cashiering at a well-known department store.)

Customer: *puts her items on the counter* “Can I keep the hangers? And will you put this in a garment bag?”

Me: “Yes, ma’am.” *starts ringing her up*

Customer: “I forgot my [Store] card in my car and I don’t want to walk all the way outside to go get it.”

Me: “That’s okay. I can look it up using your ID. And you get an extra discount for using it today. It brings your total to [total].”

Customer: “I left my ID in the car, too. I didn’t want to carry around my heavy purse while I shopped. Can you use my husband’s ID? It’s the same last name and address.”

(On a normal day, I would do this. However, my store just changed the way we do a card lookup for security reasons and I definitely need her ID. She makes a HUGE show of having to go to her car to get her purse, and when she gets back she is exaggerating being exhausted)

Customer: “Ugh. This thing is so heavy. And it’s so hot outside.” *digs for her store card, can’t find it, and hands me her ID*

(I go to perform the lookup but it directs me to call our authorization department. I call and go through various steps with the woman on the other end to find the customer’s card, who tells me it’s been closed due to inactivity.)

Me: “When was the last time you used your card?”

Customer: “Maybe six months ago.”

Me: “Well, they told me that it was closed due to inactivity, but you can—“

Customer: *flips me off* “You can tell that to the b**** on the phone that I’m never opening another card here.” *leaves without taking her items or paying*

Me: *ringing up the next customer*

Customer: *comes back in the store* “Can I just pay with a Visa?”

Me: “Yes, ma’am.”

Customer: “You didn’t tell me that.” *pays for her things* “I can’t believe this. I’ve been in here using my card! How can it be closed?! What’s the time limit for inactivity?”

Me: “Usually a year, but they’ve changed a lot of things this year.”

Customer: “I’m going to call them tomorrow. So, can I reopen my card here?”

Me: *internal scream* “Yes, ma’am. Here at the register, online, or over the phone.” *gives her the corporate number* “Have a good night!”

Customer: “You too, sweetie. Sorry I yelled at you. It’s not your fault.”

Me: *to coworker* “At least she apologized.”

(She walked out to meet her husband. However, she spent the next 45 minutes bothering various workers in the store because she couldn’t find her phone. We called it and took her information down only for her to find it in her car.)

Right now, the state of Nebraska and many other parts of the Midwest are being hammered by flooding. The town I live in is mid-sized — about 20,000 people — and currently inaccessible except for by air. We have been lucky that the airport was not flooded and at least a dozen pilots from both the city and surrounding cities like Lincoln and Omaha are donating their time and fuel to fly people both into and out of Fremont to reunite families and bring in supplies. Regular access is still several days away due to bridges not just being flooded but gone altogether in several areas, so this is very much appreciated.

I ran into a woman at a store whose mother wanted to spend $1000 to help, but didn’t know what to buy. She told her mother that people were donating things for the people but the displaced dogs and cats would need supplies. She was buying dog and cat food and tons of different toys to help relieve the stress of these animals.

Thank you for all the help and support that everyone is showing the area.

(Where I work, employees get a 15% discount when we enter our employee IDs. We also just started price matching local competitors’ ads and certain online retailers. We cannot, however, price match and use our discount in the same transaction. I am in the store on my day off when I see a product on our shelf for $20. I look it up online and see that one of the retailers we match with is having a sale where the same item is only $7. I pick up two of these items and go to the register.)

Cashier: “[My Name], are you working today?”

Me: “No, it’s my day off. I’m just getting these two things, but I’m price matching them.”

Cashier: “You can’t do that.”

Me: “Oh, no, it’s okay. I just can’t use my discount, which is fine because I’m saving way more this way.”

Cashier: “No. You can’t.”

Me: “Yes. I can.”

Cashier: “Look. I’m not going to argue with you about this. You can’t price match. The end.”

Me: “Get [Manager].”

Cashier: “No. Just because customers complain and get what they want doesn’t mean you can.”

Me: “Get [Manager] now or I’ll find her myself.”

Cashier: “Fine.” *voids transaction* “Bye.”

(I walk off, fuming, and find the manager. I explain what happened and she follows me back to the register. When the cashier sees us approaching, she rolls her eyes.)

Cashier: “[My Name] is trying to double dip!”

Manager: “She’s not trying to double dip. She’s price matching without her discount.”

Cashier: “But that’s not allowed!”

Manager: “Yes, it is. How… You know what? I’ll do it myself.”

Cashier: “You can’t price match for associates!”

Me: “You can’t price match and use your associate discount. One or the other is fine.”

Cashier: “No!”

Manager: “[Cashier], go to the office.”

Cashier: “THIS IS BULLS***!” *storms off*

Manager: *calls for another cashier over the radio* “I’m sorry, [My Name]. I don’t know how many times we’ve told her it’s fine.”

Me: “It’s not your fault. I’ve told her several times myself.”

Manager: “I’d like to say she’s trying to save the store from losing too much money, but I think she’s just…” *shrugs*

Me: *to myself* “Stupid.”

Manager: *laughs* “Your words, not mine. And don’t say that on the clock.”

(I did get to price match my purchase and the manager talked to the cashier. I don’t know if she actually understood or not but after all that, the price matching policy was printed and posted at every register.)

(I am picking up groceries for my roommate and myself at a well-known Texas-based grocery store after working at a “Mexican” fast food place, still wearing my work shirt. I will admit that I might have been slightly tired and likely showing it via a somewhat zombie-like stance and the fact that some allergy medication I took prior to working was wearing off didn’t help much. While going through the aisles, I notice some coupons that the store has for some bread, which we need. However, as I’m looking at the coupons, a woman shoves me out of the way while on their phone.)

Woman: “Outta the f****** way, you d*** druggie! Oh, some pothead is just staring off into f****** la-la-land in front of the god-d*** bread!”

(Getting pushed back away from the shelves and yelled at, naturally, made me snap back a bit.)

Me: “Excuse me, I didn’t kno—“

Woman: “Oh, shut the f*** up and go back home and get an—“

Me: “—First of all, I don’t do any illegal drugs! Second of all, I was looking at the coupon. Third, I just got done with a ten-hour shift. Fourth, I am sorry I was in the way, but pushing me was NOT needed!”

(She huffs and rolls her eyes at me before darting off. I shake my head and sigh before getting the coupon which was “buy lunch meat and get bread free.” After picking up a few more items, I swing past the lunch meat section and am checking the details as to what lunch meat is allowed (you know: brand, size, flavors, etc.). Suddenly, I hear a scoff while reading the coupon followed by:)

Woman: “I thought I f****** told you to g—“

(At this point, I try to calm myself down with a bit of a deep breath; this seems to really get the woman pissed off.)

Woman: “DON’T YOU F****** GET HUFFY WITH ME YOU A**-HOLE! I’M GOING TO GET THE MANAGER TO THROW YOU OUT AND BAN YOU FROM HERE!”

Me: “Excuse me, but you are the one who is causing issues right now. I am trying to shop and us—“

Woman: “YEAH! ‘TRYING TO SHOP!’ YOU ARE JUST TRYING TO CLEAN YOUR MONEY UP, THAT’S ALL!”

(Feeling myself getting more frustrated with the woman, I quickly snag one of the lunch meats that had the right brand on it and get away. Once I got most of the items on my list, I suddenly remembered one of the items: some allergy medicine. Once there, I see more coupons and try to see if any of the couponed medications will work for my roommate and/or me. Just then…)

Woman: *to an employee* “SEE! THERE HE F****** IS! I BET HE’S TRYING TO STEAL SOME OF THAT MEDICINE TO MAKE CRACK OUT OF IT!”

(At this point, I’ve had enough of it and decide to approach her and the employee with my basket full of bread, lunch meats, art supplies, soups, trash bags, frozen goods, and the like with the medicine in my hand. As the woman goes on and rants about the store letting druggies into it, me supposedly stuffing my pockets, and the like. The employee looks at me and shakes his head, clearly realizing the woman couldn’t be further from the truth.)

Employee: “What exactly makes you think he’s under the influence of anything?!”

Woman: “Well, LOOK at him! He’s clearly in some sort of daze or another.”

Me: “That’s because, as I told you, I just worked ten hours before coming here. Furthermore, my medi—“

Woman: “AH-HA! There you go! He’s admitting it! He’s taking illegal medication!”

Me: “MY ALLERGY MEDICATION—“ *I hold the box up* “—IS ALMOST WEARING OFF!”

Woman: “THEN WHAT THE F*** WERE YOU DOING JUST STANDING AT RANDOM F****** SPOTS!”

(Before I could answer, I begin to sneeze violently while holding my stack of five to six coupons.)

Employee: “Because he is a smart shopper and actually READS the coupons, unlike you.”

Woman: “Well. how the f*** was I supposed to know that package was too big!”

Employee: “We have it listed on the coupon in the same size print. Now, please leave, and don’t come back!”

Woman: “Well then, I’ll just post on your website that you kick out good customers!”

(As she stormed away, I groaned a bit before the employee released a little bit of a groaning sigh, as if this wasn’t the first time she’d done this. After a bit of talking and making sure I was okay he got me to a register.)

I worked in a jewelry shop and it was close to Valentine’s Day. A lot of men came in to buy some jewelry for the occasion, and we had some strange requests, but there’s one man that I’ll never forget.

He came in and wanted to see some diamond rings to give to “the love of his life.” I didn’t think too much of it since he was wearing Armani clothes and had a Rolex watch and some expensive rings on his fingers. He finally decided on one ring, but when I told him that that would cost 1250 Euros, he was shocked and wanted to see some cheaper rings.

So, I presented him some rings in the 500-Euro range. No, too expensive, but he wanted the best for the love of his life. Okay, some rings in the 250-Euro range? No, too expensive for the love of his life. 100 Euros? No, too expensive. Twenty minutes later, he still couldn’t decide on some cheap rings for the love of his life.

Finally, a customer next in line who saw it all happen came up with this: “Hey, Buster, why don’t you head to [Big DIY Store] and buy a copper curtain ring? The last time I was there, they were 25 cents each. Should be just about right for the love of your life. Or you could buy her an angle grinder; they’re on sale now.”

While I saw some customers grin and smirk, other customers in the shop laughed out loud. The rich guy turned red and sneaked out of the store. Of course, I gave the customer who spoke up a discount for chasing that cheapskate out of the store.

I guess you only become rich by not spending any money. Not even on “the love of your life.”