(I work at a local sandwich-and-coffee eatery in a college town. A lot of students stop by for lunch, but since they all get out of class at the same time, the lunch rush is crazy. One of our sandwiches is extremely popular, but it takes a little longer because it goes in a panini press and we only have space for three sandwiches. An average wait time for this sandwich during the lunch rush is twenty-five minutes. When a lot of these get ordered in quick succession, something like this happens at least once a day. It is noon:)

Me: “Here’s your receipt. We’ll have your food out to you as soon as we can, but this sandwich usually takes a little longer.”

Customer: “Okay.”

(At 12:15:)

Customer: *to a very busy me* “Um, excuse me, I’ve been waiting like twenty-five minutes for my [sandwich]. Can you go check on it?”

Me: “Your sandwich usually takes a little longer because it’s a panini, but I’ll go check.” *goes to the sandwich line* “Do you guys have a [sandwich] in the panini press?”

Coworker: “We’ve got like ten [sandwiches]. Do you know which one it is?”

Me: “Yeah, her receipt number is [number].”

Coworker: “It’s waiting to go in the press.”

Me: *goes back to the front* “They’re working on it.”

Customer: “Yeah, okay.”

(At 12:20:)

Customer: *to someone else* “Um, I’ve been waiting like 45 minutes for my [sandwich]. Can you go check on it?”

Coworker: “It’s probably in the panini press, but I’ll go see.”

(My coworker goes away and comes back.)

Coworker: “Yeah, it’s in the panini press.”

Customer: “Well, okay.”

(At 12:25:)

Customer: *to yet someone else* “Um, I’ve been waiting like an hour for my [sandwich]. Can you go check on it?”

Me: “You know your receipt is time-stamped, right?”

(I work at a well-known sandwich shop that recently held a Dollar Sub Day for its customers. This event only lasts for about fours hours, and then we go back to business as usual. For the rest of the day, we continue to get calls and customers walking in asking if we are still doing the special. This happens well over four hours after the event, in our drive-thru over the intercom.)

Coworker #1: “Hey, how’s it going?”

Customer: “Good! Can I have two [sandwich #1]s, four [sandwich #2]s, and two [sandwich #3]s?”

(We think nothing of it because this is a common thing. [Coworker #2] and I start to make the sandwiches he is ordering.)

Coworker #1: “Okay, I have [sandwiches ordered]. Anything else for you today?”

Customer: “No, thanks!”

(We are almost done making all the sandwiches by the time they finish.)

Coworker #1: “Okay, your total will be [total]. See you at the window!”

([Coworker #1] sends the order.)

Customer’s Wife: “Wait, what?! That can’t be right, it’s Dollar-Sub day!”

Coworker #1: “No, I’m sorry that ended [about four hours ago].”

Customer: “Oh, we didn’t know that.”

(It is on every poster that was around, including a few Internet ads.)

Customer: “Can we cancel all but two of those?”

(We had all of their sandwiches made. After that, my coworker went through the long process of changing their order. We wasted about six sandwiches that we couldn’t sell.)

(I am the customer here, and about 16 years old. I have fallen asleep in the car during a family trip, and my family wakes me up as we stop as a popular sandwich chain in an unfamiliar town to get lunch. The girl behind the counter is about my age, and we’re about halfway done making my sandwich and making small talk while I am half-asleep.)

Employee: *what I hear* “Do you know Justin?”

Me: “No, I don’t; I’m not from around here.”

(My parents laugh, and she gives me a weird look, but proceeds to make the rest of my sandwich. I sit down with the rest of my family and start eating.)

Mom: “I think that girl was eyeing you up for a second there.”

Me: “What? Really?”

Mom: “Yeah, until she asked you if you wanted dressing and you said you weren’t from here.”

Me: *screaming internally* “I thought she asked me if I knew Justin!”

(I’m standing in line at a sandwich shop that makes your order in front of you. There’s only one person working behind the counter, and there are three groups in front of me. [Customer #1] is not watching her child, who is running around.)

Customer #1: “I’d like a six-inch chicken sandwich on wheat, with [long list of veggies and sauces].”

(The child runs over to the soda fountain and tries to press the buttons. He can’t reach so he starts throwing the lids like Frisbees.)

Customer #1: *glances over at the child and smiles* “What do you want, sweetheart?”

Child: “I want cookies!”

Customer #1: “What kind of sandwich?”

Child: *still throwing the soda lids* “Cookies!”

(Eventually, the mom ends up getting him a turkey sandwich and two cookies before they leave, leaving the soda lids on the floor.)

Customer #2: *looking at her phone* “Yeah, uh… I’d like a… meatball sub.”

Worker: “What kind of bread?”

Customer #2: “Huh?”

Worker: “What kind of bread would you like?”

Customer #2: “Oh. White, I guess.” *looks over at [Customer #3] who is sitting at a table, also looking at his phone* “What kind of sandwich do you want?”

Customer #3: “Huh?”

Customer #2: “What kind of sandwich?!”

Customer #3: “Foot-long!”

Customer #2: *ignoring the worker who’s trying to finish her first sandwich* “What kind of foot-long?!”

Customer #3: “Cold cut!”

(This goes on for a while before they finish their order and leave. [Customer #4] is quiet and fairly polite until they get to the condiments.)

Worker: “I’m sorry; we seem to be out of spicy mustard. I can check in back, if you want.”

Customer #4: “Sure. Thanks.”

(The customer waits until the worker is in the back before taking two dollars out of the tip jar, leaving just a few coins. The worker comes back and finishes the guy’s order before he leaves. She sees the tip jar and honestly looks like she’s about to cry before coming over to me, putting on a smile.)

Worker: “What kind of sandwich would you like today?”

Me: “Just a six-inch meatball sub on white bread, please.”

(The rest of the order goes smoothly until after I’ve paid. The worker hands me a small paper bag that has about five cookies in it.)

Worker: “And here are your cookies.”

Me: “But… I didn’t order any.”

Worker: *smiles* “Your family comes in here all the time, and you’re always super polite. Go ahead. Besides, if nobody takes these we have to throw them out, anyway.”

Me: *smiles, too* “Well, are there any in particular you like?”

Worker: “I like the oatmeal raisin, myself.”

Me: *takes the oatmeal raisin cookies out and hands them to her* “Here, then.”

Worker: *takes them* “I… Thanks.”

Me: “No problem. Hope things get better.”

(I gave her about five dollars for a tip and helped her pick up the soda lids. Just shows you that a little kindness can go a long way sometimes.)

(A coworker and I are working late night when an older man comes into our sandwich shop. We’re both 20-something, and he’s in his 50s.)

Me: “Hi, welcome to [Chain]. What can I get started for you tonight, sir?”

Customer: “I’d like the meatball sub, darlin’. The one on your sub of the day menu?”

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t have any meatballs right now. We stop serving those at nine.”

Customer: *haughty, and clearly used to getting his way* “Well, it’s on your menu; why don’t you have it all day?”

Me: “Because we close at ten, and doing it that way makes clean-up easier. I can heat up some meatballs for you, but it will take about ten minutes.”

Customer: “Forget that; I’m not waiting! You know, I drive all the way from [Town that isn’t that far away] for a sub, and you don’t even have meatballs!”

Me: “I’m really sorry to hear that, sir. I can make a different sub for you, if you want.”

Customer: “Will it be the same price as the sub of the day? Discounted?”

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t do that, either. It’s set up in the register in such a way that I can’t, and I might lose my job if I override the price without manager approval.”

Customer: “I want your manager now! Where is he?” *points to coworker* “Is he your manager?”

Coworker: *confused, and not at all liking the customer’s tone with me* “Sir, no, I’m not the manager. She only comes in during the morning shift. If you’d like, I will buy you whatever sub you’d like, out of pocket, using my employee meal discount.”

(After several minutes of discussing politely as we can, and a lot of yelling on the customer’s part, we give him the phone number for the manager and he leaves… but not before a final parting shot. He gets up close as far as the sneeze guard will let him, and jabs a finger at me.)

Customer: “You’d better learn some manners, girl, and some respect for your elders, because I have been nothing but nice to you, and you are being incredibly rude.”

Coworker: *looks at him in disbelief*

Me: “With all due respect, sir, you are the one who has been incredibly rude to me, and to my coworker, even after he offered to pay for your meal.”

(My coworker and I had a good laugh about him all night, after he stomped out in a red-faced huff. We called our manager to let her know about the incoming angry customer, and she told us not to worry about it. We never saw that customer again.)