(We are selling teas, and customers are able to try anything that they want. We also have some flavours readied for customer tasting at the front. We are visited by a lady customer; I end my break and she is browsing when I come out to the shop floor. My colleague has tried to serve her.)

Me: “Did she want any tea?”

Colleague: “Nope. She said she just wants to browse.”

(Some other customers walk in and I notice that she is looking for a particularly long time at one of our teas. I approach her.)

Me: “Do you want to try anything that interests you?”

Customer: “Actually, I’m interested in this one. Do you have a bigger size?”

Me: “Yes. We have it here.” *pointed to the shelf* “Would you like to try that? We have it in front, actually.”

(I proceed to the front, pour the tea for her, and she drinks half of it and puts the cup down.)

Customer: “Hmm… I don’t really like that. It tastes like water.”

(She goes back to the shelf and smells the same tea. I think maybe she doesn’t like the taste, since it will have differences between the smell and the finished brewed tea.)

Me: “May I ask what kind of flavour you like?”

Customer: “I prefer stronger ones.”

Me: “Oh, you can try this Japanese one if you like. It has a stronger taste.”

Customer: *visibly annoyed* “I prefer fruity.”

Me: “Oh, I see.” *browsing through green tea section to find fruity ones with strong green tea* “Unfortunately, the other fruity green tea will be either weaker or the same…”

Customer: “You are not helping me. You just try to smell and drink that. You tell me what kind of taste is that!“

(I am stunned, so I’m left there wondering why she is angry.)

Customer: “You are not going to help me standing like that, so smell this and taste the one you just gave me. Okay?!”

(I go and pour the tea from the same pot I gave her and return back to her with the tea. I have no problem with the usual taste.)

Me: “I’m sorry, but the taste is supposed to be like this…”

Customer: “NO. IT’S NOT. YOU TELL ME THAT’S HOW IT TASTES? SMELL IT!”

Me: “Well, there will be a slight difference when you brew and when you smell…”

Customer: “NO, THERE’S NOT!” *proceeds to browse another shelf*

Me: “If you don’t like it, I could brew you another flavour that you might like…”

Customer: “NO. YOU ARE NOT HELPING ME, SO CAN YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?!”

(I informed my colleague briefly what happened and that it seems I made her angry. The customer eventually buys an infuser and leaves.)

Colleague: “I don’t even dare to ask her for our membership.”

Me: “Why?” 

Colleague: “I’m afraid that I might offend her again.”

Me: “I think she is triggered because I gave her that tea.”

Colleague: “Because she doesn’t like the taste?”

(We will never know why she seemed to be so angry about the tea.)

(A new colleague has just joined our company. For a 36-year-old, she is really weird and incredibly infantile; she does things like sticking out her tongue at us when she loses an argument, jumping out at the other staff, and once sneaking up on me and tickling me. For lunch, there’s a canteen nearby, and we usually call beforehand to place orders. They will pack it for us but we have to collect it in person. We take turns to collect the food for everyone. It happens to be my turn, and the newbie tags along to help me carry all the packets. [Newbie] almost goes up to grab a random food packet, thinking it’s hers. I tell her it’s still not ready. She sees the cook add some spring onions to the packet in front of her, and panics.)

Newbie: “I don’t want spring onions in mine!” 

Me: “Oh, let me tell the cook.”

Cook: “Sorry, it’s already packed.”

([Newbie] stops dead in the middle of the packed canteen and starts FAKE CRYING at the top of her voice. There’s no actual tears, just a loud, deafening wailing like a baby.)

Newbie: *wailing* “AH-HUH-HUH-HUH-HUH, I don’t want spring onions! I don’t want spring onions!”

(Her hands were on my shoulders and EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the immediate vicinity turned to gape at us. She had an enormous grin on her face, like she thought she was funny. It was clear she was not actually upset by the onions, just doing it for laughs. The cook gave us a weird look and pushed the packet to us to get rid of us quickly. I nearly died of embarrassment as she wailed all the way out of the canteen. A few weeks later, she started a petty fight with our supervisor, because the supervisor called her “Miss” and she deemed it insulting. She threatened to call the police for it, and the manager got tired of her squabbling and fired her for poor attitude.)

Me: “Hi, do you have International Reply Coupons in stock?”

Employee: “We sell IRCs, but this branch has no stock.”

Me: “Can you help me check which branches have stock?”

Employee: “No, I can’t check. Try a different branch.”

(I tried calling customer service to ask. The guy basically told me that IRCs are sold at every branch, but whether or not they have stock depends on the branch, and there’s no way to tell whether the branch has stock besides manually visiting it or calling that specific branch. There are 55 branches. One branch down, 54 to go. Thanks ever so much for the help.)

(I work as a part-time cashier at a grocery store. The store has a discount for seniors — 60 years old and above — on certain days. It can only be applied before the transaction finishes. Usually, I just immediately give the discount based on appearance. However, some seniors don’t look their age, and sometimes they forget to tell me beforehand.)

Me: *gives the receipt* “Thank you. Have a nice day!” 

Customer: *looks at receipt* “Wait… Why haven’t you given me my discount?”

Me: “Um… Do you mean the senior discount? Are you a senior?”

Customer: *raises her voice* “Of course!” *takes out her passport* “See this? I’m 71! I’ve been a senior for so long; how could you not tell?!”

(Keep in mind that this lady is wearing rather fashionable clothes that cover her arms, has light brown dyed hair, and is wearing a huge pair of sunglasses that cover half her face. I honestly thought she was in her 50s.)

Me: “Sorry, I thought you looked young, so I didn’t ask…”

Customer: *visibly gets more upset* “What a joke! I’m a senior and I deserve to get the discount! Call your manager now!”

(I have to call my manager to cancel the transaction and rescan the items so that the discount can be added.) 

Customer: “By the way, the last time I shopped here, the cashier also had to call the manager to give me my discount! Such terrible service!” *walks off in a huff* 

Another Customer: “Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen someone get upset when you tell them they don’t look like a senior citizen!” 

Me: “Yeah…” 

(The discount was only 90 cents.)

Related:
Having A Senior Moment, Part 2
Having A Senior Moment

(I’m waiting to pick up my cousin from elementary school. I’m passing the teacher’s lounge when I see the new principal. She’s known for being very whiny, like the kids in the school. A pair of student leaders go by, carrying tall stacks of books for their teacher.)

Principal: “Good morning, children.”

(Likely the two students didn’t see her, as the stacks of books they’re carrying obscure their lines of sight. They don’t answer.)

Principal: *in a whiny, high-pitched voice* “Hello! Children! I said, ‘Good morning,’ to you!” *STAMPS HER FOOT like a kid*

Students: *looking nervous* “Good morning, Mrs. [Principal].”

Principal: “That’s better. You should greet your teachers when you see them! That’s so rude of you to walk by without even saying anything!”

(The students were having trouble with the stacks of books and looked like they would like to put them down, but the principal was whining on. I stepped up and helped. Turns out that there was supposed to be a third child, but he ran off to the bathroom, leaving the two struggling with the stacks that were more than they could handle. I wondered at the principal — who was supposed to be taking care of the students in her charge — who was more concerned about getting the respect she thought she was due than the welfare of the kids in front of her!)