(I am working the firearm counter at a well known sporting goods store. It is early in the morning, so I’m cleaning the cases when a man approaches.)

Man: “Hey, honey. You got anyone working at these here guns?”

(I assume he thinks I’m maintenance since I’m cleaning.)

Me: “Yes, sir, I am. What can I help with today?”

Man: *guffaw* “No, honey. I need someone who can sell me one’a these here guns.”

Me: “Yes, sir, I am certified to do that. What were you interested in?”

Man: *looks visibly uncomfortable* “You ain’t got nobody else here?”

Me: “No. We usually only have the one person in the morning. Can I help you with something?”

Man: “I need a .22.”

Me: “We have several in stock of different manufacturers.”

Man: “I’m looking for a .22, honey. It’s a rifle.”

Me: *becoming annoyed* “Yes, I know. Which manufacturer or model are you interested in?”

Man: “I’ll just come back by when y’all got someone working who knows what I’m lookin’ fer.”

Me: “Sir, none of our employees are telepathic. If you don’t know what you want, chances are that we won’t either!”

(I work at a sports supply store. An African-American man appears with what looks like nothing on him, until he pulls out a pistol.)

Man: “I’d like to buy this, please.”

Me: “I’m sorry?”

Man: “I wanna buy this gun.”

Me: “Uh, sir, how did you get that?”

Man: “The h*** you talking about? I got it from your gun rack! In the back of the store!”

Me: “Why didn’t you check it out from the man at the counter back there?”

Man: “There was no one there.”

Me: “But how did you get the gun?”

Man: *getting angrier that I’m not understanding* “I got it from the gun rack!”

Me: “In the gun case?”

Man: “YES, WHERE THE H*** ELSE?!”

Me: “Sir, that’s a locked case! How did you get it out?”

Man: “It wasn’t locked!”

Me: “Sir, please, you need to go put back that gun and wait for the attendant to come back to the desk.”

Man: “Can’t you just check me out?”

Me: “No! I don’t have that kind of authority. We need to check to make sure you’re actually allowed to carry a gun.”

Man: “What, you calling me a criminal?!”

Me: “No! I just can’t—”

Man: “I see! You don’t want me carrying a gun ’cause you think I’m black!”

Me: *embarrassed* “No, no, sir, I was just saying that, legally speaking, we have to—”

Man: “This is discrimination! You should be arrested!”

Me: *now getting mad myself, and decide to make sure I get my point across* “Sir, I’m saying that I cannot, LEGALLY CANNOT, let you buy that gun. It is not because you are black. It is because you are in the United States of America, and the US says you have to show proper ID and make a license for the gun. I am not discriminating. I am trying to not be arrested. Now if you do not want to obey those rules, then you are free to put the gun down right here and LEAVE.”

(There is a moment of silence, and the man stares at me.)

Man: “Thank you.”

Me: “What?”

Man: “Thank you. This was a test, set up by [My Boss]. And you passed.”

(I looked around, and My Boss, the store manager, was about a hundred feet away, giving me a thumbs-up.)

(I work in a small sporting goods store where we allow customers to demo certain products before purchase. They sign a form agreeing to bring them back within a week or be subject to late fees. This customer slipped through the cracks and was 4 weeks late. I decided to call and give him one day to return our products before we charged him.)

Me: “Hello, sir! My name is [My Name]. I’m calling from [Company]. I’m calling about a couple of demos you have out from us.”

Customer: “Hmm? Oh, yes! I do have those!”

Me: “Yes, sir. You are actually four weeks late on returning them. I wanted to remind you that our store policy is to charge your card for late returns, but if you can get them back to me by the end of tomorrow, I won’t charge you for it.”

Customer: “Oh, ok. I was actually going to buy one of them.” *he proceeds to tell me which one* “How much does it cost?”

Me: “The price on that one is $189.00.”

Customer: “Oh, wow. And can I have a discount on that?”

(We ask for ID when the credit or debit card purchase is over 15 dollars. This customer’s total is $97.94.)

Me: “Perfect, red for credit or type in the pin if it’s a debit card.”

(The customer selects credit.)

Me: “All right. Can I see your ID, please?”

Customer: “Why the h*** do you need to see that?”

Me: “To verify that the card matches the purchaser, sir.”

Customer: “That’s why credit cards exist,boy! So that I can purchase whatever I want without ID! That’s how the world works son, isn’t it?”

Me: “Well, sir, how do I know it’s you and not somebody stealing your card?”

Customer: “Because it’s me! Nobody stole my card, did they?! I’m the one buying this right now with this card!”

Me: “I would have no idea of knowing that unless I saw your Identification…”

(He then gave me his ID and was very pleasant for the rest of the transaction. But I guess I learned how the world worked?)

(My supervisor is filling in for a cashier. A customer checking out hands him a coupon from one of our competitor stores. Corporate has recently told us we can only match it if we have a similar coupon running, which we don’t for this one.)

Customer: “You ALWAYS take competitor coupons!”

Supervisor: “Unfortunately, sir, we can’t honor this one.”

Customer: “Well, what’s stopping me from taking this coupon and buying this same item from THEIR store?”

Supervisor: “What a novel idea.”

(The customer walked out without another word.)