(At our parking lot, we have a charger pole for electric cars. It’s for employees only, which it also says on the sign. You need a special pass to get permission to “tank.” I see an unknown car enter our parking lot and park next to the pole. A lady comes out, takes out a cable, and hooks up her electric car. I don’t recognise the lady, but she could be a new employee, so I watch for a moment. It’s obvious the lady is getting frustrated, so I get up and decide to help.)

Me: “Can I help you?”

Lady: “Your pole isn’t working!”

Me: “One of my coworkers just finished charging, so it worked about an hour ago.”

Lady: “Well, it’s giving this error!”

(Our errors are color-coded and I see a bright red ring on the pole.)

Me: “Did you already swipe your pass?”

Lady: “Swipe my pass?”

Me: “Yes, employees can request a special pass.”

Lady: “Employees?”

Me: “Yes, this pole is for employees only.” *points at sign* “You’re not working here?”

Lady: “Of course not! Why would I work here?!”

Me: “I think that’s your problem; you’re not an employee and this pole is employees-only.” 

Lady: “That is ridiculous! Why would you keep this employees-only?!”

Me: “Because the company pays for the electricity?”

Lady: “So?! They are big enough! Honestly, how selfish of them not to share! I expected more of them! They don’t want to help the environment at all! I’ll never come here again!”

(She unhooked her cable, threw it in her trunk, and rushed off. Considering we are an office that only deals with large building companies, I don’t think we’ll miss out on much of her patronage.)

(I’m delivering the mail. Saturdays are busy days, as there is no delivery on Sundays and Mondays and many people want their mail to arrive before that. On top of that, we also deliver ad flyers that have to be delivered to every house that has no “no ads” sticker. We are short-staffed, so I have two delivery routes today, which I can usually just manage within the time period in which mail has to arrive. I’m at the end of the second route when I arrive at the house of a woman who always complains about me being late. This time, I’m actually pretty early for the Saturday delivery. I hear running behind the door as I push the mail through the mail slot.)

Woman: *ripping open the door with a menacing laugh* “Late again! You are always late on Saturdays! You are lazy!”

Me: “I’m sorry, madam. We have to deliver a lot on Saturday, and this is my second route. In any case, I’m supposed to get the mail to you before 5:00, and it is 3:30.”

Woman: “That’s not my problem! Be earlier!”

Me: “You’ll have to take it up with my manager; tell him he should hire more people to spread the workload.”

Woman: “That’s ridiculous. You should be here earlier!”

(I’m too tired for this s***.)

Me: “Have you considered moving to a house that is closer to the start of the delivery route?”

(She slammed the door shut. I moved on, and then called my supervisor to tell him we might be getting a complaint and to explain the situation. Luckily, she never did make a complaint, and my supervisor thought it was funny.)

(My friend and I are waiting in the checkout line in our library with a pile of books and DVDs. It’s quite busy so everyone starts forming a line behind one of the four check-out points. Our turn is finally up when a woman cuts in front of us. I have free time to spare that day, but I really dislike people who cut in line, so I put on my sarcastic voice and say:)

Me: “Sure, it’s really no big deal if you go first. It’s not like a lot of people are quietly waiting their turn.”

(I hear my friend gasp, then giggle. The woman turns around and looks at me with something similar to poisonous eyes.)

Patron: “Well, what are you waiting for?” *snaps as she steps away, but not to the back of the line*

(I very slowly check all our stuff out, taking about five minutes while talking to my friend. When we leave, she tries again. The man behind me simply pushes her stuff aside and says:)

Other Patron In Line: “Back to the line, ma’am. Don’t you have any manners?” *looks at us and says* “No wonder foreigners think the Dutch are rude.”

(My coworker has just talked to an abusive customer. He threatened her and she told him that if he continued his threats, she would disconnect. However, he hung up on her. He calls back, but doesn’t know that our system matches phone numbers to the people they last called with, if available. My coworker remains calm as the customer tells her how rude the lady before was, that she hung up on him, and that he did nothing wrong.)

Coworker: “Sir, you are saying my colleague was rude to you, yelled at you, and hung up on you. Are you willing to write that down and file as a complaint?” *silence as the customer speaks* “All right, then let me clear up one detail for you to add. Sir, I was the lady you talked to and I was in no way rude to you. In fact, you threatened me and you hung up on me. Please include those facts as– Huh, he hung up again.”

(Our train station kiosk is not owned by the railway company — like most here in the country are — and people often don’t know that besides selling coffee and snacks we also provide travel info. In the Netherlands, all students above 18 get a public transport card — PT card — which they can use to travel for free on weekdays and get a discount during holidays. It’s summer break at the moment. A mother and her teenage son walk in. They both seem quite nervous.)

Mother: “You don’t happen to know anything about student PT cards, do you?”

Me: “Sure, I do! I used to have one when I was in college. What do you need to know?”

Mother: “Well, my son here needs to activate his subscription on his card but we don’t know how!“

Me: “Don’t worry. It’s easy. Let me show you.”

(I walk outside with them to the machine. I put his card in front of the reader, select ”pick up subscription,” select the only option it gives next, and then proceed to hold the card in front of the reader a second time, like instructed on the screen.)

Me: “There you go. All set.”

Mother: “Oh, it works that fast? Can he travel using this card now?”

Me: “Technically, yes. But because it’s summer break it’s not valid yet, but it automatically will be once school starts. Until then, he travels with a 40% discount.”

Mother: “So, he won’t have to do anything to make it valid?”

Me: “No, ma’am, like I said, that happens automatically.”

Mother: “So, we can use it… like… right now?”

Me: *not knowing how to make myself more clear* “You could, but only with 40% discount. It’s not for free yet. It will be come September. 

Mother: “Are you sure? He can use it once school starts? What if he wants to use it now?” 

(This goes back and forth a couple more times. Finally, I manage to convince her they’re all set.)

Mother: “Well, because you did it so quickly, I just had to make sure, you know! Thanks for the help!”

(They are about to leave when the son speaks up:)

Son: “So, you’re sure I can use this now?” 

Me: *exploding inside*