(I am visiting my cousin and helping her take care of our younger relatives. She has just had an anxiety attack. Most of my family including myself has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.)

Cousin: “I’m sorry for freaking out back there. Thank you for being patient and helping me with the kids.”

Me: “Oh, no problem. I know how you feel… Oh, no, I’m sorry. That sounds so condescending. I have no idea how you feel. I am not in your shoes… Actually, I think I’ve just proved that I do, in fact, know how you feel.”

(A lady approaches the counter with several items.)

Me: “How are you today?”

Customer: “Doing fine, thanks”

Me: “So you found everything okay?”

(Ignoring my question, she looks at who appears to be her mother and says:)

Customer: “I am not buying that blanket. If you want it you can buy it.”

Customer’s Mom: “Okay. That’s fine, I guess.”

(As I finish ringing up everything else, I get to the books and notice they are hardbacks which are $3, so I ring them up accordingly.)

Customer: *noticing the price of the books* “Wait, the sign says children’s books are 50 cents.”

Me: “Oh, I am sorry; let me fix that for you.”

(I pull the books back out and double-check what kind of books they are.)

Me: “Ma’am, unfortunately, these are not children’s books. They are hardbacks and are $3.”

Customer: *visibly getting angry* “They were in the children’s section, so they are 50 cents.”

(A line is forming.)

Me: “I can double-check with the manager if you would like, but these books are moved around frequently in that section.”

(I walk over to the manager with the books and tell her the situation.)

Me: “The customer is saying these two ‘adult’ books are for her child and therefore 50 cents.”

Manager: *seeing the mostly nude woman on the front in a seductive outfit* “This is a thrift store. Just because she ‘found’ those books in the children’s section, it doesn’t make them so. If she really fusses about it, say you can give them to her for the paperback price, but certainly, these should not be for a child.”

(I walk back over to the customer.)

Me: “The manager said these are indeed not children’s books.”

(As the customer is about to reach mental breakdown status:)

Me: “But I can give them to you for the paperback price if that would help this one time.”

Customer: “Fine! I can’t believe you act this way.”

(After she leaves, the customer behind her asks what happened and compliment me on handling the situation nicely and I tell her what happened.)

New Customer: *jokingly and laughing* “Yeah! And I found these jeans in the Tt-shirt section. Can I have them for a dollar? …Who gives their child Fifty Shades Of Grey?!”

This story is part of our Thrift Store roundup!

Read the next Thrift Store roundup story!

Read the Thrift Store roundup!

(I have just rung up a customer for a cooking pot.)

Customer: “So how long have you been a pot dealer?”

(A woman approaches my register and slams a pile of clothes on the counter.)

Me: “Did you find everything okay?”

Customer: *giggles* “Yep. This trip was a steal!”

Me: “Well, we all get lucky, I guess.”

(One of the items doesn’t seem to have a price tag on it, so I ask her where she found it. She points at the back of the store.)

Customer: “It was in that side room you guys have.”

Me: *confused* “Side room? What are you talking about?

Customer: “That’s where you keep all the good stuff, right? There was a really cute scarf in there, too.”

(One of my coworkers, who is leaving for her lunch break, approaches the counter.)

Coworker: “Have you seen my scarf?”

Me: “What does it look like?”

Coworker: “It’s black, with pink stripes.”

(I hold up a scarf from the pile.)

Me: “This one?”

Coworker: “Yeah, where’d you find it?”

Me: *suddenly realizing what’s going on* “Ma’am, did you go into our staff room?”

Customer: “The side room? Yeah. That’s where I got this coat!”

(She holds up my coworker’s coat. I don’t know how, but she managed to open a locked room, with no one noticing, and took our stuff!)

Me: “Ma’am, these are not for sale. They’re our belongings.”

Customer: “You’re lying! You just want these for yourself!”

(She began throwing clothes at me, knocking over racks, and making a mess of the store before running out and yelling about how our store was robbing our customers. She didn’t even buy anything!)

This story is part of our Thrift Store roundup!

Read the next Thrift Store roundup story!

Read the Thrift Store roundup!

(I am a volunteer at a small charity thrift store. As there is a line at the cash, I am helping customers who want to see certain items while my coworker rings other people through.)

Customer: “Can I see that girl’s dress in the window?”

Me: “Sure! But just so you know, any items displayed in the windows can’t be sold until next week.”

Customer: “That’s fine; I just want to see what size it is.”

(I go to the window and start to retrieve the only girl’s dress there.)

Customer: “No, that’s the wrong one! I said I want the baby dress in the window!”

(There are two baby dresses in the window.)

Me: “Oh, I’m sorry. Which one would you like to see? There are two baby dresses.”

Customer: “The one in the window!”

Me: “Yes, ma’am, but which of the two in the window would you like to see?”

Customer: *agitated* “The one in the window!”

(I take one of the dresses at random.)

Me: “Was it this one?”

Customer: “No, the other one!”

Me: “The dress you wanted to see is sized for 24 months.”

Customer: “Great! I’ll buy it!”

Me: “Ma’am, I’m sorry, but items in the window can’t be sold until next week.”

Customer: “Well, how could I know that? You said earlier that things in the window aren’t until next week but how could I know I couldn’t buy the dress?!”

(My coworker saw me getting frustrated and took over, pretending to sympathize with her to get her out the door. Later, that same coworker informed me that she recognized the woman as a problem customer from her days working at the local grocery store but couldn’t find a way to warn me in time!)

This story is part of our Thrift Store roundup!

Read the next Thrift Store roundup story!

Read the Thrift Store roundup!