I work in a thrift store, and we get customers like this all the time.

Customer: “Where is the bookcase that was in the hallway last week?”

Me: “It was sold.”

Customer: “But I wanted it. When will you have another one?”

Cue trying to explain how thrift stores work to someone who doesn’t have enough brain cells to make a spark.

Our store has a strict ALL SALES FINAL policy. No refunds or exchanges. We’ve had it since reopening in October. We have it posted on signage in the store as well as printed out on receipts. The phone rings.

Me: “Hello, this is [Thrift Store]. How may I help you?”

Customer: “I bought two dresses there yesterday. They don’t fit. Can I return them?”

Me: “Sorry, but all sales are final; nothing can be returned.”

Customer: “Oh… but they weren’t on sale. I paid full price.”

Me: “…”

Customer: “Hello?”

Me: “Umm… anything purchased is considered a sale. Therefore, anything you purchased cannot be returned.”

Customer: “Oh. Okay. Thank you.”

Customer: “I want a discount on this plate. It has a chip.”

There is the tiniest chip on the plate. My manager knocks it down a dollar and I go to take the tag off because it immediately becomes non-exchangeable if the price is changed.

Customer: “No, I want you to ring up the discount price and keep the tag so I can exchange it later for the original price.”

Me: “No, ma’am. That’s stealing.”

At this thrift shop, there is one pair of single-person restrooms, both of them in the back. As long as no one is in there, anyone is free to use the restrooms.

I am doing work in the back next to these restrooms when a man walks into the men’s room. Nothing out of the ordinary there, and I just kept doing my work. About fifteen minutes later, another man walks in and tries to open the door to find out it’s locked. He asks me if there might be someone in there, so I try the doorknob and confirm that it’s locked. I knock and ask, “Is anybody in there?” and I get someone in there saying, “Yes!”

I ask this second man to just wait a bit for the man in there before him to leave.

Another fifteen minutes pass by, and still nothing. This second man is understandably getting antsy, and a third man has entered the back and is waiting in line behind the second man. I check the women’s room, find that nobody’s using it, and allow him to use it. Luckily, there aren’t any women who want to use that restroom during that time. The man in the men’s room still hasn’t come out, so I let the third man use the women’s restroom, and he leaves a few minutes later.

It’s now an hour since the first man initially went into the restroom. Nobody has come by since to use either restroom, so I try the doorknob and notice the door’s still locked. I knock again, ask if anyone’s in there, and I hear the same voice go, “Yes, I’m in here!” in a more aggravated tone. I find this kind of strange, but it’s not unheard of to need the restroom for an hour or more, so I give him the benefit of the doubt.

I continue to do my work in the back for the next hour, and I haven’t detected the men’s room door having opened yet. Over this hour, no one walks into the back to use the men’s room. One hour in the restroom is strange but not hard for me to believe, but two hours is suspicious. I knock on the door, ask if anyone’s in there, and once again, I hear the voice affirm they’re still in there, only now angrier and with some swearing.

Over the hour after that, two women come to the back to use the women’s restroom. It’s now three hours since that man went in, and as far as I can tell, he’s still in there. A few minutes later, lo and behold, I hear a door opening, I look over and see the men’s restroom door rustling. I turn back to my work, but out of the corner of my eye, I see that original man finally walk out of the restroom and back into the store area, doing so quietly and casually as if it’s the most normal thing in the world to occupy a restroom for three hours and a few minutes. He doesn’t look particularly mad.

I am afraid to see what has become of the men’s restroom, but I have to peek inside anyway. I find… absolutely nothing out of the ordinary about it. The man seems to have left the men’s restroom exactly the way it was when he walked in. I can’t find anything wrong with it, and neither does anyone else who walks in there.

To this day, I have to wonder what he was doing in there that needed three hours. Sleeping? Drug deals?

I’m English, on holiday with friends, and we visit this rural Virginia village. In a “curiosity” shop, there’s a book that I see and want. I ask how much and I’m told $4. I pull out $5 and offer it to the lady.

Shop Owner: “But don’t you want to haggle?”

Me: “Why should I? $4 is cheap for that book. It’s a good value, and anyone who wants to haggle on that must be a real mean cheapskate.”

Shop Owner: “My goodness, you can’t be from around here. They all want to haggle even if it’s free! Come back again soon!”

I find it ridiculous that people can be so mean that they are reluctant to pay a fair price for a $4 book. The cheapest price for that book online was $19… plus postage and packing