I work at a grocery store that shares a building and entrance with a bank. Because of this, the bank has pretty generous hours: most days of the week, they’re open until 7:00 pm. My register is about fifteen feet away from the bank’s entrance, so I’m able to witness the following. It’s been a slow day for both the bank and my store, so the bank starts to close up at around 6:55 but they don’t lock the doors until 7:00 pm on the dot. Thirty seconds later, a man comes running to the bank doors and tries to open them.

Customer: “You’re not supposed to close until seven! It’s seven!”

Bank Manager: “Yes, it’s seven, so we’re closed. I’m sorry.”

Customer: “I need this check cashed! It’s seven; you’re not supposed to close until seven!”

Bank Manager: “Sir, I’m sorry, but we’re closed. We close at seven, and it’s seven. So we’re closed.”

The customer slams his phone against the glass door.

Customer: “Look at this! IT’S SEVEN! I NEED THIS CHECK CASHED!”

Bank Manager: “Sir, please calm down!”

Customer: “I NEED THIS CHECK CASHED! YOU’RE OPEN UNTIL SEVEN! OPEN THE DOORS!”

The customer begins shouting expletives at the manager and keeps slamming his phone against the doors. Eventually, the manager gives up trying to explain to him that the bank closes at 7:00 pm, and it’s 7:00 pm, so they’re closed, and she goes back into her office.

The customer kicks the door and knocks over our shopping basket stand before running back outside.

Customer: “IT’S SEVEN! I HAVE A CHECK!”

Coworker: “But… I just stacked those.”

After clearing security at the airport, my family decides to stop at a sandwich shop on the way to our gate. My brother orders first and then goes to stand outside while the rest of us place our orders. While my mom is paying, my brother comes running back in.

Brother: “Guys, they’re calling us!”

Confused, we double-check our boarding passes and confirm that boarding isn’t even scheduled to start for another fifteen minutes. Figuring it must just be a message they need to give us, we keep waiting for our sandwiches. As they come up, we hear this.

Announcement: “[Our Last Name], party of five, please come to [gate] immediately for boarding.”

We grab our food and run through the terminal like something out of a movie, telling each other to hurry up, tripping on our luggage, barely holding on to our pillows, headphones, and other accessories. We’re almost there when we hear this.

Announcement: “[Our Last Name], party of five, this is your last call for boarding at [gate].”

Everything to this point has taken place over less than five minutes of time. As we board the flight, we notice a few fellow passengers glaring at us as if we had held up the entire plane, but as the plane is taxiing away, a flight attendant announces this.

Flight Attendant: “Okay, we want to thank everyone for boarding so quickly. Now we are able to leave fifteen minutes ahead of schedule!”

Upon landing in the next city, we sat on the tarmac for half an hour. The pilot informed us that this was because there were no available gates and we had to wait for our scheduled turn.

I work at a restaurant well known for its desserts and lengthy menu. Due to the nationwide shutdown, we are only doing takeout and have limited staff working. This customer places her order around 1:00 pm for an order of sweet potato fries. I inform her that they will be ready in ten minutes.

Ten minutes go by and no one has arrived, so we place the fries under a heat lamp on low. 

Twenty minutes later, she arrives and our manager goes to collect her order but finds that they are too cold to serve.

Five minutes go by, and the cooks have only just dropped the new set of fries in to cook. I am sent up to let her know it will be just a moment.

Me: “Hi! I just wanted to update you that my manager is having the fries remade as they got cold.”

Customer: “This is ridiculous! This is exactly why I called ahead; why aren’t they ready yet?”

Me: “Well, we made the fries and put them under a heat lamp, but it was decided they weren’t good to serve; my manager is having a fresh batch made for you right now.”

Customer: “This is a huge inconvenience for me. What kind of compensation am I going to get?!”

Me: “Let me check with my manager; it should be just a moment.”

The length of the eye roll I had would astound. I checked in with my manager and informed him of the customer’s expectations that this wait time be compensated. He laughed, sold her the new fries, and gave her nothing extra. Moral of the story: don’t show up for French fries half an hour after you order them and be pissy that the staff wants to serve them hot!

My senior year of high school, I have two study hall periods. About a week into the school year, one of the guidance counselors approaches me during study hall.

Counselor: “[My Name], why haven’t you been attending cooking class?”

Me: “Because I’m not taking cooking class?”

Counselor: “You’re on the class roster and you’ve been marked absent every day.”

Me: “That’s weird. It’s not on my course schedule.”

Counselor: “Huh. Did you sign up for it?”

Me: “No. I signed up freshman year, but I switched classes a couple of weeks in, and I definitely didn’t sign up for it this year.”

Counselor: “Do you want to take it?”

Me: “No.”

Counselor: “Okay, I guess we’ll remove you from the class, then.”

It was admittedly unusual for a student to have two Study Halls, and I initially assumed that the cooking class took place during one of my two study halls, but I later learned that it actually shared the same time block as my AP Calculus class. Apparently, I was supposed to be in two places at once. Very strange.

I work in a small photography studio. One of our duties opening first thing in the morning is to print the updated session list and call the clients to confirm their appointments; if a client cannot be reached to confirm, their session is canceled.

It’s Easter Sunday and my manager and I are the only two working a short shift for the holiday. We call all the clients. Only one does not answer, so we leave a message and remind them that we close early and failure to call back and confirm cancels their appointment.

It’s now thirty minutes from our closing time and that client has since missed their appointment with no return call. Since no one is scheduled to come in, and no walk-ins have arrived all day, my manager gives me the okay to start closing down the shop while she takes off early.

As I am closing the till, I see a group of around eighteen people walking in the door.

Me: “Sorry, guys, we’re closing early for the holiday.”

Older Woman: “But we have an appointment.”

Me: “What is your name and what time was your appointment scheduled?”

Older Woman: “It’s under [No Answer Client] and our appointment was at [three and a half hours earlier].

Me: “I’m sorry, but you never returned our confirmation call, and you missed your appointment time.”

Older Man: “But we are here now. We had to wait for family coming in from the airport.”

I called my manager to explain and she told me to go ahead with the job, while my family waited for me at home. The clients didn’t even buy anything that day.