It is the middle of quarantine. Most restaurants are closed, but mine is open with limited seating. I work at a pizza restaurant that typically has a buffet but is shut down at the moment for health reasons.

Customer: “I need six for the buffet.” 

Me: “Oh, I’m sorry. Due to the health crisis, we aren’t currently having the buffet.”

Customer: “What?! Well, then what are we supposed to do?”

Me: “You can still order pizzas and dine in; we just don’t have the buffet.”

Customer: “So we’re just supposed to order and share? What are we supposed to do if everyone wants a different kind?”

Me: “We can do half and half or personal sizes.”

Customer: “No, that won’t do. This is ridiculous that you expect us to come and share like that. You should have your buffet open!”

Me: “Well, like I said, this is because we are in the middle of a health crisis and it is unsafe for us to have it open.”

Customer’s Friend: *Throws their hands up* “Well, we’re going to [Competitor]!” 

They all stormed out. I’m still wondering how those people order pizza at places that don’t have buffets.

A new small “independent” cinema opens near us. We don’t visit the cinema often, but our young daughter wants to see the new “ice princess” film, so we decide to go. We arrive, buy two adult tickets and one child ticket for the film, and go to check into the screen. The usher rips our tickets.

Usher: “That’s G12, E15, and H21. Enjoy the film.”

Me: “Pardon? Aren’t we together?”

Usher: “No, you’ve got three separate seats. Were they supposed to be together?”

Me: *Pointing at our daughter* “She’s four. Yes, we need to be together. Why did they give us separate seats?”

Usher: “Just a moment…”

He calls for a manager and tells him what happened.

Manager: “I’m sorry, just step over here a moment.”

He takes us to the concessions stand and tells us to order some drinks and popcorn on him. Then, we see him go to the ticket cashier and have a furious whispered conversation. He comes back with new tickets, and the cashier is red-faced and glaring at us.

Manager: “I’m so sorry. Here are your new tickets; please enjoy the film.”

We had a lovely time, but I’m still not sure what the ticket cashier thought she was doing!

I start at a new company in a quality role. They tell me that they have a good system of processes and procedures working, and they just need someone to manage the day-to-day activities, but I should make the odd improvement suggestion where I can find one.

I start and I can see the cracks a mile away. Everything looks good on the surface, and the monthly reports are all green with very few mistakes being reported, but out of the window, the repair guy has a pile of work taller than him. Customer complaints are low, but there are hundreds of boxes of duplicate parts that get rushed out in case of mistakes. Sometimes the replacements that are sent out to replace the replacement parts also need replacing.

Every time I look into an issue or open a cupboard, more thinly-covered cracks begin to show. I find out why when I propose a series of simple cheap improvements that would definitely improve, if not solve, many of the issues.

Senior Manager: “I’m sorry, but there is no money in the budget. If you can save some money somewhere else, I could possibly allow you to spend that.”

Me: “But I can prove that this will save money overall. You would save double what I spend in a year’s time.”

Senior Manager: “Yes, that does look good, but there is no money to spend now. Let me know how you get on. I have another meeting, I’m afraid.”

He was dressed very smartly, so I assumed he was off to some high-level customer meeting. I left the issue for now. I later found out that he was actually going to a black-tie event costing the company tens of thousands of pounds. It wasn’t even anything to do with the company.

This is a man who was earning a six-figure salary, solely employed to save the company money and improve the production process! I ended up lasting six months, but I felt I was talking to a brick wall every day and left for a better job that wanted me to help.

The hoarders are currently at their worst and I, like many others, am trying to get by on what we can. Having no luck at the big supermarket, I drop into my local independent corner stop to try my luck.

As I turn the corner, I watch a woman clear the refrigerator of all the milk left. It must be a dozen large bottles of milk. She smirks at me as she sees me waiting.

After she waddles off, I find someone who works there.

Me: “I don’t suppose you have any more milk?”

Worker: “Is there none in the fridge?”

Me: “No, someone took everything left.”

Worker: “I’m not sure we have had a delivery yet; let me look in the back.”

He disappears and comes back with one of each type.

Me: “Oh, thank you. It’s hard getting the kids to bed without their milk.”

Worker: “No worries. She did us both a favour, really.”

Me: “Who?”

Worker: “You said a woman took the lot earlier? My boss just told me to empty the fridge as that was all going out of date soon.”

When I think of hoarders, I think of that woman, buying dozens of pints of soon-to-be rancid milk.

This story is part of our Best Of February 2021 roundup! This is the last story in this roundup, but if you’d like to read more of our favorite stories, you can always check out January’s roundup next!

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I’m a broke university student.

I should be going to university on a scholarship because I come from a low-income family, but a last-minute £100-a-year pay rise for my mum pushes my family over the threshold for what defines “low-income” and I’m suddenly no longer eligible for £15,000 a year in scholarship money. This news comes after I’ve been accepted to university and signed the lease for my accommodation.

Despite my family not being labelled low-income anymore, I still won’t receive any financial support from my family as all the income goes toward taking care of my disabled brother and paying their own bills. It will be tight, but because I have savings from working, I decide to go to university anyway. After paying my rent and utilities, I have £10.20 a week for everything else including food, toiletries, and school supplies.

As I’m in a new city, I really want to make friends, which is difficult when most of the social activities are expensive, so I jump at the chance to do a relatively cheap coffee shop trip with my dorm.

I have £20 with me to get a cheap cup of tea and my food shopping for a few weeks and I head to the coffee shop. While paying, I pull out the note and a handful of change and realise I can pay without breaking into the note, so I put it back in my pocket. It isn’t until I’m at the supermarket that I realise the note is gone. I’m devastated as it’s the equivalent of two weeks of money gone, and I go home empty-handed.

As a last-ditch effort, I message the coffee shop’s Facebook page asking if they’ve seen it, saying I know it’s unlikely, but I want to try asking if it was handed in because money is tight. By some miracle, they reply saying they have it!

Cashier: “Here you go. That was lucky we found it!”

She hands me a shiny new note. Mine was crinkled and beaten up with repeated fold marks.

Me: “Oh… This isn’t mine; my note was an old worn one.”

Cashier: “No, no, it is yours. I’m certain it is. Don’t worry; just take it.”

At her insistence, I took it, and it wasn’t until later that I realised they were most likely trying to help out a struggling student with the coffee shop’s own money. A few months later, things got easier with a part-time job, and now I’ve graduated and have an okay grad job. I make sure to head in there regularly; I’m definitely a customer for life!

This story is part of our Feel Good roundup for February 2021!

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Read the Feel Good roundup for February 2021!