I remember back when I used to work in a movie rental place (they do still exist in some rural towns!), a customer came in, looking confused.

Customer: “This DVD didn’t make any sense!”

He hands over a copy of the Swedish vampire film ‘Let The Right One In’, which was a new release at the time.

Me: “What about the movie didn’t make any sense?”

Customer: “All of it! They were speaking, but none of what they said sounded like words!”

Me: “You know this movie is Swedish, right?”

Customer: “What’s Swedish?”

Me: “It’s a language.”

Customer: *Blank look.*

Me: “The actors in the movie are speaking Swedish, which is another language. They’re not speaking English.”

Customer: “Wait, when you say another language, you mean like Spanish?”

Me: “Spanish is another language, yes, but in this instance they’re speaking the language Swedish.”

Customer: “But they can’t be speaking another language! They’re White!”

That was when, as well as explaining how to turn on the DVD dubbing soundtrack to the customer, I also had to explain to them the concept of Europe.

A guy called in because he was having issues with creating an account on our website. I’m guiding him through the process.

Me: “Now you need to enter your phone number. It’ll send you a six-digit confirmation code that you need to type in on the next screen.”

Caller: “This is where I had issues last time! I don’t want to give you my number! I just put in some random numbers, and it wouldn’t do anything!”

Me: “Well, yes, sir, you would need to put in your actual number, or you won’t receive the six-digit code.”

Caller: “It’s a bad idea to rely on people having a cellphone! Not everyone has a cellphone!”

Me: “You can also sign up using an email if—”

Caller: “—not everyone has one of those, either! You need to rethink this whole signing-up thing!”

Me: “I will pass that note up the chain, sir.”

Caller: “What about old people! What about eighteen-year-olds! They don’t all have phones! What are they going to do?”

I hear someone in the background of the caller’s call say:

Caller’s Friend: “Seriously? There are maybe three eighteen-year-olds in this country who don’t have a cellphone, and that’s because they’re Amish.”

Me: *Stifling a laugh, pretending I didn’t hear.* “I will pass on your note that you’re concerned about the old people and older teens in this country who do not own a phone. Now, shall we continue your sign-up?”

He kept looking for more reasons why using a phone number or email address was a bad idea before he finally relented and gave me something that he could receive the six-digit security code from… after about twenty minutes. Either way, I’m still getting paid.

We had a very nice couple come and stay with us for about a week. Every day they would check out, and every evening they would return and stay with us using points through our brand. Odd, but not anything that would raise flags.

On day six, these guests finally check out for good. They handed me the key as they were leaving and said everything was great. Mind you, I had checked them in and out multiple times during their stays. This will come into play. 

A few hours go by, and I get a call from our Corporate Office people.

Corporate Office: “Hello, yes, I’m calling about our mutual guest [Guest’s Name].”

Me: “Yes, they just checked out this morning, a few hours ago. What can I assist you with?”

Corporate Office: “Well, [Guest’s Name] is saying that they didn’t stay with you at all last night, and they are requesting to get their points back.”

Me: “Well, they did stay with us, so I can’t authorize that.”

Corporate Office: “Are you sure they stayed with you?”

Me: “Well, seeing as I was the one who checked them in last night, and I was the one who collected their room key from them when they departed, then yes, I can be 100% sure that they stayed with us.”

Corporate Office: “Okay, well then, not a problem. Thank you.”

So, I think this is done and over with. 

Nope. Two hours later, I get yet another call from Corporate Office:

Corporate Office: “Yes, I’m calling about our mutual guest [Guest’s Name].”

Me: “Yes, I’ve already talked to someone from Corporate about them a few hours ago.”

Corporate Office: “Oh, you did? What about?”

Me: “They were trying to say that they didn’t stay with us last night when I’m 100% sure they did, as I was the one who checked them in yesterday and out this morning. They are trying to scam us out of points.”

Corporate Office: “Okay, well, we won’t let that happen. Thank you.”

I am then off for two days. When I get back, the owner tells me that these wonderful people, since they didn’t get what they wanted by lying about staying, instead lied and said there was an issue with bugs.

I quickly looked into our Corporate System to find out that not only did they get points back, but they had talked to three different Corporate Reps, two of whom put into notes that they were trying to scam us, so I had to file a complaint resolution.

The next day, as I’m walking in, I see the wife of the guest with the owner of the hotel. I go and put my lunch away and come back out. And the owner tells me to take care of her. WITH PLEASURE.

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, I see that you have a reservation with us using points, but we are going to have to refuse to honor this reservation.”

Guest’s Wife: “Wait, why will you not honor the reservation?”

Me: “Well, the last time you stayed with us, you tried to call corporate and tell them you didn’t stay with us in order to get points back. When that failed, you left a bad review on us and contacted corporate, and they gave you points. So, because my hotel was not up to your standards during your last stay less than a week ago, we cannot take a chance of not being satisfactory for you again. If you would like some recommendations, I can make some for other hotels in the area.”

Guest’s Wife: “I left a great review for you. I don’t know anything about a bad review. My husband usually takes care of these things. So, I’m not 100% sure, I will have to talk to him about this. Will I get my points for tonight back?”

Me: “Yes, ma’am, just call corporate, and they will take care of it. Have a great day and make sure to talk to your husband.”

The lady left, without giving me a hard time, which is awesome. I am 100% sure that this lady was here during their previous stay, as she came in with him a few times, so I’m having a hard time believing she knew nothing. I think she didn’t know how to react to being caught.

A group of us (all friends) are visiting another friend in his new house. It’s his first time living on his own and hosting, so he’s very excited.

He serves us all tea, and it tastes… funny, but I remain politely silent. Then he says:

Friend: “Let’s play a game. One of the cups has salt in it. Whoever drinks it will be ordering dinner!”

Everyone else seems to be enjoying their tea, so I am the one with the salty tea. I am broke, though, so there’s no way I can afford to order dinner.

Friend: *Smiles.* “Oh well, I guess I’m ordering dinner!”

Confused but relieved, he orders some food, and we all help him settle into his new place with cheap Chinese food.

Later, after most of the group has left, and as I am helping him clean the dishes, I realize something:

Me: “Hey, [Friend], you accidentally put salt in all the teas, didn’t you?”

Friend: “Uh… maybe?”

Me: “And you figured by turning it into a game where everyone thought they had that tea, but then would have to pay for dinner, you could spin it into something… fun?”

Friend: “Haha… you got me.”

Me: “Well, at least you’ve learned one of the first things about hosting and serving, labelling the salt and sugar!”

This was quite a while ago, and [Friend] has become a homeowner and turned into quite the cook since then. Every time he cooks and asks my opinion, I joke that he added too much salt.

I got my first job nearly ten years ago at age sixteen, working at a local fast-food joint famous for its flippable blended ice cream desserts. I earned a fair share of stories from my time as a crewmember, and a couple more as a team lead, but my first day as a working citizen will ALWAYS hold a special place in my heart.

It’s Mother’s Day at 11:15; we’ve just opened for the day. I’ve already served my first two customers, an elderly couple who come in every day for the $5 lunch special. The manager training me continues to go over details about morning prep when we see another customer arriving.

Manager: “How do you feel about taking the next order on your own?”

Me: *Shrugs.* “Should be fine, I suppose.”

Manager: “I won’t be far, holler if you need me.”

[Manager] disappears around the corner behind me. In comes a lone woman holding a bouquet of fake roses.

Me: “Welcome to [fast food joint], how are we doing today?”

Customer: “Doing just fantastic today, and yourself?”

Me: “Starting my first day of work and I’m pretty pumped!” *Smiles.* “Will you be eating in or taking things to go today?”

I asked so I may begin the order process and tap one of my POS buttons.

Customer: *Smiles brightly at me.* “No, dear, I’m actually here simply to drop off a rose for every woman on staff today for Mother’s Day.”

Me: *Immediately attempting not to shed a tear at her offer.* “Whoa, that’s awesome! Let me check with my manager how many women we’ll have on shift today.”

Manager: *Already coming around the corner, grinning.* “Ma’am, that is so generous of you!”

My manager gives the count of women expected for the day, including herself.

Customer: *Handing over roses.* “Here you go, dearies. I think it’s important that every woman gets recognition on Mother’s Day. Not everyone has a good mother growing up, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be a s***ty day.”

Manager: *Wiping a tear away with her free hand.* “Well, thank you for that. I’ll make sure these get around at shift change.”

Customer: *Already headed for the door.* “Alright, hun, thank you. You all take care now.” *Looks back at me before stepping out of the building.* “Good luck, young man.” *Smiles and takes her leave.*

Me: “So who was that?”

I figured that, like with the two older customers, she maybe knew this woman’s name.

Manager: *Sets the roses on our cake prep counter and turns to me.* “I have literally never seen that woman before in my life, and this isn’t my first Mother’s Day working.”

We both look out the windows to watch her car depart.

Manager: “Don’t get used to that. Most of them are fine, occasionally you’ll get an interaction like that, and sometimes you’ll get your job threatened for forgetting to add a condiment to a burger.”

Me: *Raises an eyebrow.*

Manager: “Welcome to fast food.”