Our store is relatively high-end and so attracts a certain type of customer. Every Black Friday, we have a very good sale which attracts a lot of shoppers who normally can’t afford our items — I know I can’t normally! — but this also seems to not be very appreciated by our regular clientele.

Customer: *Immovable sneer on his face* “Why are there so many… other people here today?”

Me: “It’s Black Friday. It’s a very popular sale, so we get a lot of customers!”

Customer: “But… if they can’t afford it normally, they shouldn’t come in at all!”

Me: “Well… it’s nice to have an occasional sale to give everyone a chance to try our products.”

Customer: “You shouldn’t have so many sales!”

Me: “It’s only once a year, sir.”

Customer: “But it cheapens the experience!”

Me: “Then it’s working, sir!”

The customer realizes what he has just said.

Customer: “That’s… Ugh, that’s not what I meant! I’ll be back when the riffraff have moved on!”

He stormed out, sneer intact.

In the breakroom of our office, we have a single-cup coffee maker. It’s very simple to use: you use the touchscreen to select what you want to make, a door opens, you put a packet of coffee grounds in the basket, the door closes, and the machine makes your coffee. Afterward, the machine dumps the packet of used grounds into an internal bin. Every so often, the bin gets full and the screen displays a message that very clearly says, “Empty waste bin.”

This morning, some middle-aged guy I’d never seen before walked up to one of my employees — her cube is the closest one to the break room — and said:

Guy: “You need to fix the coffee machine, girl!”

And he walked away.

She ignored him and continued to work on her job.

Several minutes later, the guy came back.

Guy: “Girl, you still haven’t fixed the coffee machine!”

I got up from my desk and confronted the guy.

Me: “Excuse me. Who are you?”

The guy told me his name and demanded that I tell my employee to do her job.

Me: “She is doing her job. Why aren’t you doing your job?”

Guy: “I need coffee, and she needs to fix the coffee machine!”

Me: “Let’s take a walk.”

I led him to the breakroom where the coffee machine was displaying its “Empty waste bin” message.

Me: “Who is your manager?”

He answered me. It turns out his manager was one of my peers, so I said, “Let’s go,” and led him to his manager’s desk.

Me: “Hey, [Manager], do you have a minute?”

Manager: “Sure, [My Name], what’s up?”

I explained exactly what had happened and asked her if she needed anything else from me. She said no thanks, so I left.

I happen to know that his manager is not someone who takes workplace harassment issues lightly, and neither is the manager she and I both report to. I told my employee that if this jerk ever tries to tell her to do something or interacts with her in anything but a fully respectful and professional way, she is free to email both me and his manager and we’ll deal with him.

Hopefully, he learns to read and learns to adjust his attitude toward younger female employees.

One of the regional stores in our chain has been closed down as our company is opening a much larger outlet down the road. The closure has been signposted for months, and my team and I have taped off the area, locked all the doors, and shipped all the goods, and we are in the process of removing all of the fittings. We are working around the clock to literally strip the place bare within a very tight deadline.

Somewhere around 8:00 am, one of my crew points out a guy walking toward the closed front door with a massive “Closed” sign on it, staring intently at his mobile phone. As we watch, he walks straight through a thick piece of caution tape without even noticing it and straight into the closed door, slamming into it with huge force.

He immediately starts cussing us out, threatening us with violence, demanding to know why we are closed, threatening to sue, and claiming he has broken his nose (there is some blood) and his phone, etc.

I finally get a word in.

Me: “Sir, you walked past a barrier in our entranceway announcing we were closed, through thick tape, and into a closed door with a massive sign on it stating we were closed. We have never opened this early. This is totally down to your failure to pay attention and is none of our concern. Have a nice day. If you have any issues, feel free to call corporate, but we’re going back to work.”

He then tried to smash his way into the building to “teach me manners” and ended up getting arrested by the police.

My husband and I were waiting to board a flight when an announcement was made that the plane was not big enough for everyone to have their bags in the overhead compartment and any large bags would have to be checked as we boarded.

A flight attendant approached us and, without a word, she placed a “VALET” tag on my backpack and walked away.

Husband: “Excuse me? What is this?”

Attendant: “Did you not hear the announcement we just made?”

Me: “Yes, but—”

Attendant: “Okay, good, you were listening. You can pick it up when you get off.”

Me: “It’s not going in the overhead. It’s my—”

Attendant: “Do you need to speak to security? Because I can get someone, but they’re only going to tell you what I just told you.”

Me: “Please do.”

The attendant stared at me for a moment before going to the phone. The head of security arrived and the attendant headed him off before he even got to us. She followed him over to us, a smug smile on her face.

Security: “Hi, folks. I hear we have a little disagreement over this bag here. See, this is a small plane, and a lot of people will have to valet-check their bags. You will get it back once the plane lands; all you have to do is pick it up as you exit.”

Me: “This is my one carry-on item and it’s full of medical supplies. I do not want to be separated.”

I opened the bag to show what I had.

Me: “We are permitted one carry-on item, are we not?”

Security: “Yes, that’s fine.”

He looked back at the flight attendant and then removed the “VALET” tag.

Security: “Have a nice flight, folks. I apologize for the confusion.”

Me: “Thank you, sir.”

[Security] then walked away to speak to [Attendant]. We could see her turning red, either with anger or embarrassment, and glaring at us. When we scanned our boarding passes, she stuck her arm out to block us from passing.

Attendant: “That bag goes under the seat or under the plane.”

Me: “Yeah. We’re aware. We spoke with security, just like you did. Excuse us?”

She lowered her arm and we boarded the plane. By the time everyone was on, there was still plenty of room in the overhead bins and people were very unhappy about having to valet their bags.

I am going through the store, picking up the items customers have left behind in the wrong locations so that, when we close, we can sort them and put them back in the right locations.

My store has stopped mandating the wearing of masks, but I continue to wear one because I think it’s kind of nifty not to douse people in germs and micro-spit particles when you talk to them.

A customer approaches, so I get ready to ask if she’s finding everything okay. She’s not wearing a mask.

Customer: “Why are you covering your face?”

Me: “I’m trying to be conscientious during a [health crisis] and take precautions against spreading disease to others.”

Customer: *Leans in conspiratorially* “I seen you before the [health crisis], though, and you didn’t show your face, then, either. Maybe you just ain’t got a face worth showin’.”