It’s the Christmas of 2020, and I’m stuck secluded at home with you-know-what. Everyone in my family lives in another state, so I usually fly out there for Christmas. Not this year. So, there I am, sick and miserable, when I hear the doorbell. Confused and more irritated than I already was, I walk over to the window and open it, planning to tell the person that coming here really isn’t a good idea.

The person in question turns out to be my best friend, who tells me to come to the door and then runs back to a group of some of our other friends. Curious now, I do as I’m told. As soon as I open the door, my friends, who are a safe distance away, start dancing and singing!

Friends: “We wish you a merry Christmas; we wish you a merry Christmas; we wish you a merry Christmas; and a healthy New Year!

“Oh, please stay six feet away; oh, please stay six feet away; oh, please stay six feet away; you’re spreading it through the air!

“We won’t stay if you come outside; we won’t stay if you come outside; we won’t stay if you come outside; so, keep your a** right there!

“We wish you a merry Christmas; we wish you a merry Christmas; we wish you a merry Christmas; and a healthy New Yeeeeeeaaarrr!”

By the end of it, I was alternating between laughing and coughing but felt immensely better emotionally. I also finally spotted the gift boxes at my feet, each of which had a bag of cough drops taped to it. My friends insisted on watching me open my presents right there and requested IOUs for their own gifts.

I have the best friends ever.

I have just returned an item at customer service and I get $2 in cash. As I am standing in the checkout line, I begin to put the money in my wallet and a lady approaches me.

Lady #1: “Please can I have some money to buy food?”

It’s Christmas and, while I don’t have much to spare, this lady catches me off guard, so I just hand her the money in my hand. I have trouble saying no to people when I’m caught off guard.

Then, the lady in front of me in line turns to me.

Lady #2: “I know you have money now, so will you pay for my items?”

She is holding two canisters of drink mix. I have now had a chance to get my bearings.

Me: “I don’t have any more cash.”

Lady #2: “But you’re obviously going to pay for your own things, so you can buy mine, as well.”

Me: “No.”

Lady #2: “So, you’re not going to buy my items?”

Me: “No, I’m not.”

Maybe it’s not much of a story, but I just could not believe the audacity!

I had to take my husband to the emergency room for a broken foot. As we were waiting to be admitted because they wanted to do more in-depth testing due to his many health issues, we were seated next to an older woman. To be honest, I don’t know if she was just old, lonely, and scared or an entitled jerk. We suspected the latter. 

She kept going up to the nurses saying how she was sick. They kept saying they knew, but she had to wait her turn which would be a while because she was not a priority patient. At one point:

Woman: *In a shaky voice* “I’m going to pass out!”

Nurse: “Then you definitely need to sit down.”

I got the impression it was not their first time dealing with her. She was carrying on like she was going to pass out and throwing up in a bag when in reality she was just trying to spit into it.  

After twenty minutes, the woman got up and left the ER. I watched her through the window as she went across the street and made a phone call. Less than five minutes later, an ambulance pulled up.

Yep, she had called an emergency number for an ambulance. They put her in the ambulance and brought her to the ER… where they promptly put her back into the chair next to me. 

Woman: *Crying* “But I’m sick!”

Nurse: “So is everyone else here. And now, since you left the ER, you have lost your place in line and will have to wait again until we have room.”

At this point, the woman harrumphed, crossed her arms, and pouted. She gave us a dirty look when they came out with a wheelchair to get my husband. She started loudly complaining to the nurses about it. I gave the nurses a sympathetic look and walked away with my husband. It’s people like her that make it difficult for real emergencies to be handled.

Decades ago, one of my first jobs was at a world-famous card and gift store. On this day of the Christmas shopping season, the store was off-the-wall busy. All the staff were on duty, and we were running around like mad helping customers. If something wasn’t nailed down, people were trying to buy it. So, logically, the store had sold out of most of our holiday products.

I was working the never-ending lines at the point-of-sale counter when I overheard this exchange at the register next to me between my coworker and a customer who sounded like she was on the verge of a Christmas breakdown.

Customer: *In a desperate, hysterical voice* “Why don’t you have what I need?! You’re out of all the Christmas gift bags and stick-on bows and cards and [the list continued for a good while] THAT I NEED!”

My coworker responds in a calm voice but with a firm schoolteacher tone.

Coworker: “Because it’s 5:00 pm on Christmas Eve, ma’am.”

Customer: *In a much calmer voice of realization* “Ohhhhh.”

After that, the customer calmed down and let my coworker complete the sale for the items she had found.

I was stunned. Never before had I witnessed a worker able to calm down an overwrought customer with simply stated logic. I gave my coworker a mental bow and made a note to try it if the right situation ever arose for me.

I work in a dollar store. Nothing has an individual price sticker because of all the giant “EVERYTHING IS ONE DOLLAR!” signs all over the store.

Customer: “How much is this?”

Me: “A dollar.”

Customer: “How am I supposed to know that?”

Me: “This is a dollar store, sir. Every item is a dollar, without exception.”

Customer: *Picks up another item* “Well, how much is this, then?”

Me: “Still a dollar, sir. Like everything in the store.”

Customer: “So, like, nothing is on sale?”

Me: “Everything is on sale for a dollar.”

Customer: *Picks up another item* “How much is this?”

Me: “A dollar.”

Customer: *Picks up another item* “How much is this?”

Me: “Two dollars?”

Customer: “Really?”

Me: “Yeah, but it’s on sale for half price.”

Customer: “That’s great!” 

He bought ten.