(While I don’t mind giving to charity, I don’t like how nowadays, callers will not identify themselves or use my first name. As a result, I tend to be very short with them.)

Caller: “Hello, [My Name]?”

Me: “Who is this?”

Caller: “I’m [Caller] with the [Charity].”

Me: “Okay, so next time, try starting with your name and organization; that’s basic phone etiquette. Also, use a title of address, such as ‘Ms.’ or ‘Miss’ and my last name. I don’t know you, so why should you greet me like a friend?” *hangs up*

(I work at a well-known company helping to diagnose and troubleshoot devices when things go wrong. While I often have to face challenging, upset, and sometimes downright disrespectful customers, this one today was a bit overenthusiastic. This occurs after I begin to help a customer who has come in with his friend. Both of them are drenched in cologne and are almost 10 years younger than me.)

Guy’s Friend: “Hey, do you know any nice restaurants in this neighborhood?”

Me: *honestly* “No.” *goes back to helping out customer with his issues*

Guy’s Friend: “Oh, because I wanted to take you out.”

Me: “No.”

Guy’s Friend: “Are you sure?”

Me: “I have a boyfriend.”

Guy’s Friend: “But not a husband, so I still have a shot.”

Me: “No.”

Guy’s Friend: “So when we fix this phone, the first number that’s going in is yours.”

Me: “…No.”

(At this point, I just stopped responding to him completely and just focused on my job. It’s amazing how many people don’t care enough to respect personal boundaries to accept a “no” stated so plainly and simply.)

It is Friday afternoon and I have just gotten off school. My dad and I are on our way to pick up my mom from work before we go home. My dad decides to stop at the drive-thru at a fast food restaurant to buy me a strawberry and banana smoothie, since it is a hot day.

I am very tired as this week I was catching up on sleep from an AP exam I had the past Friday, I had an AP, baseball games, and started my new job.

The line at the drive-thru is really long and it is the type of drive-thru where it starts as two lanes then merges into one. My dad orders and we start to try to merge when this lady from the second lane pulls up and cuts in front of us. My dad and I are both upset as we are running late but we don’t do anything.

We get to pay when the cashier tells us that the lady who cut us off felt bad as she was in a hurry so she bought my smoothie. We decided to continue the chain and bought the order for the person behind us.

Ma’am, if you are out there, reading this, you not only restored my faith in humanity but you gave me a great ending to an exhausting week.

(My husband and I are shopping, and we see the cotton candy stand. As we walk up, the employee is just starting to bag up a fresh batch. He looks up when we get to the counter.)

Employee: “Can I help you?”

Me: “I’d like one bag, please.”

Employee: “Sure thing!” *reaches for a finished bag from the rack*

Me: “I’d rather have the bag you’re filling; I like it when the candy is warm.”

Employee: “Okay, just a sec.” *continues filling bag*

(The manager walks up while the employee is filling the bag, and Husband and I are chatting. He starts to do the head-tilt/hard stare thing, and then yells.)

Manager: “Earth to [Employee]! Hello! There are people here!”

(Once we explained what was going on, the manager apologized to the employee for yelling at him. And then apologized to me for yelling in front of me. And then told the guy to not tie off my bag, but just keep filling it. I got almost twice the normal amount!)

(One of our cats has gotten sick, so we’ve taken her to the vet. After the exam, they take her off to give her a couple of shots. Left alone, I start fiddling with various things in the exam room, one of which is a length of rope with a loop in it, probably used to attach to leashes. I slip one end of the rope through the loop and let it drop to my crotch, and am about to say, “Look, honey…I’m hung like a horse.” Instead…)

Fiancée: “You’re going to need a much smaller rope.”

Me: *throwing the rope aside* “Shut up. I hate you.”