It’s late evening, and a woman comes into our lobby from the pool with three children and gestures angrily to the pool area.

Woman: “You guys need to do something about what’s going on out there!”

I look at her inquisitively.

Woman: “Go look; you’ll see.”

I walk outside, and it’s pretty immediately clear a couple in the hot tub are “discreetly” having sex.

I approach just enough to get their attention. 

Me: “Hi, guys. I know everyone’s here to have a good time tonight, but we got a complaint about some hot and heavy activity in the hot tub.”

They’re clearly intoxicated, but they apologize and say it will stop.

A few minutes later, the phone rings. It’s the woman who complained before, calling from her room which faces the pool.

Woman: “They’re still at it. You need to do something. Children are staying in this hotel!”

I go back outside and, sure enough, now that the spectators are gone, the couple is f****** it out in the hot tub.

I go back out and tell them to get out. They start giving me the story.

Guest: “It’s our anniversary! We’re very sorry. You won’t have any more problems with us!”

I foolishly let them stay in the hot tub. Ten minutes later, the phone rings.

Woman: “Seriously?!”

It’s the same lady. I look out the window; both guests in the hot tub totally naked.

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, I’ve warned them. I’m calling the police.” 

The police arrive and head out to the pool. The officer handles it like a pro. He’s very nice, and he lets them know that it’s inappropriate. He doesn’t want to ruin what’s clearly a fun weekend for them both, but they need to go to their room and not come out for the rest of the night. They are to stay in their room until tomorrow morning. No excuses.

The couple thanks him for his understanding, and they promise they’ll behave and stay in their room.

The officer and I wind up chatting and laughing about it all, and he asks if he can grab a cup of coffee in our lobby while he fills out his report. Of course, he can.

He’s sitting in the lobby, I’m back to work, and I hear him say:

Officer: “Oh, you’ve got to be f****** kidding me!” 

I was shocked at the broken quietness as I saw him jump up, exit the lobby… and head right to the hot tub, where the same couple was back in the hot tub making out. I can only assume they took the stairs at the end of the hall out to the parking lot and around to the pool.

He arrested them both. They came back Monday afternoon (they were arrested on Friday night) to collect their property.

A friend knew we were trying to sell our 2005 PT Cruiser. (Don’t laugh; it was a good car for us and had only about 69,000 miles on it.) He hooked us up with a woman who needed a cheap car. We wanted the sale of our car to be beneficial to both of us, and I feel terrible about the way it turned out. But after having thought about it — a lot — ultimately, we feel that we handled it the right way.

The woman came over to take a test drive. She was already aware that the check engine light was on. I got in the car with her while she drove, and the acceleration was a bit bumpy — a problem I had not had. She attributed it to her “lead foot”, and that seemed likely.

Several times during that test drive, I reminded [Buyer] that the check engine light was on and that I really didn’t know why. I told her I had friends who thought it might be an O2 sensor or some such. I don’t even know what an O2 sensor is. I did not tell her that was the problem; I simply told her that’s what some friends had theorized. She also said, considering the fact that the car had been sitting in the parking lot for quite a while, she was maybe flooding the engine with the bumpy acceleration.

By the way, the next morning, before [Buyer] came back to get the car, I took it out for a quick spin and it ran just fine.

I had lowered the price from $1,000 to $850, and I thought, given the relatively low mileage, it was still a very good price. I made sure [Buyer] understood that the sale agreement was for the car in “AS-IS” condition, with no warranty, expressed or implied. She signed the paperwork and at that point became the owner of the car.

I hate what happened the next day, and if [Buyer] hadn’t become very nasty very quickly, we might have been able to work out something. The fact is that after she bought the car, I headed for the bank, made a deposit, and paid a bunch of bills with the money, so there wasn’t a whole lot left.

Well, the next day, [Buyer] came back loaded for bear. She claimed that a mechanic had told her that whatever the problem was, it would likely cost her close to $1,000 for repairs. Now, this was a car that had sat in the parking lot for months. It had a brand-new battery and alternator. All of the fluids had been checked by our mechanic. She immediately accused me of lying to her (which I had not) and cheating her (which I had not), and she demanded a full refund. I told her I could return $200 to her, but no, she wanted the full amount. 

She said, “I know the law!” — which so often means that someone knows nothing about the law — and told me I was required to refund her money because of a North Carolina law stipulating that she had three days to change her mind and get a refund. I had already looked all of this up, and I once again explained to her that there was no such law in this state and that she now owned the car.  

[Buyer] threatened to call her lawyer, and she did call the police and told them I had cheated her. The police showed up, and the very nice officer took a look at everything and affirmed that I was correct and that [Buyer] was now the owner of the car. He also told her that if she wanted to pursue a civil charge, it would be under the auspices of the sheriff’s office, not local police.

I pointed out again that she knew there was a problem with the car. Right before she chose to make the purchase, she wanted to know if she could drive it to someplace several hundred miles away. I told her that it would be a very good idea to have a mechanic look it over before driving that far. But no. Knowing all this, she decided to buy the car anyway.

Now, if [Buyer] had come to us in a civil manner and not immediately become accusatory and nasty, we might have been able to work something out. I have very little experience with situations like this, but at some point, I just shut down and was unwilling to have any further dealings with her. My wife and I spent several days wondering if we were really terrible people and decided that no, we were not. I hate that it worked out like this but, well, lesson learned.

Way back before DVDs were a thing, I was an assistant manager at a video store. We had three regular customers who were always late with their returns. Two we didn’t mind too much since they paid their fees without a fuss and were genuinely great people to deal with. Everyone knew them, to the point that we’d put aside copies of high-demand new releases for them. The manager would sometimes waive the fees or give them free rental coupons, just because they were friendly and polite.

Then, there was our would-be owner. Everyone knew her, too. I call her “our would-be owner” because every time she had a fee (and she always had a fee), she would insist that her husband was rich, and if we wouldn’t waive the fee, then she’d have him buy our store and fire us all. Seriously, I thought that was just a Hollywood joke until I met her. Strangely enough, the fee was never waived, and our store was never bought out. 

The kicker was the time one of her kids came in alone to rent a movie. That was unusual but not unheard of; parents would sometimes send their kids in while they were in one of the other shops. Of course, there was a late fee outstanding. I informed the kiddo that the fee had to be paid before we could rent anything else to him. Fortunately, the $20 he had covered it, and he happily left with his movie.

Two minutes later, our would-be owner came storming in, demanding that we return her money and appalled that we would “rob a child” by making him pay the late fee! It turned out she’d given him the cash and sent him in alone on purpose, believing that we would waive the fees because he was young.

I work at a tiny kiosk that sells convenience items like snacks, magazines, drinks, etc. We’re located next to a bus stop that gets us a decent amount of traffic.

For the last few weeks, at specific times throughout the week, I have noticed two women at the bus stop at the same time. They’re a little older, wearing very nice coats and large puffy hats, even though it’s a little warm.

Since in my part of the US, buses are unreliable and irregular, they can sometimes be sat there for over half an hour, so I decide to strike up a conversation with them.

Me: “Wow, ladies, I just wanted to say that I love how you rock those fabulous hats! I’ve seen you here for a few weeks now, and every week it’s so impressive.”

They both smile at me and thank me for my kind words. They both start talking among themselves, keeping me included.

Old Lady #1: “I’m lucky my husband bought me such nice hats on our travels. You see, I take this bus each week to go to the hospital because…”

She takes off her hat to reveal a bald head.

Old Lady #1: “…I’m doing the chemo. I’m a bit self-conscious.”

Old Lady #2: *Eyes go wide* “Oh, my God!”

She takes off her hat, also revealing a bald head.

Old Lady #2: “Me, too! Are you with Dr. [Name]?”

Old Lady #1: “Yes! I am! How have I not seen you before?”

Old Lady #2: “I usually try to keep my head down when I go in. Some weeks I feel really terrible and I don’t really pay attention to my surroundings.”

Old Lady #1: “Yes, it’s the same with me!”

They carry on like this, comparing “chemo notes” and chatting away, so intently involved in their conversation that I have to shout to them that their bus has arrived.

The next week, they’re both back, except they’ve arrived together and their conversation sounds like it hasn’t stopped since the previous week. They’re making in-jokes, talking about their late husbands, their children and grandchildren, etc. Finally, they remember I am there!

Old Lady #1: “Oh, goodness! What’s your name, dear?”

Me: “Oh, it’s Mary.”

Old Lady #2: “Mary! Thank you for complimenting our hats! If you hadn’t said anything, we wouldn’t have made friends like we have!”

Old Lady #1: “It makes so much difference having someone to go through this with together.”

Me: “I’m so happy to hear that! I’m so sorry that you’re both going through what you’re going through. If there’s anything I can do for you, please do let me know.”

Every week they’re back, and every week they’re happily discussing all manner of subjects under the sun, keeping me included. Some weeks seem harder than others (chemo takes its toll on you), but they both always seem to have energy for each other.

One week, I don’t see either of them. The next week is the same, and I eventually start to fear the worst.

After a couple of months, I see a car pull up, driven by a young man. Two old ladies get out of the back of the car and run over to me, full of smiles and energy, and showing hair!

Old Lady #1: “We wanted to come by and let you know we’re both okay!

Old Lady #2: “And we’re both off the chemo!”

Old Lady #1: “Our doctor said we both showed remarkable improvement when we started to talk to each other!”

Old Lady #2: “Those were his exact words! ‘Remarkable improvement.'”

Old Lady #1: “We both went to each other’s appointment together! You should have seen the look on his face!”

Old Lady #2: “They say a positive mindset can be a powerful healer! I’m not sure if that’s true, but it feels like it was with us!”

Old Lady #1: “We’re both in remission! Together! We wanted to thank you!”

Me: “Thank me? But I didn’t do anything!”

Old Lady #1: “Have you not been paying attention? You introduced us to each other!”

Old Lady #2: “You saved our lives!”

Old Lady #1: “We wanted to let you know! We may not need to use the bus anymore, but we’ll never forget you! We beat cancer and got a new best friend because of you!”

And with that, they both hand over a gift. It’s a new and beautiful hat, very similar to the one that [Old Lady #1] was wearing that day I started up a conversation.

Old Lady #1: “Remember us every time you wear that hat!”

They drove off, as happy and as talkative as I have ever seen them, with a smile beaming from my face.

Every time I am having a bad day, I look at my lovely hat and remember what came out from just a simple compliment while working at a kiosk one day, and it never fails to lift me back up again.

One of my coworkers is from England but has lived in the USA for about a year since marrying an American. She is working the cheese counter when a customer comes over.

Customer: “How much is a pound of cheddar?”

English Coworker: “Depends how much it weighs.”

The customer looks confused, and I just laugh.

English Coworker: “Wait… no. Shush! I’m from England! That would make sense in England!”

Me: “Wait… that makes it even worse!”