I’m heading home from my college summer job, and a traffic light changes before I expect it to; I’ve never come this way before. I fumble the clutch and stall the engine.

The guy behind me nearly plows into me and leans on the horn until I get the car restarted. In fact, he whips around me, nearly hitting me as I move off, and he flips me a bird as he does.

At the next light, I’m right behind him… where he proves that he is also driving a manual transmission by stalling his engine!

I tap my horn — just a warbly little “toot!” — and laugh as he flinches.

Karma is seldom so obliging!

The power goes out. There are still a few customers inside waiting to see if it will come back on, so we haven’t locked the doors yet.

Another lady comes in with a battery. The person we had at the door informs her that the power is out and we can’t do any transactions. 

Customer: “That’s okay. I just need my battery charged.”

Coworker: “Ma’am, our power is out.”

Customer: “It usually takes about an hour, right?”

Coworker: “Usually, yes. But our power is out.”

Customer: *Confused* “So how long will it take?”

All of us were listening at this point, and my store manager had to explain to her that we can’t charge a battery when we have no power.

The pawnshop where I work also functions as a “financial institution.” When a customer loans with us, there is a 20% interest rate with every loan. The loan period is ninety days, which is broken up into three monthly payments. For example: if you get a loan of $100, the interest is $20 every month. If you would like to pay out the loan, it’s going to be $120 you owe us. You don’t have to pay the loan out early, but the cheapest payout would be in the first month. We DO NOT have any control over totals, payments, payment dates, late fees, etc.

A customer comes in, ready to pay out his item. The customer hands over his ID to my coworker. 

Customer: “I’d like to get [item] out, please.”

Coworker: “Okay, great! That’s going to be $160, and do you have your original loan contract we had you sign?”

Customer: “$160?! WHY?! I CALLED AND WAS TOLD I HAD GRACE DAYS!”

Coworker: “Yes, you do. The grace period is established automatically in our system and is basically giving you a couple of days so the item doesn’t fall out for sale.”

Customer: “Well, y’all didn’t tell me the price would go up! This is absolutely ridiculous! I want my s***! NOW! I have $25; give me my stuff!”

Coworker: “You are more than welcome to pay an extension payment; it’s only $20. Even if you did come in time before the payment went up, you wouldn’t have enough money to get it out.”

Customer: “This is bulls***! Listen here, you. I have $25 to give you… today!”

Coworker: “Sir, that’s not going to cover the payment. We loaned you $100. You didn’t make last month’s payment, so the price of it w—”

Customer: “Override it, then; I don’t care. I want my s*** now. All you guys are doing is trying to get more money out of me. I know the manager will do it for me. She knows me very well. I’m a good customer.”

Coworker: “Sir, I can’t do that. It’s the company and our system. Our system automatically calculates payments and dates. It’s 100% out of our control. The manager can’t even override it.”

Customer: “You’re playing bulls*** games with me!”

I can hear him starting to cause a scene, so I go get the assistant manager.

Assistant Manager: “Hey, bud, what’s going on over here?”

Customer: “Y’all are playing bulls*** a** games with me and all I want is my [item]!”

Assistant Manager: “Okay, well, it looks like it’s going to be $160 to retrieve your item.”

Now I can almost see smoke coming out of this guy’s ears.

Customer: “No! I already told her I have $25 to get my s***. That’s all I have. See, y’all be playing games with me!”

Assistant Manager: “Sir, I feel like you think we have control of this. We really don’t. This is all computer-based. We have absolutely no control. Now, if I could override the system, I would, but I can’t. The $25 you have could go to the extension payment to save your item from being put out for sale, but you need the $160 to actually pay the loan out. This isn’t anyone’s fault here.”

This guy was really trying to get his item back for only $25 when he was loaned $100. He claimed that he had spent thousands and thousands of dollars with us. We can see how much he’s spent and it’s not even $400 dollars. He ended up calling our store manager, our district manager, AND corporate. His stuff is still there so his call must not have worked.

Related:
This Is Why We’re In A Recession, Part 101
This Is Why We’re In A Recession, Part 100
This Is Why We’re In A Recession, Part 99
This Is Why We’re In A Recession, Part 98
This Is Why We’re In A Recession, Part 97

I am waiting at a bus station/park-and-ride a ways out in the county. It is winter and rather cold, so I’m bundled up in a very puffy, hooded coat, and I’m also wearing a black balaclava/ski mask-type of thing but with my nose and mouth uncovered.

As I settle in to wait for my connecting bus, a man gets off another bus. We are the only two on the platform. I am a woman and I’m 5’1”, and at my best estimate, this man is maybe 5’10” — tall enough to make me feel kind of small, but I’m aware my short height makes that easy to do.

The man mutters something I can’t quite make out.

Half Of My Brain #1: “Did he just say the word ‘terrorist’?”

Half Of My Brain #2: “Stop being paranoid. See, he’s going down to the other end of the platform.”

Nevertheless, I move to a bench that puts my back against the wall. I’ve always preferred that, anyway. I kid you not, twenty minutes later, the man comes back and walks straight up to me.

Man: “Are you a terrorist?”

I’m internally short-circuiting because who ASKS THAT?

Me: “What?”

Man: “Are you a terrorist?”

Me: “I don’t understand.”

Man: “Well, you look like one.”

Me: *As confused as possible* “What— How do I look like a terrorist?”

Man: “Never mind. Forget it.” *Walks off again*

My bus wasn’t for another twenty minutes! Luckily for me, another bus arrived about five minutes later. More people got off it and the man got on, leaving me with a much more relaxed wait for my bus. My best guess is that my balaclava looked like a headscarf of some sort. Headscarf on a woman equals Muslim, and Muslim equals terrorist, obviously. HORRIBLE man.

I work in a grocery store at the customer service desk. We have a checkout at the service desk, but it is usually reserved for customers who need something from the service desk — i.e. lotto tickets and cigarettes — to keep lines short and available to those who need our other services.

I am standing across the way talking to a coworker about our shoplifter policy when I notice a customer at the service desk.

Regular Customer: “Can I buy these two newspapers here?”

Me: “I suppose so, but just so you know, we usually reserve this desk for those who need something from customer service.”

Regular Customer: “Well, I’m just buying my two papers like I do every day.”

Me: “I know that, and that’s why I’ll do it for you this time.”

Regular Customer: “There’s nobody here, anyway. You’re just standing around gossiping and doing nothing! I’m not going to stand in line for fifteen minutes while you talk!”

Me: “I just can’t have a long line at the desk, because those who actually need my services won’t be able to get them if I have lots of people checking out.”

Regular Customer: “Well, when it’s slow, you could be doing it.”

Me: “Sir, I can’t change policy based on how slow the store is.”

Regular Customer: “Whatever! I’ll talk to [Store Director] about it!” *Storms out*

I was angry but it was quite funny to see him threaten me when I knew the director would do nothing as he hadn’t and wouldn’t be back to work anytime soon! He had been out for two months for surgery at this point.