I work in a small board/card game store (think Magic: the Gathering/D&D focused), and in the earlier days of the store’s business, we’d get some people who’d come in and demand that we price-match the bigger online store’s prices.

This story happened just after we had our pre-release tournament for a new Magic set release, where the official set would be on sale a week later in big box stores and online. Smaller stores like ours sometimes had extra product from the pre-release, and that’s what this customer wanted to buy.

Customer: “You guys are charging $180 for this box when [Online Retailer] has it listed for $120 online?!”

Me: “Yes, that’s the price that we sell it at.”

Customer: “Well, you should match their price. It’s the same product, after all.”

I had had enough of these people trying to badger our prices down at this point, so I decided to push back this time.

Me: “You know what, sir, we can do that for you. I’ll sell you this box for $120, same as [Online Retailer].”

His eyes lit up as he smiled smugly towards me, thinking he’d won when I put the box he’d been eyeing on a shelf behind our cash register, where we keep our special orders out so they’re easy to get when the customers who ordered them come in.

Customer: “Hey, why are you putting it back there?”

Me: “Oh, you can come pick it up in two weeks. The normal time that it would take for the set to officially release and be shipped out to your house.”

Customer: “But it’s right there! I shouldn’t have to wait!”

Me: “Then you’re more than welcome to pay our price, sir. Think of the higher price as a kind of convenience fee that helps keep this store open. Now, what is a good name and phone number I can put on this order to call when it’s ready to be picked up?”

He grumbled about how the customer is always right, and he should be able to just buy it now for cheap, as he shuffled out the door. I never saw him again and was happier for it.

My husband and I have gone to see Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. While we’re waiting for it to go off, we’re sitting in a crowd of people. A guide from the nearby visitor center is answering some questions while we’re waiting.

One of the visitors asks with a tone of condescension:

Visitor: “All these people are waiting? Why don’t you put on more shows on busy days?!

The poor guide tried to explain what Old Faithful was and how they have no control over the geyser, but the visitor didn’t look convinced.

After Old Faithful went off, the same visitor complained loudly:

Visitor: “Not as good as the Bellagio fountains!”

I was hiking in Yellowstone, and I watched a guy and his girlfriend shortcut two switchbacks. When they did it a third time, it put them right in front of me.

Me: “Hey, guys, please don’t shortcut the switchbacks. It’s really bad for the trail.”

Guy: *Puffing up his chest* “Are you a ranger?”

I was a little surprised and caught off guard.

Me: “No. But there are signs all over telling you not to do that.”

He just shrugged and continued walking in the direction they’d been going. As he went by, the guy sort of turned back over his shoulder and yelled to me:

Guy: “They sell ranger hats in the gift shop, bud.”

He was a d**k, and I hope he got eaten by a mountain lion, but d***, he really did win that exchange.

My brother and I are adult twins. We are with our parents and some other siblings at a restaurant. My brother and I have always liked to tease each other, as siblings often do.

I am telling a story at the table, and I accidentally knock over some water.

Me: “Whoops! Accident!” 

Brother: “You were an accident!”

Me: “Dude… we’re twins.”

Brother: “I was planned. You were surplus to requirements.” 

Me: “Son of a b****!”

Mom: “Hey!”

Me: “Oh… s***. Sorry, Mom.”

Mom: “Seriously, you two are both d****e canoes. Together, you’re both like one… big… d****e catamaran.”

Thanks, Mom.

I apply for a front desk position at a hotel in town, and I receive a call back fairly quickly. I go to the interview, and it takes about twenty minutes for the owner to get to me, which I will forgive as the interview before mine went over its time. We do the usual questions and answers, and then he hits me with this question.

Owner: “Do you like gossip?”

I’m taken off guard by the question.

Me: “No? What do you mean?”

Owner: “I mean talking about your bosses and your coworkers, spreading rumors, and such.”

I’m incredulous; if someone likes to do that, they’re not going to admit it!

Me: “No, I really don’t like that.”

He continues on. I mention noticing that the hotel’s restaurant seems to be indefinitely closed. His response?

Owner: “Nobody wants to work anymore.”

Red flag number one!

Owner: “So, I’ve been trying to fill several positions since February.”

It’s June. Red flag number two.

Me: *Cautiously* “So, what happened for you to require that many openings?”

Owner: “Thank you for asking! It got toxic. The morning shift has gotten toxic. I work in my office, as there’s a lot of paperwork I have to do as the manager and owner. Well… this girl, the shift lead, started to keep the other employees from seeing me, telling them that I don’t care for them, that I don’t want to see them, making it all toxic…”

This goes on for a little while, repeating several times and looping back to how this girl kept making things “toxic”.

Owner: “…by the time I realized how bad it was, it was poisoned. I had to clean house, and I fired all of them.”

Yiiiiiiiikes.

I’ve decided that I do not want this job.

Me: “That’s terrible.”

Owner: “I’m glad you understand. You see why I don’t like gossips? It ruins things and poisons workplaces. It makes everything toxic.”

The interview wrapped up shortly after this little spiel, and I left quickly, passed the closed restaurant, and had a reflexive wince at the word “toxic” for the rest of the week.

Related:
This Is Why “No One Wants To Work Anymore”