The Mythical “Back” Where All Is Hidden

(I’m a new employee at a supermarket in Australia. One of the things I need to do is pick items off the shelves for online orders. This takes place during my first day of training, and my trainer is the poor schmuck who has to deal with it.)

Customer: “Hi, could you help me?”

Trainer: “Sure, what did you need?”

Customer: “I’m trying to find caramel flavouring for coffee. Which aisle would that be in?”

Trainer: “Well, anything coffee-related would be in aisle three…”

(The customer goes off and we assume that they have found it. We resume training only to be interrupted a few minutes later.)

Customer: “Hi, sorry, I can’t seem to find it. It’s in a glass bottle. Like this, see? I have a picture!”

Trainer: *looks at me* “You all right to keep going by yourself for a bit?”

Me: “Yeah, sure! Go ahead.”

(I watch them walk off together and then get back to picking. Soon, my trainer returns with an extremely frustrated expression on their face.)

Trainer: “Oh, my God, customers sometimes!”

(They see my curious expression.)

Trainer: “Oh, they had a caramel-flavoured coffee from a coffee shop today, and they wanted to buy some of their branded flavouring. The problem is, I just spent ten minutes of my life reminding someone that just because one shop has something, it doesn’t mean all shops do. They were convinced we had some hidden away out back, and they actually started walking toward the employee-only door!”

Me: “Seriously?”

Trainer: “Oh, hun…  I wish I could say that’s the first one I’ve had to deal with, but it happens all the time around here, and that’s nowhere near the worst.”