This Woman Is Generating Contempt

(I’m running an inflatable bouncy house for a small town carnival. I’ve only just started working with the company who does the inflatables, but apparently we did the same carnival the year before and had some trouble with the lady in charge. She hadn’t paid the extra fee to use one of our generators, and supplied no power source of her own, so there had been difficulties getting set up. They wound up giving her the generator for free. This year she does the same thing again and just expects us to provide her the free service. It’s important to note that I DIDN’T KNOW ANY OF THIS BEFOREHAND.)

Client: *walks up behind me and suddenly speaks very loudly, startling me* “So, what’s your game plan? How are you setting these up?”

(Note that I am not technically on the clock yet. I am just hanging out by the setup area to keep an eye on company property while our setup guys go to get extension cords.)

Me: “Oh, hi! I’m actually not sure yet. I just got here, but the guys just went to buy extension cords.”

Client: *disdainfully* “Oh. So, you didn’t have them in your truck? Last year they just gave me a generator.”

Me: “Oh… okay? I’m not sure what they’ve got going on, but they should be back soon.”

Client: *suddenly angry* “Well, you had better be set up by noon! Last year you were an hour and a half late setting up and I swore I would never hire you again!”

Me: *staring at her in shock because I have no idea what’s going on*

Client: “When they get back, you tell them the ‘mean lady’ said they’d BETTER. BE. READY. BY. NOON.” *storms off*