I worked as a line cook in a very popular buffet restaurant . I would cook pasta to order. Sometimes I would get fresh stacks of clean metal plates , very hot, right out of the dishwasher. After a while working there, your hands become less sensitive to the heat.
I hand over the hot plate with food, holding it with my bare hand.
Me: Here you are sir. Grab a napkin the plate is hot.
He looks at me, seeing that I am not uncomfortable at all holding his plate.
Customer: No, that’s ok.
Me: Please grab a napkin. It is very hot.
Customer: I will be fine.
Me: It is very, very hot.
Customer: Looks at me slightly annoyed.
Me: Ok
I give it to him but I don’t let go. As soon as he touches it, he lets it go like a hot potato.
Customer: It’s hot!

(My sister and I are discussing what kind of guy we like while drinking some tea.)

Sister: “I like that guy from the 70s show.”

Me: “Which one? Lemme guess, Kelso?”

Sister: “Fez.”

Me: *spitting out drink*

Sister: “He’s cute. Well, not when he’s Fez…the actor, I mean!”

Me: “Oh.”

(I was giving the fitting room associate her 15 minute break. While she was gone I had a customer who was very argumentative about a two piece suit she wanted to purchase for church. the customer walks out and I greet her as usual.)

Me: “Hi! Did everything go well?”

Customer: “No, do you know why no one buys your two piece suits? Because of this I WILL NOT BE BUYING IT.”

Me: “Acutally, I don’t. Why?”

Customer: “Because you attach them together with one of your security tags!”

Me: “I apologize but we have many people who will swap out sizes for different tops and bottoms, but you can always go to customer service and get the security tag removed so you can try it on more comfortably. ”

Customer: “Why would I do that? Why cant you all just have serpate tags on them?”

Me; “like I said previously, people will swap out different sizes for the tops and bottoms. Again I apologize but I don’t make the rules for corporate. I just follow them.”

Customer: “Well I am sorry to take it out on you but it is ridiculous to have them secured together. I WILL NOT BE BUYING IT!”

Me: ” I heard you the first time you said you will not be purchasing it. Anything else I can help you with? ”

Customer: “Yes, learn some good f****** customer service ”

Me: “Okay, hope your day gets better.”

(I used to work in a small shop in a Scottish town. Generally I was the person stuck on the till all shift while everyone else was allowed a break from tills. On this day, the manager put a cage of stock next to the till and asked me to work it. It was a busy day and every time I stepped away from the till to work stock another customer appeared that needed serving. After an hour I had only scratched the surface of the stock. The manager came out of his office, looked at the cage then strode over to me:)

Manager: Why haven’t you done more stock?

Me: It’s been busy. I am trying, but I’ve had to serve customers on the till.

Manager: I know it has been busy, but you should be able to put the stock out and serve at the same time! You need to be better at your job!

(Yes – he expected me to somehow do both at the same time. There were a lot of instances in that job where I was singled out and blamed for things that could have been anyone’s fault, or told to be faster when I wasn’t even slow. I eventually quit. It was playing hell on my depression! I found out after I quit that a former colleague also quit – she had taken a holiday for her birthday, and the morning after her party she missed a call from the manager asking her to work. He berated her for not answering, even though she was still on holiday. She left very soon after that. Now I work in a job where, if things aren’t restocked because it is too busy, the managers fully understand. I am loads happier!)

(I work in a relatively small animal hospital, so unfortunately we don’t have any backups in the event of a power outage. A transformer blew, so everything is down, phones included. We’re unable to call patients, or do any of our surgeries, so we just have to wait. When clients come in at their scheduled appointment times, we inform them of the power outage, and as long as their appointment can still be done without power, we still see them. One of our more…unique clients arrives for her appointment time.)

Client: “No one responded to my email!”

Me: “I’m very sorry Miss [name], but our power has been out all morning, so I’ve been unable to access the emails yet.”

Client: “I tried to call too!”

Me: “Again, I’m very sorry for the inconvenience, but since the power was out, I couldn’t use the phones either.”

*the client doesn’t respond, taking a seat*

Client: *several minutes later, walks back to my desk* “I sent two emails! No one replied!”

Me: “I know ma’am, but without power, I couldn’t check the emails. Once it’s back up, there won’t be an issue, but as of now, it’s still out. You can tell the doctor whatever you emailed her in your appointment. They’ll be getting you in very soon.”

Client: “I called too! No one answered; I almost called the cops to do a…what’s it called? A wellness check?”

Me: *internally screaming, but also trying not to laugh* “I…I see. Well hopefully the power will be back up soon.”

(The client told me another 2 times about the emails and phones not being answered, before the tech finally called them into the exam room. I wasn’t sure how many more ways I could say the same thing!)