A man comes into the store and needs a 40lb bag of salt and a gallon of pool acid. I put the bag of salt and gallon of acid on a cart and proceed to check him out. After the transaction I ask him if he would like any help out with his items. (I’m a woman BTW and not a petite one at that)

Him: No…….well….yeah can you get one of the guys to get it for me?

I give him a look like did you not just see me reach up higher than my shoulders to get it off the top of the stack, carry it to the back room with it slung over my shoulder, get your acid then put it on the cart? I respond.

Me: I can do it Sir.

Him: I’m sure you can. Get one of the guys for me.

(A black man walks into our restaurant but keeps his distance from the cash registers. Most customers who behave this way are usually waiting for the rest of their party to arrive before ordering. With this assumption, I leave to the cash register to clean off tables.)

Customer: (Shouting) “So y’all don’t serve black people?”

(I turn around in time to see him leave. I asked my coworker, Mack, if I had heard him correctly.)

Mack: “That’s exactly what he said”

(I immediately walk outside to confront this guy. The customer saw me and got out of his truck.)

Customer: “Look, I heard you guys were real good, so I wanted to try…”

Me: (Cutting him off) “You realize that you order at the cash register don’t you? We didn’t say anything because it looked like you were waiting for others”

(The customer followed me back inside the restaurant where I pointed out two men (coincidentally white) ordering at the cash registers)

Me: “Do you see these two guys ordering food at the register? Do you notice the massive menu on the wall or the wooden sign under the registers that says ‘Order Here’?”

(The customer ordered his food to-go. Perhaps realizing how absurd it was to accuse us of discriminating against blacks, he apologized for his behavior. Of the six of us working at the restaurant, three of us are Asian, one of us is Hispanic, and the other two are White. The food service industry is absolutely the worst place to work.)

[An older, completely Caucasian man walks up to be served.]

Me: Hello! What can I get for you today?

Old man: Can I get a quarter of roast chicken?

Me: Leg or a wing?

Customer: Wing.

Me: Would you like some rice or another side-dish with that? *I gesture to the fried rice, baked potato and pasta options, etc.*

Customer: Oh, yes! Rice! I love my rice! That’s why I’ve got these slanty eyes! *stretches out the corners of his eyes in an offensive fashion*

Me: …

(I work at a value price theater. Weekend nights tickets are full price at $10.79 for adults and we only offer a military discount. During the week before 6pm all tickets are only $5.29. This happened on a thursday at 4pm when most other theaters would be at full price. And if we had a senior price it would be $9.29)

Customer: Can we get two senior tickets for [movie].

Customer’s Wife(to customer): They don’t have a senior anymore

Customer (to me): Well why not?

Me(in a ‘revealing good new tone’): Well right now tickets are actually less than half price

Customer: Not for us.

I just gave him a blank stare for a moment then continued to say the price at if he accepted my explanation the way everyone else does.

(My 16-year-old sister – a goth with a somewhat twisted sense of humour – is applying for her first job. As a result, our mother – who had recently had surgery on her ankle – convinced me to drive them to the bank so that she could get an account in her name (up until this point, she had just used a debit card connected to one of our father’s accounts). At this point, all that is left to do is for my sister to choose what colour she would like her debit card to be – blue, black or pink. It is also worth noting that my sister (for some reason) was wearing a pink singlet with a band’s album cover on it that day.)
Employee: So… all we have to do now is select what colour you’d like the card to be. We can do pink, if you’d like.
(A look of something between dread and disgust flashes across my sister’s face.)
Sister: …No thanks. What other colours are there?
Employee: Um… there’s blue or black.
Sister: I’ll have the card be black then. Just like my soul.
(Cue everyone within earshot cracking up laughing)