(I’m a trans woman. It’s worth noting that Michigan has no laws mandating what sort of restroom anyone has to use; at worst, entering the wrong restroom and causing a disturbance might get you charged with disturbing the peace. So trans people are not discriminated against. I begin checking out two customers: Customer #1, a man, and Customer #2, obviously his wife. After a short while…)

Customer #1: So, are transgenders allowed in the bathroom now?

(The question is said like he has just learned something which surprises him. It definitely catches me off-guard, and at first I wonder if he has figured out that I’m trans (it’s not terribly obvious unless you look closely), but decide to just answer the question in a way that won’t out mysef.)

Me: Er… well, Michigan doesn’t have any law regarding that, and I’ve not heard of any [store] policy against that, so I would assume so.

(Customer #1 seems to have a follow-up, but Customer #2 intervenes.)

Customer #2: *To Customer #1* It’s fine. I was just surprised, is all.

(So I take it that someone who was obviously trans, or who they figured out was trans, was in the woman’s restroom at the same time as Customer #2. I have no idea whether it was me or someone else; it could have been me, since I did use the restroom earlier that day. I take no offense, but did he just assume that trans people were simply not allowed to use the restroom? How odd…)

(I am the receptionist for a small Chiropractor’s clinic. On this day we had a two patients (A married couple) come in for a routine adjustment. When it is time for a patient to get adjusted, I will give them a small clip board with a room number, and direct them to the room with the corresponding number.
I had just sent the husband back, and was about to send the wife to her room.)

Me: “[Wife] You can head on back to room two.” *I set the board on the counter as I say so.*

Wife: *Gets up, takes the board and goes back to the bathroom. The timing is odd but this happens all the time so I think nothing of it.*

*The husband comes back to the front at this point and I am in the process of ringing him through when the wife comes back out and stands in the middle of the waiting room.*

Me: “[Wife], You can head back to room two.”

Wife: “I already went”.

Me: *Pauses, clearly confused as there was no way she had time to get adjusted between her going to the bathroom and coming back to the waiting room* “You….already saw the doctor?”

Wife: “I already went to the bathroom.”

Me: *Stares blankly, utterly confused. Before I can say anything else the husband steps in*

Husband: “She’s telling you to go get adjusted! Go to room two! TWO!” *Points dramatically in the direction.*

Wife: *She says nothing and walks away. She made it to the adjustment this time at least.*

(I am still baffled that she thought I had told her to go to the bathroom.)

I work the front desk at an assisted living home. A visitor comes up to the desk to ask a question.

Visitor: Can I get a cup, please?
Me: Of course. For coffee or water?
Visitor: *suddenly becoming irate* None of your g****** business!
Me: I just need to know if it’s for a hot drink or a cold drink so I get you the right cup.
Visitor: Just bring me a d*** cup, ugh.
Me: *gives her a styrofoam coffee cup*
Visitor: Not this kind! I want a d*** clear plastic one! For water!
Me: *loses faith in humanity*

(I am a volunteer at a hospital. I am a 16 year old boy at the time and look about the age. I have no permit to drive, learner or otherwise, I haven’t even taken driver’s ed classes. I am wearing a shirt with the hospital’s name and logo on the left side, and “volunteer” is written under that, though in small letters. Today happens to be some sort of small festival or something, with lunch outside. To get there, I leave through the front door, where there might be someone for valet parking (I never really paid attention to when they are there and where they might be, given that I walk to the hospital). The valet drivers have a different shirt, not even close to the one im wearing. As I leave, a woman tries to hand me her keys)
Woman: can you park my car?
Me: uh, sorry, I’m just a volunteer
Woman: oh, I thought you were valet parking.
Me: no, ma’am, I can’t drive, I don’t even have a learners permit.
Woman: oh dear! Sorry!
(I’m just glad this didn’t turn into a “I don’t work here does not work here” story. Though technically I did “work” there, just not that job.)

(My store is hosting a Safety Week, and throughout the store parents can pick up free flyers, stickers, magnets, and mini coloring books with child safety tips on them. Overall, it’s to raise awareness for a fundraiser we’re doing for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, where we ask for a $1 donation at the registers. A mother and her young daughter come up to my register, and I see the daughter has collected all of our free items and looks very excited.)

Me: I like your stickers! Did you get some magnets, too?

(I point to the pile of magnets we have at the register, and the daughter holds up her own magnets proudly. At that moment, her mother grabs another sheet of magnets and puts them in her purse.)

Customer: For my son at home.

Me: Great! I’m glad you guys like those, they’re for a great cause. Alright, your total is $[total], would you like to donate a dollar to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Customer: Nope, I’m fine.

(I look incredulously at the excessive amount of free safety trinkets they’ve collected before continuing with the transaction as politely as I could… it was pretty baffling though!)