I work the morning shift cleaning a local pub before my other job. The first thing I was confronted with upon entry this morning was a large, terrified bat flying around the downstairs bar and restaurant area. He is not very friendly , but my boss has told me I’m not allowed to phone animal control because they will have to foot the bill. After an hour of trying to catch the bat/trying to keep it away from scratching me whilst I clean, the phone rings.

Me: Hello, [pub], how can I help you?

Customer: Hey, [boss], so about what we were talking about earlier-

Me: Sorry, sir, [boss] isn’t here yet. She’ll be here in about two hours, when the pub opens. Can I pass a message on?

Customer: What? Don’t lie! I was talking to her LITERALLY two minutes ago! At [pub]! On this number!

Me: It might have been me you talked to? I’ve only answered the phone once, and it was a lady. But [boss] definitely isn’t here; I’ve been the only one here since 6AM.

(Cue Mr. Batty McBatface flying around in a frantic, squeaking rage, flying into my head several times.)

Customer: Don’t lie to me you sl*g. Just go get [boss]. I KNOW I just spoke to her- all I did was hit redial on my phone! GO GET HER! I don’t have TIME to deal with you! It’s urgent, and if you ruin it, I’ll make SURE you lose your jo-

(I drop the phone and jump backwards because of the, again, large, terrified bat flying into and around my head. After a few seconds, he settles somewhere, and I pick the phone back up.)

Customer: HELLO? HELLO? [Boss]! HELLO! I CAN’T HEAR YOU!

Me: Okay, sir, I’m terribly sorry, but [boss] still isn’t here. She will not BE here until we OPEN. I will ask her to ring you back as soon as I can. Now, I’m really sorry, but I’m going to have to end the call because there is a BAT in the building, and I have to deal with that first. Please ring back at [time] and someone can help you.

(I ended the call. I could hear him calling me a sl*g before I managed to hang up. The bat is fine, and was ushered back into the cellar without incident.)

(I’m in the front area of a chain salon, waiting to get my hair cut. The only other people there are the receptionist, two hairdressers, and two customer’s who’s hair is being cut at the moment.)

A family walks in, they have two sons that looks about 7 and 9 years old.

Receptionist: Hi, how can I help you?

Mom: We need two boys haircuts.

Receptionist: Okay, there may be a bit of a wait is that okay?

Mom: I don’t mind waiting.

Receptionist: Great, I’ll just make sure we have time to do both of your sons as it’s pretty close to closing.

Mom: Alright

(The receptionist checks and come back in a few seconds)

Receptionist: I’m really sorry we only have time to do one of your sons today.

Mom: We don’t mind waiting if it’s possible.

Receptionist: I’m really sorry we’re not allowed to stay open late.

(The family gets up to leave)

Dad: You could have said something sooner

Receptionist: Sorry sir, but I didn’t realize we wouldn’t have space for both your sons.

Dad:(now yelling) We wasted 5 minutes of our time, we were sitting her for five minutes and you took your sweet time telling us that NO our sons can’t get their hair cut.

Receptionist: I’m really sorry sir but we have to close.

Mom( Now also yelling): Well, we wasted five minutes at this dump you could have done better.

After they left the receptionist started crying.

(I’m vice president of a club at the nearby community college. At the time I was 26 and the oldest member of the club, which meant that the younger members would sometimes go to me if they needed advice or anything. I’ve set up a snack day, where members bring a snack and everyone shares. After the meeting I’m sitting with our youngest member, who has just turned 18 and is still very dependent on parents. I notice she is clutching her stomach so I ask about it.)

Me: “Hey [club member] are you okay?”

Club Member “Yes. I’m just hungry. I spent the five dollars my parents gave me for lunch on the snacks for today and I haven’t had breakfast or lunch.”

(I offer to get her a hot dog at the stand on campus, feeling bad that she spent her lunch money on the club. I tell her no need to pay me back, it’s my treat. I figure it is a one time thing and it’s nice to treat a friend now and again. A few weeks later a similar situation comes up. She has no money and wants a snack and I’m buying myself some snacks.)

Club Member: “Do you think you can get me a [candy bar]? I don’t have any money.”

Me: “I guess so, they’re only 75 cents.”

Club Member “Thank you, you’re the greatest!”

(When I got to the counter with the candy she quickly grabbed a much larger version of the candy bar, a jumbo sized bar that cost more than two dollars and put it on the counter. Before I could say anything the cashier had scanned it. I was so annoyed, I felt like she took advantage of my kindness and now if she starts moaning about being hungry -which has become pretty frequent- I ignore it. It’s one thing to help a friend out occasionally, it’s another to let them walk over you.)

(A few years ago, my university hosted an open lecture about the legal backgroud of immigration and the asylum process. The organizer of the event was the chair of our legal society, who is a professors at our law school. Main speekers were the vice president of our local administrative court, a second professor that specialized in human rights and a local lawyer that handles many asylum cases. The first three men all had experience in and were comfortable with speaking in front of big crowds. Same could not be said about the lawyer. I would later work with him in a legal clinic and experience him as a very calm and competent person, but this was aparently the first time he stood in front of several hundred people waiting to hear him talk.
After the introduction done by the society chair, the lawyer stepped to the podium. He tried to open his presentation on the university laptop and adjust the microphone to his height, but something seemed to no work properly and suddendly his face was filled with panic and his hands started to twitch. Just a second later the professors and the judge jumped out of their seats in the first row and rushed to his side.
The judge took position behind the laptop and got the presentation running. The human rights professor went to the control pannel and dimmed the lights and let down some curtains to increase the visibility of the presentation. The society chair grabbed a wireless microphone, pulled the strap over the lawyers head and adjusted the strap until it had the proper length befor moving the other microphone out of the way. Then, after a small touch to the lawyers shoulder and an encuraging nod, the three men returned to their seats. The whole scene had lasted less than a minute.
From that moment on, everything went on without a hitch. It was a very good lecture, but it is still this little scene at the beginning that i remember best. I still think it wonderfull how in a field that is known to be ruthless, these three men saw one of their own strugging and rushed to his aid without a second thought. Maybe they were reminded of their own first time standing in front of a full court room or a full lecture hall. )

A couple of years ago, my mom and I went to a shop to get me some boots, as I had completely worn out my last pair. We went to a shop that had a lot of Hunter boots, as those have good quality. I was definitely in the wrong, and would not have done this now, but at the time I didn’t have a lot of money, and grabbed an opportunity.

I fount the boots I wanted, in my size, and went up to the cashier to pay for them. She had an old system, so she would have to punch in what I wanted, and the price into one machine, and since I was paying by card she had to manually enter that price into the card machine. She told me the price, 1499 kroner (or as many calls it, crowns).

I then said I’d pay by card, and she punched the price into the card machine and gave it to me to enter my card and my pin code. She told my to go ahead. I looked at the price, and it said 499 kroner instead of 1499. I didn’t say anything (I know, evil of me), and quickly put my pin in, waited anxiously for my receipt and my bag, and basically ran out of the store. My mom followed after and asked me why i was in such a rush. I told her: “I didn’t even pay half of the price! I had to get out of there before she realized it!”

We went home. I realize now that I basically stole from the shop, even though the cashier punched in the wrong price, but to this day, I don’t know if I feel bad. Yes, I stole, and my god I didn’t really afford it back then, so that’s why I didn’t say anything. I actually went back, when I had gotten my paycheck to pay the rest, but they had closed down that location, and there were no other stores in my area.