(For context, I work for a program at a park/campground where we give tours of a museum/heritage site and answer questions about the park/area. It’s also important to note that my job is completely different from maintenance/gate, and that I do not know the inventory, especially since this was my first day on the job.)

Me: Hello everyone! Welcome to [Heritage site] museum! Feel free to look around, and if you have any questions, I’m here. [gives my little speech]
(The group of three guys nod, and begin looking around. Normal enough. Then one of the guys approaches me.)
Guy 1: Y’know the firewood they sell at the gate?
Me: …yeah?
Guy 1: Is it birch?
Me: I’m actually not sure.
Guy 1: It looks like that. *points to a replica that has a small log of birch on it*
Me: Then I guess it was probably birch.
Guy 1: So it is birch then?
Me: I mean… If that’s what it looked like then yes?
Guy 1: [Guy 2]! It was birch.
Guy 2: Was it?

(They proceeded to ask me another 3 times about whether or not the firewood was birch. I wish I could say they were just messing with me.)

While I was never physically bullied, I had a pretty loud temper as a child that other kids loved to take advantage of. I learned to control it eventually, but as an 11 year old the frustration would get to me pretty quickly.
Every day one of a group of about six kids would try to make me blow up. There is one instance which always sticks out in my mind.
See, the teachers at my school would talk about enforcing rules, but really they did the bare minimum in order to keep things simple for them. Kids rarely ever got punished and I often got the impression that the teachers were fed up with victims who kept asking for them to intervene (there was one point where a visitor said I looked upset and the headteacher said “Oh, he’s ALWAYS upset.”)
One day one kid was doing all he could to make me explode. He called me names, interrupted me whenever I opened my mouth, did impressions of me, told everyone not to include me in games, made up horrible stories etc etc. Finally, I’d had enough.
11 year old me: OH JUST F*** OFF!
A teacher then magically appeared.
Teacher: ‘My name’! You do NOT swear! Go and apologise right now!
Yeah, I know it sounds silly but all this crap building up over the years just made me hate kids in general.
A small part of me is sad that the school was eventually demolished. When I’m at my very worst I wish I could’ve burned it down.

This is a little bit of a combination between Not Always Right and Not Always Working.
I’m calling a medical building that does anything laboratory based.

Me: Hi, I’m calling because I had an MRI done last year but I lost the copy and need a new one sent please.
Receptionist: We don’t do MRIs here.
Me: I’m sorry, did I call [medical building] in [location].
Receptionist: Yeah.
Me: I’m very sure I had an MRI last year. Maybe you no longer do MRIs but used to in the past?
Receptionist: Hold on. -After a 5 minute hold- Yeah we’ve never done MRIs.
Me: Okay, thanks, goodbye.

I looked it up and I had accidentally called the extension for the blood draw office, so I was at fault. But their office is literally right next to the office for MRIs and CAT scans not to mention the ‘walls’ separating them were made of glass! Even if she wasn’t capable of transferring me (which I later found out she could) she could have at least told me I called the right building but the wrong extension.

I used to work in a restaurant right around the corner from a medical network. The county hospital was in the middle of the area, with various surrounding offices and different surgical and specialist doctors. A little less than half a mile from us was a “Rehab and Behavioral Center.” Unfortunately, I deal with depression and had visited with a doctor that had an office there, as an outpatient when I was a young teen. This allowed me to see that the majority of the patients were aggressive and had violent tendencies, schizophrenics that were off thier meds, etc. The doctor that I had met with told me that the center often catered to drug offenders, violent offenders, and people that broke the terms of their probabtion that agreed to plea deals and court ordered therapy and psych evaluations to avoid jail time. The Center was one of the lowest rated in the area, and there was a general sense of unease from the inpatients. Now, I generally try to be very open minded and give others in these types of situations the benefit of the doubt, but this place was just creepy and felt…. off.

So one evening, shortly before closing, I’m standing behind the register helping a short line of customers. The last person in line was wearing a pair of scrub bottoms and an oversized, plain long-sleeved shirt. I didn’t think much of it, as we often have nurses or other medical personnel come in. This customer didn’t order anything, however he asked to use the phone, as he needed to call someone for a ride. I handed it to him, and he had a seat at the bar next to the register.

I could only hear his end of the call, but I heard him explaining to the person on the other side that he had just left the Behavioral Center. He was laughing and describing how he had managed to get his hands on a security card, slip through and get out through the front door, even though he was not scheduled to be released until he met with his doctor, “but [he] ain’t have time for that sh*t.” He asked the person on the other end to pick him up as he did not have his wallet or phone. After a moment, he angrily cursed at the phone and hung up. He then waved me over and handed the phone back to me. As his arm was outstretched, his sleeve pulled up and I saw one of those plastic medical ID bracelets that most hospitals use.

I offered the man a drink and brought him a glass of water. I then pulled my manager into the back kitchen and told him what I had overheard, and that I had noticed his bracelet. My manager asked me to find the number for the Behavioral Center so that he could call them just on the off chance that they had a patient missing.

About 15 minutes later, I was serving a table when I saw another man in scrubs come in and go up to the man still at the bar. They spoke a few words, the second man put his hand on the guy’s shoulder, and they walked out the front door together.

In all, it was just a very odd situation. I never saw either man again, but I hope the guy turned out okay

While I just started at my temporary summer job at a famous north-eastern convenience store chain with the geese as their signature logo, I am currently training on their register system and just finished the computer training for tobacco products. I have had customer service and food retail experience before, including the register, but since it includes tobacco products unlike my other job at my college, I am a bit more nervous so I don’t end up in jail. Some of the following incidents were minor until I got three young teenagers trying to purchase some Game Leaf products.

Customer #1: I would like to add a Game Leaf Grape please.

Me: Sure. *Grabs the product* Can I see your I.D. please?

Customer #1: I’m sorry, I don’t have my I.D. on me.

Me: I’m sorry, but I cannot sell this product due to the law.

Customer #1: Hey [Customer #2’s name], can you get me this for me?

Customer #2: Sure. *Walks up with their other friend to my register* I’d like to get that please. *Gives me her I.D.*

Me: I’m sorry, but since I know that you’re purchasing this for your friend here, I must see both of your I.D’s, not just the person who is purchasing the product.

Customer #1&2: But the law says it’s legal if you’re 21.

Customer #1: I also have my I.D.

Me: I’m sorry, but our policy and law states that if you look under 27, we have to card you. Also, if a customer is purchasing it for another person and we suspect they are both under 27, we are allowed to card everyone that is involved.

Customer #3: But he’s 21.

Me: I’m sorry, unless he shows me his I.D., then I will have to cancel this part of the transaction.

Customer #1: I can’t believe this. Where’s my friend [co-worker that I haven’t met yet].

They paid for their stuff and left.

Me Internally: I am definitely not going to jail for people not wanting to obey the law. Guys, just have your I.D. on you and if you are young, smoking isn’t really a good thing for your health. It’s really a financial hindrance. Already got older customers saying that they should quit before they go broke.