Somehow I manage to get stuck teaching a group of college students about my company and my departments, I am very resistant to do so as they often don’t pay attention, talk whilst i’m talking all while I have other work I need to do. Worse is that these students are all going to work in engineering so everything they learn will be so important to them later.

One of my areas is a laboratory, a room filled with very expensive and fragile equipment, I explain to my manager, the lecturers and the students before they go inside that they must be very careful and not to touch anything.

Me: (to the group) So this is the laboratory, where we ensure the whole company is producing to required standards.

(Some of the students have already started chatting, I ignore them but carry on.)

Me: Many of you going on to work in engineering , would benefit from understanding the basics no matter what section you may end up in.

(Some of the same students are still talking and now sitting on a £150,000 piece of machinery.)

Me: You at the back, please do not touch the equipment!

(They begrudgingly do, I carry on my introduction to find one of the ones talking are now leaning on the automatic doors, before I can tell him off again, the doors slide open the student falls through the opening, his glasses notebook and pens scatter across the floor).

Me: and that is why in any laboratory you must exercise utmost caution and professionalism.

(The rest of the class laugh, the fallen student gets up and storms off. Unsupervised in a dangerous area. To my surprise the lecturer sees but completely ignores this.)

Me: (Having enough speaking to the lecturer) you need to get him NOW!

Lecturer: He will be fine.

Me: He will not, there are machines that can rip his arm off without stopping or put a hole in his skull in a second. You will not let students wonder where they like. Go, get,him.

(After pulling a face the lecturer does, he doesn’t return. meaning I have to rung around and get another lecturer to come and collect the rest of the class.

My boss pulls me aside to give me a telling off, until I tell him what happened. Eventually the head of the college wrote a letter apologising and praising the staff for teaching us so well. They where very quickly told not to come back next year.)

(Even though I’m a shorter person, I’ve always been a pretty fast walker. A lot of the time I try and pass people up when I’m walking on a sidewalk if they’re walking slower than I want to be. This usually isn’t a problem, but…)

Me: (passes older, very slow man on the sidewalk. Note that this was a very wide city sidewalk with only a couple people on it, so it’s not like I was in danger of knocking him over or anything)

Him: (somewhat shouting) Hey, you girl! Stop!

Me: (confused) Me?

Him: Yes, you! Didn’t anybody ever teach you to respect your elders!?

Me: I’m sorry, what?

Him: You can’t just blow past me on the sidewalk like that! It’s impolite!

Me: (stunned into silence)

Him: That’s right now you walk behind me like an obedient child.

Me: (even though I lived on that side of the street, I crossed the street to get away from him, and to walk at my own pace)

(Note: My family runs very heavily to boys, with a ratio of about 3:1 of boys to girls for my grandparent’s progeny. I have a rescue dog who came to me already named, and I didn’t bother to change it).

Grandma: I have six grandsons and great-grandsons named (Grandpa’s name), but there’s no one named after me!

Me: My little dog’s name is (dog’s name). That’s a nickname of (Grandma’s name), right? We can always claim that she was named after you.

Grandma: (Thinks for a moment) You know, that’s okay.

(I was on vacation with my parents and my grandparents for the holiday’s one year. To get the rooms cheaper, my parents had to go to a Time Share Presentation. My parents are both in their early 40’s and my mom started losing the color in her hair earlier in adulthood because of genetics. My mother usually dyes her hair back to it’s original color (brownish black) so her she looks younger. That morning how ever, she had to get up early for the presentation and didn’t have time to do so. After the presentation, while I was out with my brother and grandparents, my parents caught up to us. My mom was obviously furious.)

Mom: The sales man called me old!

(She explained that he was very young and he told them he was the guy that usually just giving the presentation, not the salesperson, which he was today.)

Mom: He kept saying how we were almost his dads age! (His father was in his late 50’s.) And how the time share would be good because we’ll be retiring soon!! He also said it’d be good for the grandchildren!! (I’m the eldest child and am no where near old enough to enjoy having kids.)

Dad: Once we got back to the hotel she wouldn’t let us leave until she colored her hair and put on makeup.

(My mom is still mad about what the sales guy said.)

(I am the customer in the situation. My manager had offered to buy me a drink from the coffee place close to us, and I wrote down my order. Unfortunately because of the way I wrote it, and my bad hanwriting, I got the wrong drink. I ended up going back to fix it. The employee in question is always super nice and friendly to me)

Employee: *smiles* “Hello!”

Me: *smiles* “Hello! My manager had come here a few minutes ago and I had written my order down for her, but I got the wrong drink. But it was probably my fault because I have awful handwriting *laughs* and I am more than willing to pay for a new one”

Employee: “I’m sorry about that! What did you want?”

*tells him my order*

Employee: “Oh I remember that one. I thought you wanted 8 pumps of foffee”

Me: *laughs* “Oh no that’s a lot of coffee”

(He makes me a new drink for free. Now fast forward a few hours. It’s my lunch time and I head back there)

Me: “I don’t think you have seen me enough today!”

Same employee: “Too much!”

Me: *laughs and sets food on the counter* “Hey do you guys ge
Employee: *nods*

Me: *puts $20 in the tip jar*

Every employee: *freezes and stares at me*

Me: “You are always so nice to me and give me great service. I really appreciate it! *smiles*”

I had made everyone’s day there. It feels good!