(A friend and I sell items in an online store. Someone makes a purchase, so we pack up the item and purchase and print a shipping label through the website, which also sends a notification to the customer. Then, we drop the package off at the post office. Several days later, I get a message from the customer asking if the order has shipped yet. I check the tracking info only to see that, for some reason, that package has neither shipped nor even been checked in to the post office. My friend confirms she definitely dropped it off. We try calling the post office, but apparently, this branch is notoriously bad at ever answering the phones. Instead, my friend resolves to go to the post office in person and find out what’s going on. When she arrives and inquires about the package, it is quickly found on the floor in a corner, the label never having been scanned in. As my friend is making the employee scan the package into the system in front of her eyes, this interaction happens:)

Post Office Worker: “In the future, you should just hand packages directly to workers, rather than dropping them in the dropbox.”

Friend: “Seriously?!”

Post Office Worker: “What?”

Friend: “I did! You are the one I handed it to!”

(The customer finally got their package, and we don’t use that post office anymore.)

(Not long before this story, I took over as store manager. A kiosk opens up in the mall directly outside of my department store. The salespeople are rude and loud, and they aggressively harass customers passing by. They escalate to actually coming into my store to try to sell to customers shopping inside. After several emails to the mall management about this issue go unanswered, I go speak to them myself.)

Me: “I have a written report of every incident. I’m not going to put up with this any longer.”

Mall Management: “Quit pretending this is a big deal. They are only there for six months. Work it out between you and them.”

Me: “This is your responsibility, not mine, to fix.”

Mall Management: “No, and frankly, I don’t want you coming back here to whine unless they set your store on fire!”

(I forward a complaint to my higher-ups, and instruct staff to alert us when there is an issue. I find out that one of the kiosk workers has been using the men’s room downstairs, but I am not allowed to bar them from doing so. The whole time, they are still harassing my customers from the kiosk, yelling into the store. Then, a few weeks later, a smoke alarm goes off. An employee responds to find a small fire, which he puts out with an extinguisher, but the fire department still has to respond. A half-hour later, I walk into the mall management office.)

Me: “I need to complain about the kiosk employees.”

Mall Management: “I told you not to bother me unless–“

(His eyes go wide. A fireman is walking in behind me.)

Me: “Right, and it turns out one of the employees was smoking in our bathroom, set off the smoke detector, panicked, and threw the cigarette into the waste paper basket, catching it on fire. Now, can we discuss how you are going to solve this and the costs incurred?”

(The kiosk’s lease was terminated.)

(I work at an amusement park. I get promoted to fill in a gap for a team lead that is leaving. Because I get promoted outside of the usual rotation, I’m the only new team lead, and everyone else has had at least a month of training. Today, eight people call in sick, and I’m opening for only the second time. I don’t open perfectly, but all five of the stores for which I’m responsible open on time, and no managers or customers have complained yet. Two of my supervisors pull me over and basically rip apart my opening, telling me it was disorganized, bad, and messy.)

Me: “But it wasn’t terrible, right? I mean, it wasn’t perfect by any means, but all stores opened on time, and it’s only my second time opening. I didn’t even shadow anyone before doing this.”

Supervisor #1: “This is only your second time opening?”

Me: “Yes.”

Supervisor #2: “Oh… Never mind. You did a great job opening, if it’s only your second time!”

(I am speechless. They spent over five minutes telling me how awful my opening was, and neither knew it was only my second time.)

Supervisor #1: “We’ll go over opening procedures after your break so that your openings will be a lot more smooth.”

(I came back from break and my supervisors never showed up again, so it looks like my next opening will be a lot like my second!)

(Going through the drive-thru, we notice a sign that says, “Paywave cards only,” referring to “contactless” payment, where the card is touched to the machine and no PIN is required. We get to the window and hand the employee our card. She walks away with it and comes back.)

Employee: “This card isn’t contact-lense.”

Husband: “Sorry?”

Employee: *impatiently* “This card isn’t contact-lense.”

(We exchange a glance and decide not to bother pointing out her mistake. We give her another card. She takes it, takes payment, and returns with our card and food.)

Employee: *huffy* “Next time, read the sign. ‘Contact-lense cards only.’”

(I am traveling for business and my laptop stops working. I am a female who works in a largely male-dominated business. I have a few emails that require attention, so I ask the supervisor at this location if I can log in to my email through his computer.)

Supervisor: “No problem. Let me just get it turned on and set up for you.” *completes login* “There you go. All set”

Me: “Thanks. I appreciate it. This won’t take long.”‘

(The supervisor takes a seat on the other side of the desk, but never leaves the room. I proceed to answer a few emails, but I get to one customer email that requires me to look up some information on an outside website. Assuming this will not be an issue with the supervisor, I open the browser on his computer and began typing the URL on the address bar. I don’t even get two letters into spelling the website name when the recently-visited sites begin showing. Much to my surprise, all the previous websites are clearly p*rnographic and most certainly NSFW. I stop typing the URL and just sit there for a moment, not knowing whether to be horrified or giggle. Not wanting him to catch me seeing this obviously private information, I try to quickly go to my website and finish the task. After completing my customer email, I log out of the supervisor’s computer.)

Me: “All done here, [Supervisor].”

Supervisor: “Okay, well, if you need to use it again later, just let me know!”

Me: “Thanks. I should be done for the day.”

(I quickly leave the area to go out to the plant floor. Fifteen or so minutes later, the supervisor catches up with me on the floor.)

Supervisor: “Are you sure you don’t want to use my computer again?”

Me: “No, that’s okay.”

Supervisor: “Well, if you liked those sites, you should have told me! I’ve got subscriptions to them all!”

(I just stood there, a mix of horror and disgust on my face. He just winked and walked away. I must have left the browser open when I logged out of the computer or, even worse, he planted those URLs, hoping I would find them in the recently-searched items. Rather than report this or confront him, I just ignored the issue; I was young and inexperienced at the time. After more misogynistic happenings, I left the company a few years later.)