(I am one of the unfortunate former students of a for-profit college that was fined for massive student fraud and shut down. At the time of this incident, I am struggling to find a position in the career I graduated for, and have my resume posted on as many job search websites as I can find. I get a phone call one day:)

Caller: “Hello, is this [My Name]?”

Me: “This is she.”

Caller: “Hello, [My Name], this is [Caller] from [Door-to-Door Insurance Company].”

Me: “Uh, I believe there’s been a mistake. I haven’t signed up for any talks on insurance.”

Caller: “Oh, no, we actually saw your resume online and believe we have a position that you would be perfect for!”

Me: *immediately suspicious, but I put on a falsely cheerful tone* “You have a position for medical administration? That’s great!”

Caller: *her own cheerful tone is suddenly forced* “Oh, uh, well, er no… but we DO have many positions available and—”

Me: “Oh, so you have a regular administration position open?”

Caller: *through her teeth* “Uh, no, ma’am. My position is the only position in our company that deals with administrative duties and it’s not available….”

Me: *no longer pretending to be cheerful* “So you saw my resume, a resume CLEARLY marked for ‘administrative positions only’ and you wanted to offer me a job that I’m not qualified for?”

Caller: “Well, we do have a class you can take that will certify you to sell insurance. It costs $1,500 to complete, but we waive the cost of the class if you graduate and if we hire you.”

(She said the ‘if’ parts really fast like she was trying to hide it.)

Me: “IF?! Are you being serious right now?! You want me to attend yet another school and accrue MORE debt, which will only be waived IF I graduate and IF you hire me?! You saw my resume. You should KNOW that my skills are specific to administration, and especially medical administration. Knowing that, why did you even call me in the first place?”

Caller: *half mumbling* “Actually, my manager read your resume and just gave me your contact info…”

Me: *coldly* “I think we’re done here.”

(And I hung up. Months later I was told that due to the aforementioned fraud, employers in my field don’t consider my education to be valid enough to risk hiring. I’m still waiting on the decision for loan forgiveness for my worthless education.)

(It is January of 2015, and at the time, my state is getting hit often with really bad snow storms. On this day, I have a late shift, 5:00 to 10:00 pm, and the weather report is warning of another severe storm that is going to start kicking up around the time I am going to be headed into work. I live quite a ways away from the store and have to take several winding, hilly roads to get there, so for my own safety, I decide that morning to call out.)

Me: “Hi, this is [My Name]. The weather is going to be really bad, and I don’t feel safe coming in for my shift tonight.”

Manager: *coldly* “[My Name], weather isn’t an excuse not to come into work. If it was, everyone would be calling out. I’ve got a business to run. You have to come in for your shift tonight.”

Me: *speechless*

(So I head into work a few hours later and as I’m driving, the snow starts falling. I’m beyond angry that I have to come in, especially with the manager confirming to my face that he cares more about money than he does his employees’ safety, but I suck it up and head to my register. As I’m setting up, my manager is leaving for home and he heads over to me.)

Manager: “Hey, [My Name], when you called, I hadn’t checked the weather yet. I didn’t know how bad it is gonna be.”

Me: “Okay.”

(I knew he was lying, as the storm and been common knowledge for almost a week at that point, so I just nodded and didn’t say anything else. It took me over an hour to drive home in the dark that night, with several inches of snow covering the roads and continuing to fall. There were hardly any customers anyway, thanks to the bad weather, and so work could have easily survived without me. He was an awful manager, so I was quite happy when he moved to another store a few months later.)

Related:
A Storm Of Protest, Part 2
A Storm Of Protest

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(I am a head cashier. I have been called to the checkouts to assist a young couple of Indian descent. After serving them:)

Manager: “It’s a good thing you could handle that. I couldn’t understand a word they were saying.”

Me: “They sounded Glaswegian to me.”

Manager: “How would you know? You’re from Sheffield.”

Me: “Why didn’t you? Haven’t you lived in Glasgow all your life?”

Manager: “True. I wonder why I couldn’t understand them.”

Me: “Racism?”

(She wasn’t best pleased with me.)

(I’m on the phone with a major airline trying to pay for my son’s infant-in-arms ticket. The website let me add his ticket but not pay for it and I know from prior experience that I need to brave customer service and call in. Then, after a lot of holding and back and forth… this happens:)

Representative: “Okay, so there are two fare options on that ticket: $87, which is non-refundable and can’t be changed or $99, which can be changed with the applicable change fee and is our recommended ticket.”

Me: “That’s not bad. How much is the change fee on this kind of ticket?”

Representative: “$200.”

Me: “…I’ll do the $87 ticket.”

Representative: “But it can’t be changed. You’ll lose the full amount if you change plans. If you get the $99 ticket, you can change the ticket and just pay the change fee.”

Me: “Which is $200, yes?”

Representative: “Yes, ma’am.”

(Silently banging my head against the wall and fearing for humanity…)

Me: “I’ll take the $87 ticket.”

(I have recently taken in a stray cat from the woods to take care of as my own. Since he needs to be vaccinated, my mother calls the vet’s office to schedule an appointment. Near the end of the call, while they are getting his information down:)

Receptionist: “Okay, so you’re scheduling an appointment for Ginger, correct?”

Mom: “That’s right!”

Receptionist: “What color is he?”

(There is a brief moment of silence before my mother continues.)

Mom: “Um, rust-orange. He’s an orange tabby.”