(I don’t own a car so in order to get to work I use buses. On this particular morning I’m about to take my dog for a quick walk before catching the bus to work. As it’s Sunday and both my home and the workplace are far from downtown, the buses run every 30 minutes. Usually I carry my keys in my pocket 24/7 but this time I’m wearing pants with no pockets and at the exact moment I shut my door I realise I forgot my keys inside. By the time I reach a maintenance guy it’s about 15 minutes until the bus leaves but he says it’ll take at least 30 minutes to get to me. I thank him nonetheless and wait, trying to reach my boss to explain the situation but getting no answer. Then, after the guy has arrived and opened my door, I’m getting the money to pay him with and this happens.)

Me: “Yeah, okay. Here you go. Sorry if I seem agitated. I’ve been trying to call my boss to explain that I’ll be late because I’m an idiot who forgets my keys inside.” *I chat about this mostly because blabbering on helps me keep my cool when I’m anxious*

Man: “Where do you work?”

Me: “[Location]. It’ll be 30 minutes before the next bus.

Man: “Would you make it in time for work if I drove you there?”

Me: “Wait, really?”

Man: “Yeah, I’ll be driving close to the area anyway. It’ll be just a small detour. Hop in and I’ll drop you off.”

(True to his word, he drove me to work and thanks to using better routes than the bus routes, I got there over 20 minutes early! He could have just opened my door, said “tough luck,” and left without another thought, but instead he went an extra mile to give someone a hand. I couldn’t thank him enough for his kindness.)

I’m shopping for the month, and so have a lot of items that keep me pretty busy unloading the cart at the end of the conveyor belt. The register clerk must have been bored, and starts making a lot of small talk, asking questions about every other product. She’s never tried this shampoo, is it good? She didn’t even know they carried this brand of soda, and so on. I’m so distracted by her, I don’t remember to keep an eye on the bagger at the far end of the counter.

I get home to unpack and find all my canned goods and a couple of jars of spaghetti sauce were placed on top of the bread, which is now flat as pancakes.

(I am the manager at a shoe store. We are hiring seasonal employees for the summertime. A teenage girl comes in to hand in her resume. I review it and a week later we set up an interview time via email.  However, when her interview time comes around a different girl comes in.)

Girl #2: “Hi, I’m here for my interview with [My Name].”

Me: “Uh, are you [Name On The Resume]?”

Girl #2: “Yes.”

Me: “Huh. I could’ve sworn it was a different girl who came here two weeks ago. She had bright red hair and cat eye-glasses. Did you change your look?”

Girl #2: “Oh, no, it was a different girl. I was studying for my finals so I had my best friend go around and hand out my resumes.”

Me: “You know that’s kind of misleading, right? A lot of employers place first impressions very high on their list. I agreed in an email to an interview with the girl who handed in the resume. You know she didn’t even tell me she wasn’t you?”

Girl #2: “Oh, yeah, I told her not to. I felt it would be too confusing.”

Me: “Uh-huh.”

(Her phone dings and she unlocks her phone right in front of me.)

Girl #2: “Oh, my mom just texted me that I should mention I’m going to be going away for most of July. We’re going to Cuba for my graduation gift. This won’t be a problem, right? You guys need employees and I can work for most of the summer. Well, until August… I think. Let me text my mom and—”

Me: “I think you should just go home.”

(Honest to God, this wasn’t even the worst possible employee that came in.)

This story is part of the second Job Interview roundup!

Read the next Job Interview roundup story!

Read the second Job Interview roundup!

(My father has passed away recently. A few weeks later my mom comes from out of state to visit. While we are out for lunch, we see a sign that a local store is having a retirement/going out-of-business sale. Mom wants to look around, and see if there was something she would like. We pick up a salesman (the retiring owner), who follows us around. I am 50; my mom is 20 years my senior.)

Mom: “Your dad would have liked this. I miss him so much.”

Me: “So do I. Love you, mom.”

(Gives her a hug.)

Salesman: “Ah, yes, young love.”

(We didn’t buy anything.)

(During my first year at university, I work two jobs answering phones, one as a night guard in a guest house for the nursing school where I work as a receptionist during the weekend classes. As this story takes place, I am also an intern at a wastewater treatment plant and am house-sitting my parents’ home, so I have 4 different spiels down for answering the phone. One night while I’m at guard duty, my cell-phone rings and I answer without checking the number.)

Me: “Hello, this is [Parents’] phone. [My Name] speaking. Wait, no, I’m very sorry. This is [School]. No, [School Guest House]. I’m really sorry about that.”

Best Friend: “Well, at least you didn’t answer with [Wastewater Treatment Plant]. And by the way, I called your cellphone.”