(I look young and often got IDed when i was younger but this one sticks out in my memory.)

Me: “Can I have a Baileys with ice, please, and do you sell chocolate?”

Barman: “Yes, we have a few.” *names a couple of chocolate bars*

Me: “I’ll have [Chocolate Bar], please, and the Baileys.”

Barman: *looks around trying to see where I’ve been sitting with a confused look on his face* “Who are you here with?”

Me: *confused* “Oh, I’m meeting a few friends here but they’re running late.”

Barman: “But who’s the drink for?”

(I realise he doesn’t just think I’m underage, he thinks I’m so young my parents have sent me to the bar!)

Me: “It’s for me. I’m 23.”

(He was nice enough to apologise.)

(A friend of mine has given me his copy of a video game notorious for it’s difficulty. I already own a copy so I decide to sell the game. I am at the electronic store.)

Me: “Hello, I would like to sell this game.” *holds up the game*

Cashier: “Sure, one second.” *begins ringing a bell* “WE HAVE A QUITTER!”

(Soon enough other cashiers start joining in the chorus of “WE HAVE A QUITTER!”. It dies down after a few seconds. The cashier at this point is nearly on the verge of tears from laughing.)

Cashier: “Oh, god, sorry. We’ve been planning that for months now. We just been waiting for someone who seems like they can take a joke.”

Me: “Don’t worry, I’ve might have done the same thing myself.”

(In the end I got a $20 gift card as “compensation.”)

Working at a computer company, a customer brings in a computer to have a virus removed. We remove the virus and scan the rest of the system to make sure all traces of it are gone. Now, this particular virus is known to come from p*rn sites so to warn the customer without making them feel embarrassed we say to be careful what websites are accessed with the computer.

Then a few days later the same customer brings the computer back in with the same virus, accusing us of not removing it, and demands that we remove it without them paying. I remove the virus again, scan the system again, print out the Internet cache of websites that the computer has accessed in the past 24 hours (including some kinky-but-not-illegal searches on a couple of p*rn sites), and then give the system with the evidence to the front desk staff to give to the customer when they come back. Later in the day, I hear raised voices out the front and I know it is that customer when I hear, “I don’t go to p*rn sites and the only other person who uses this computer is my partner.”

The customer would have learnt something new about their partner that day if it weren’t for the salespeople saving things by telling the customer that sometimes viruses can access the p*rn sites.

Yeah, that’s how it works: the p*rn sites come from the virus, not the other way around.

(Six months prior to this, I’d been in a long-term, live-in relationship with a stable job and I was seeing a wonderful psychiatrist for my ADHD. I’m now single, living with my parents in another city, and seeing a new psychiatrist. I’m also a 24-year-old woman who decided years ago that I never want children. This happens at the end of our third session.)

Me: “I also wanted to tell you that I’ve been looking into permanent birth control for a while. So I may need to ask you to tell some surgeons that I’m mentally sound enough to make this call.”

Psychiatrist: “Um… No.”

Me: “Why not? You know that my only issue is ADHD, and that hasn’t stopped me from being independent.”

Psychiatrist: “No, see, when a woman has a partner and a home, THEN they start wanting babies.” *makes rocking motion with her arms* “You will see.”

Me: “I’ve HAD those things, and more, and none of it has made me want kids.”

Psychiatrist: *knowing smile* “You would regret it. I’m going to write to your primary doctor recommending that he not refer you to anyone about this. It’s for the best.”

(I left in a rage. Rather than go through all the hassle of finding a new psychiatrist, I decided to go back one more time and try to set her straight. I never got the chance though, as partway through the appointment she invited my father in and started talking to him about how he should be looking after me, as if I were incompetent or something. My ADHD doesn’t make me any less of an adult, lady, and neither does my lack of desire for children! I never went back.)

(I am 19 years old and on holiday in Ayr with my family. I have a bit of a hangover (the drinking age in Scotland is 18, and I am from Scotland myself). We have gone to the supermarket to pick up some food and I go to a checkout to buy some paracetamol for my hangover headache.)

Cashier: “Can I see your ID, please?”

Me: “Sure.” *hands over my driving license*

Cashier: “I can’t sell these to you.”

Me: “Huh? Why?”

Cashier: “You’re not 25.”

Me: “So? It’s challenge 25. That means if someone looks younger than 25, they have to provide ID to prove they are old enough, which I am.”

Cashier: “No. You have to be 25 to buy these.”

Me: “Are you joking? I have a hangover from LEGALLY drinking alcohol last night. I could be married and have children LEGALLY. I can gamble and smoke if I want to. But I can’t get a god-d*** painkiller to get rid of my headache!?”

Cashier: “No. You can’t. You have to be 25. I’m not selling them to you. Leave.”

Me: “F*** this. I’ll get my dad to buy them. I can’t be f***ed with this.”

(I did have to get my dad to buy them. Still infuriates me to this day that she didn’t have a bloody clue on the challenge 25 policy. I should have asked for her manager, but I was so hungover I just wanted it to be over with.)