(Our regular cleaning lady, who’s also in charge of our cafeteria, mainly coffee machine maintenance, keeping the drinks refrigerator stocked, etc., is currently on a two-week holiday, and the agency we work with has sent a young temp to replace her. A couple of days into the temp’s stint, I walk into our usually spotless cafeteria to find the fridge a smelly mess, with drinks cans bathing in a puddle of spilled milk that’s gone off, and what appears to be a knocked-over bowl of soup on the top shelf adding a decorative dash of green. At that moment, our temp walks in, sits down, and starts browsing a newspaper.)

Me: “Good morning!”

Temp: “Oh, hi!” *continues reading*

Me: “Say, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the fridge seems to be in a bit of a mess. The milk’s gone off and has apparently been spilled all over the place, and there’s a knocked-over bowl of soup that’s seen better days.”

Temp: “Yeah, I know. That soup’s been there since Tuesday and it stinks.”

Me: “…”

Temp: “It stinks as soon as you open the fridge door, so you’d better keep it shut as much as possible.”

Me: *not quite knowing what to say to that* “So… how are you finding the job so far?”

Temp: *smiling* “Oh, it’s fine, really… A bit boring, though, as there’s not a lot for me to do. I don’t know how [Regular Cleaning Lady] does it, but it usually takes me only an hour or so to clean this place and restock the fridges, and the rest of the day I take it easy.”

Me: *dumbfounded* “Right, I see…”

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(I stop into a popular local store before dropping my young daughter off at daycare before work. As I am going through the checkout, I peruse the candy selection, thinking I’ll treat myself for once. I hear the cashier give a sarcastic little laugh.)

Cashier: “Typical.”

Me: “Are you talking to me?”

Cashier: “If you must know, yes. It’s so typical that little teenage single mothers like you, living off welfare on MY tax dollars, will come in here and waste it on junk food. YOU are what is wrong with this economy.”

Me: *shocked* “Wow. Okay. So, never mind the fact that I’m 22 years old. Far from being a teenage mother. Never mind that, while I am single, I was not when I had my daughter. It must be my fault my husband left us. Oh, and who cares that I work a full time job to support my daughter so I DON’T have to live off welfare, as you’re assuming I do. You think I’m what’s wrong with this economy? Well, clearly, YOU’RE what’s wrong with this COUNTRY!”

(I then took TWO candy bars and checked out with a different cashier.)

(I have a rather nasty allergy to the hand sanitizer Purell. Essentially, it causes me to break out in hives if I touch it or anyone who has used it touches me after using it. This day I’m in the lab getting blood drawn.)

Nurse: “Okay, so we just have to draw blood for [tests] today right?”

Me: “Yes.” *I’m watching as she puts Purell on her hands and moves to touch me*

Me: “Excuse me, please put gloves on. I’m allergic to Purell and cannot be touched with it.”

Nurse: “It’s just alcohol; you possibly can’t be allergic to alcohol!”

Me: “It’s in my chart and if you had read it, you would know that.”

Nurse: “No one can be allergic to it. It’s just alcohol.”

Me: “Look, I don’t know all of what’s in it, but there is something I am allergic to and I can and DO break out in hives if you don’t put on gloves. Now, do I need to report you to management because you refuse to listen to a patient and ignore a chart?”

Nurse: *mumbling as she puts gloves on* “No one is allergic to that.”

Me: “You know what? We’re done here. You obviously are not listening to the patient. I will go to another lab where they actually listen. Forget it.”

(I picked up my stuff and left. Worst part? Even though it is ALL over my chart and they can see it, I STILL have to remind every single person I talk to at these clinics to NOT touch me after using it or tell them to wash their hands properly.)

(My mother and sisters and I have gone to a popular amusement park in the area, and have not eaten dinner yet. It is 9:30 at night, and we’re starving now that we’re not on any rides. We pull up to the drive through for Popular Chicken Restaurant, which is combined with Taco Restaurant.)

Speaker: “Hi, welcome to [Taco Restaurant]! [Popular Chicken Restaurant] is currently closed”

Mother: “Oh… sorry, we only wanted [Popular Chicken Restaurant].”

Speaker: “I’m sorry, ma’am, [Popular Chicken Restaurant] closes at nine.”

Mother: “Oh, that’s all right. Have a good night.”

(We start to leave, and pass by the window as we go. Just as we’re passing it, suddenly we hear a man shout.)

Man: “Hey! Wait!”

(My mother pulls up to the window.)

Mother: “Yes?”

Man: “[Popular Chicken Restaurant] is closed, but we do still have a bucket of some leftover chicken if you’d like”

Mother: “How do I pay?”

Man: “There’s no need. It’s leftovers and we’re going to get rid of it anyway.”

Mother: “Thank you so much!”

Man: “No problem.”

(The workers gave us a whole container of chicken and ended up giving us another container filled with biscuits and grilled chicken.)

Man: “I have five daughters at home, and they always ask me after work if I can bring chicken home. I understand how it’s like to feed a hungry family.”

Mother: “Thank you so much. We just came from [Popular Amusement Park], and haven’t eaten dinner.”

Man: “Well, no wonder they’re so hungry. They might rebel for food.”

(Just before we leave, my mother rolls down the middle window of the van so we can thank the man. We all wave, and I can’t help but add this last thing.)

Me: *waves happily from the back seat* “Thank you for feeding the rebellion!”

Man: “No problem. Come back again any time!” *waves back*

(My family appreciated this man’s kindness gratefully. I’ve always read things like this before, but to experience it myself is truly the greatest feeling. I will never forget this moment.)

(I am one of three people doing my job, and part of our duties is typing up monthly reports that we would sign off once completed. I have been out of the office with health issues for more than a month and on my first day back, my boss calls me into her office. It should also be noted that my two coworkers are best friends and notorious in the office for cutting corners on their work, while I usually just tried to do my work.)

Boss: “[My Name], can you explain why you haven’t been pulling your weight around here all month and the few reports you did do were full of mistakes or incomplete?”

Me: “I have no idea what you mean. I haven’t been here all month. I have done literally no work.”

Boss: “Your name is on these reports and they are incomplete! How do you explain that?”

Me: “Well, [Coworker #1] and [Coworker #2] said that they would handle everything since I’ve been out…”

Boss: “They said that you said you had done these before you got sick.”

(I realize that my coworkers are throwing me under the bus to cover up for their laziness and forging my name on the reports, but I have no proof to get them fired.)

Me: “I honestly don’t know what happened, but I’ll do better this month.”

(I quit shortly after that because I decided to go back to school, but found out from a friend in the office that my former coworkers had been caught just a few months later falsifying or not doing reports and didn’t have me to blame it on anymore, so they both got into a ton of trouble. Karma…)