It’s my first day working at a very small office. I don’t really have a specific role; I just do whatever is needed. My boss asks me to make a “shopping list” with all the office supplies we’ll need during the month, and their respective prices taken from the stores’ websites. I present a list of $208 worth of items. 

The next day, my boss takes the list but goes to a completely different store that I hadn’t considered in my research, and ends up buying other things. Between these discrepancies and some sales, her total spending comes up to… $208.10. She laughed and said she should’ve taken me to the casino for good luck.

(My friend and I decide to go to a casual sushi train restaurant. They also have a selection of hot food, one option being prawn and vegetable dumplings. You can get either of these options in a plate of three and a plate of five.)

Server: “What can I get you today?”

Me: *lists what we are ordering* “Oh, and we would like three prawn dumplings and three vegetable dumplings.”

(When our food does come out, the waitress puts down three PLATES of three prawn dumplings each.)

Me: “No, we only ordered one plate with three dumplings.”

Waitress: “The order said three?”

Me: “Yes, three dumplings, not three plates.”

(The waitress takes the extra plates back and we continue with our meal. After a few minutes, the original server comes out, followed by what looks like a manager.)

Server: “You told me you wanted three dumplings!”

Me: “We meant one plate of three dumplings, not three plates!”

Server: “Well, when you say three, I will take that as three!”

Me: “Why would we want six whole plates of dumplings? Eighteen dumplings between two of us?”

Server: “Well, when you say three, I order three!”

(The server then stomped off with the manager following behind. We ate quickly and left as soon as we could.)

My friend and I popped by a well-known drug store so I could pick up some medicine for my cold. She noticed that tampons were on sale and grabbed a box, along with some chapstick. We got up to the register, I paid for my medicine, and she put the tampons and chapstick on the counter.

The guy at the register visibly paled upon seeing the box and used the chapstick to push the box onto the scanner and then into a bag so that he wouldn’t have to touch an unopened box of tampons. I know periods are bad, but you do realize you don’t magically get them if you touch a box of tampons, right?

(I go to the checkout and my total comes to exactly $6, so I hand over a $10 bill. The young man behind the counter starts pulling out $1’s, but quickly notices he only has three. He is also low on change, so he starts pulling out heaps to give me! At this point, I stop him.) 

Me: “Sorry, but I really don’t want all of that change. Could I just give you a $1 and get a $5 back?”

Cashier: *blank look of confusion*

Me: *pulling out a $1* “Here. My change was $4, so if I give you $1, my change should be $5. That way I can just get a $5.”

Cashier: *after a long pause, looking at all the money* “I’m going to have to cancel the transaction and start over.”

Me: “Oh, um… all right. I guess that’s fine.”

(He takes another few minutes to re-ring. Then, he takes the $1 from me, looks around, and realizes the $10 is in the drawer and the other change he had started counting — but hadn’t finished — was outside.) 

Cashier: “This isn’t enough money.”

Me: “That’s because that’s the change you were giving me. I gave you a $10 and a $1. My total was $6, so my change should be $5.”

Cashier: *looking more confused than ever* “I think I should call a manager.”

Me: “That’s probably for the best.”

(It takes a few minutes for the manager to come over. At this point, I’ve been there for ten minutes, and there is a line starting to form. One lady behind me only got there recently, and hasn’t seen the previous interactions. She is starting to get really agitated. )

Manager: “So, what’s going on?”

Me: “My total was $6. I gave him a $10 bill. He didn’t have enough change for me, so I gave him a $1 bill to get a $5 back. The $10 is in the drawer, my $1 is right there, and the original change he was trying to count out is that pile there. With all the money swapping around I think there was some confusion. If it makes it easier, I can take my money back and just pay with a card.”

Cashier: “No, we can’t redo a transaction once we start it.” *to manager* “Can you please count my drawer so we can start over?”

(While the manager starts to count the drawer, and I’m wondering why he could cancel the transaction before but not now, the old lady behind me implodes.) 

Lady: “Oh, my God! I’ll just pay for her if it’s that big of a deal. Jesus, girl. You should have paid by card to begin with instead of wasting our time with your scam!”

(She rants for a while, and I just ignore her. Eventually, the manager is done counting.)

Manager: “She did exactly what she said she did. Just give her her $5, and in the future don’t cater to people who want special attention.”

(I was finally given my change after 20 minutes and upsetting everyone in the store. Was I the wrong one?)

(My dad is a truck driver for a company that has offices and a warehouse on site. The warehouse worker’s canteen is inside the warehouse but away from the loading and unloading bays. My dad and his workmates are having lunch when a man in a hard hat and carrying a clipboard comes in. They don’t recognise him but he has a shirt on with the logo of the company.)

Man: “I’m the new health and safety officer here, guys, and I wanted to let you all know that as of now, you are all in breach of this site’s safety regulations as you are not wearing your hard hats in the warehouse.”

(My dad and his coworkers are a bit surprised by this but don’t say anything. The guy looks annoyed by this.)

Man: “I’m serious, guys! There are consequences when you don’t follow the rules; it can get you suspended or even fired. All of your attitudes are terrible. You should be grateful that I’m telling you this now, so you can avoid being written up for violations.”

(My dad raises his hand.)

Man: “Yes?”

Dad: “Are those steel toe cap boots you have on?”

(He points to the man’s shoes, which are clearly just black loafers.)

Man: “Of course not.”

Dad: “You have to have steel toe cap boots on when you are in the warehouse.”

Man: “Oh.”

Dad: “You should be grateful I’m telling you this. You could get written up for violations.”

Man: “Well, never mind. We are in the canteen after all.”

Dad: “Since you’re new, you can get us all a coffee.”

Man: “But there are 12 of you.”

Dad: “Well, use a tray, then. Safety first!”

(Needless to say, he didn’t stay long in the job.)