You Can’t Make Me Change

I am the supervisor at a fast food restaurant and my coworker has just gone on break, leaving me on the counter by myself. A man possibly in his late twenties comes and orders an ice cream treat. He hands me $10, and after I ring him up, he asks for extra topping, which costs extra. Before I can counter, he gets angry.

Customer: “Where’s the rest of my change?”

Me: “I’m sorry?”

Customer: “I gave you a $20, so you owe me change.”

Me: “You actually gave me a $10.”

Customer: “No, I gave you a $20. It was a beat-up $20 bill.”

I open the drawer and see that the $20 on the top is brand new. I point this out to the customer.

Customer: “Well, I guess you put the $20 under the rest of the bills.”

Me: *Sarcastically* “Yes, I lifted up this whole stack of $20s and put yours under there. Why would I do that?”

Customer: “I don’t know, but you did it!”

He then pulls out a huge wad of $100s.

Customer: “Look at all these bills. Why would I rip you off over $10? I don’t need that money!”

Me: “I don’t know.”

We bicker for a few more minutes, at which point the entire food court of the mall is looking over. I go to the back of the store to call my manager and ask him what to do, and he says to take the customer’s information, and if the drawer is wrong, they’ll let him pick it up the next day. The customer sees me on the phone and begins yelling louder.

Customer: “Who are you calling back there? You were on the phone with someone!”

Me: “I was calling my manager to see if I could help you, but I guess you don’t want that.”

Customer: *Threateningly* “What time do you get off?”

Me: “Why does it matter to you?” 

He ends up giving up and lets me make his ice cream treat. I hand it to him.

Customer: “Doesn’t look like extra candy to me.”

Me: “That costs fifty cents extra.”

He growls and walks away.

Me: “Have a nice day, sir!”

I later heard words of encouragement from the rest of the food court, among them being, “You could have taken him!” And yes, the drawer was correct the next day.