Your Entitlement Doesn’t Have A Leg To Stand On

(It’s the holiday season, so the fitting rooms have lines. There are heaps of abandoned clothing, irritated people waiting, and it’s generally a mess. We have issues with customers butting in line, trying to “hold” fitting rooms, and other rude behavior. A handicapped woman using crutches, [Customer #1], has tried on an outfit and come out of her room to look in the three-way mirror and show her mother. The second she is out, another woman [Customer #2] ducks around her and dives into the fitting room, locking the door behind her. [Customer #1], her mother, and an employee have all asked [Customer #2] to relinquish the room, but she is refusing. I’m called to help the situation.)

Me: *knocking* “Hello in there. We need you to open up, or I’ll have security unlock the door.”

Customer #2: “No! It’s not fair! I was waiting and she was too slow.”

Me: “Everyone gets a turn.”

Customer #2: “I shouldn’t have to wait for a fitting room. If she wanted it, she shouldn’t have opened the door. I’m not opening the door.”

Me: “Please be reasonable. Look. The other customer left her personal items in there. You can’t hold her belongings. If you don’t cooperate, I will call the police and have you removed from the building.”

Customer #2: “Fine! I’ll give her her items, but I’m not giving up the room.”

(I figure at this point I’ll get [Customer #1]’s belongings safely back to her, then concern myself with the security aspect.)

Me: *to [Customer #1]* “What did you leave in there?”

Customer #1: “Well, my purse, my phone…”

(At this point, the purse is thrown OVER the partition, landing at our feet.)

Customer #2: “Here’s your d*** purse!”

Customer #1: “Please don’t throw things! It’s breakable! My prosthetic leg is in there, too!”

Customer #2: “Oh, my God! Oh, my God! That’s disgusting! Oh, my God!”

(The door opened, and [Customer #2] came out, looking horrified, and pushed past us. She ran out into the mall. The kicker is that she left her coat, with HER cell phone in the pocket, behind. As of right now, it’s in the lost and found, along with the paperwork banning her from the mall property.)