What Right Does She Have To Talk To ANYONE That Way?!
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“My girlfriend and I were hanging out in a store that had a bit of everything when she decided to look for a new phone cover. I stayed in a corridor nearby looking at the tech stuff when suddenly a lady approached me.
I was wearing jeans and a red polo, but I guess she mistook me for an employee even if they had a blue uniform.
Lady: ‘Hey, you. Can you tell me where I can get [item]?’
I looked around for a second before looking back at her.
Me: ‘I don’t know, I don’t w-‘
She interrupted me before I could say the magic words; ‘I don’t work here.’)
Lady: ‘You brown people are all the same; don’t know how to treat customers, Disgusting!’ Then she stormed off.
I was about to go to my girlfriend and tell her the story about this crazy lady, but before I could reach her, the lady came back and, I kid you not, started spraying deodorant in my face, blinding me.
Lady: ‘Serves you right for being a lazy [racial slur].’
Me: ‘HELP!’
My girlfriend heard me yelling and came to help, but before I could say anything, I watched the lady realize that I didn’t work there. My girlfriend called the police and the staff didn’t let her leave. When I saw her again after washing my eyes out, she was crying while getting arrested. The police asked if I’d like to press charges and I said yes.
Even if I was an employee, that’s no way to treat people.”
All He Had To Do Was Read Her Name Tag
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“I worked at Sports Authority a few years back and our uniforms included a red polo and khaki pants or shorts. Unluckily, there was a Target next door. One day, as I was trying to grab a snack on a break, a large old man and his wife approached me.
Old Man: ‘Excuse me, where are the towels?’
Me: ‘Oh, I don’t work…’
Old Man: ‘I SAID, WHERE ARE THE TOWELS?’
Me: ‘Uh, I don’t…’
Old Man: ‘YOU DON’T KNOW? HOW CAN YOU BE EMPLOYED HERE AND NOT KNOW? GET ME A MANAGER.’
Now people were staring and he was making a scene. His wife reached over to grab his arm and said, ‘She’s saying she doesn’t work here!.’ The man looked back and just stared at me, baffled, not computing.
Me: ‘Jesus Christ! I work at the sports store next door, leave me alone!’
He didn’t say sorry or anything, just stared. I picked out a snack and got out of there.
My uniform came with a name tag that said the name of the store on it, and my polo had ‘Sports Authority’ written on the other side.”
He Stood Up For Someone Who Couldn’t Stand Up For Themselves
“I (an employee) witnessed an autistic young man, (maybe 14 years old) get caught up in some crazy lady situation.
Let me set the scene for ya:
I was working in the lawn and garden section. I saw this autistic young man one day sorting and moving potted flowers around putting them in a very specific order, matching colors, size of pots, and height of the flowers themselves.
He was bothering no one and most folks were just noticing him doing a bang up job. But this one old crone of a woman saw him ‘working,’ so she stood behind him with her arms folded and tapping her foot.
She finally cleared her throat in that dreaded fashion we all know and said, ‘Ahem, excuuuuuuuse me. You need to help me.’
The young man paid her no mind, continuing with his task. She didn’t like this. She cleared her voice and said louder, ‘YOU ARE NOT LISTENING TO ME, YOU ARE GOING TO HELP ME NOW!’
Before I could walk to her and ask her what she needed, she reached out and grabbed this young man by the right arm just above his elbow. I guess the sudden action of this and the young man’s condition caused him to spin around and move his arm away from this lady, and the sudden movement startled the old woman, causing her to step backward and lose her balance. She fell right on her butt.
By the time I reached the young man to see if he was ok, his mother had shown up and was asking what had happened. Before I could say anything, the woman who had caused this was up and berating this young man. She was saying he attacked her and she will have him fired and arrested. Meanwhile, this young man was almost crying and his mother was shocked.
I told the mom to take her son and calm him down, that he had done nothing wrong, and to just make sure he was ok.
The crazy old women didn’t like that I took his side and she began to lie and tell me she was the victim and she didn’t do anything and that the employee (young man) attacked her.
I told her not so kindly:
- She was a liar and I had witnessed the whole incident.
- The young man she forcibly grabbed does not work here and she assaulted him.
By now, a crowd had gathered and the crazy woman had noticed that no one believed her side of the story.
She just put her head down and walked quickly out of the store.
When I turned to check on the young man and his mother, she was smiling at me and was thanking me for my help. She shops here regularly and the young man likes to arrange the flowers. She said the trips are calming to him.
I expressed my regrets about the whole incident, the young man walked over to me and patted my shoulder once before he went back to the flowers.
The mom informed me that was the equivalent of a high five from him.”
Don’t Start A Fight You Can’t Finish
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“I have a hobby-like job working for a casino party company. They get contracted by companies to come out and set up some casino tables so their employees can ‘gamble’ just for fun during their parties/events. Most of the time, employees buy tickets (like one ticket for $50 and a ticket is worth $2,000 in fake chips) and that’s how they play. You can then turn in your chips for ‘Prize tickets’ and go through a raffle to win prizes at the end. It’s a lot of fun and easy money for someone in college.
We had a gig last night at a nice hotel ballroom. We’re required to dress in all black, with a button up shirt and slacks. We looked just like the actual staff of the hotel, but with a clearly different nametag. I can sort of see why I’d be mistaken for the hotel staff.
Cue in a good night, having fun, good people, good table dealing. I swapped out with someone to take a break, walk about, and grab a drink of water. Now here’s where it went downhill. A woman who looked to be about 30 years old woman came to me and asked for a refill on her drink. It went a little bit like this (we’ll call her Thick Skull, or TS for short):
TS: ‘Excuse me, could I ask you to refill my drink? I’ll be right here.’
Me: ‘Sorry! I don’t work here, I’m one of the dealers at the tables. I can grab someone for you though!’
TS: ‘You’re clearly in the waitstaff uniform, I KNOW you work here, I’ve seen you help others.’ (Lied to my face, I was at my table all night!)
Me: ‘I’m sorry but I really can’t serve you, let me grab someone who can-‘
TS: ‘You do work here!’ (SHE STEPPED ON MY FOOT AS I STEPPED AWAY! I then took my foot back and now I was angry because I’m wearing some nice shoes here, that I paid for, and I am proud of that because I’m POOR.)
Me: ‘Okay look, I’ve told you I don’t work here. You can find someone ELSE. Hopefully, you won’t step on them.’
She then grabbed the attention of an actual waitstaff member and asked her to grab the manager, which the waitress hesitantly did. I was actually stunned.
Me: ‘You do understand, I DON’T WORK HERE.’
TS: ‘Keep saying that to me, you’ll regret it.’
Luckily, the manager came…
Manager: ‘Everything okay, ma’am?’
TS: ‘This man refuses to serve me the drinks I asked for.’
He looked at me and asked my name, I pointed at my name tag and told him, and he immediately knew I didn’t work here.
Manager: ‘I’m sorry but he doesn’t work here, can I get your drink?’
She FREAKED OUT at this. Like full blown SCREECHED.
TS: ‘This is STUPID! I’m not an IDIOT!’ She proceeded to GRAB my water and flung it at me and it got all over me!
Manager: ‘Ma’am We do NOT act like this here and I’m asking you to leave. Leave.’
She started throwing what I can only say is a tantrum, and then got removed out by the security they had on site.
The table she was at had ten of her tickets. TEN. She also had redeemed some earlier, too. That’s over $500 she spent. With no prizes. She waited until after the party was over to speak to my manager and demanded a refund. He denied her and said she could go on her merry way and told her the exact reason she couldn’t have what she wanted was because she had dumped water on his employee and he wouldn’t stand for that. She stormed out after bickering for what seemed forever.”
You Can’t Teach This Old Man How To Be A Decent Human Being
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“I went out for lunch and decided to have some McDonald’s. The restaurant has two doors and one was closed because the area around it was being remodeled.
I was sitting across from the closed door, just enjoying my meal, when an old couple tried and failed to open the locked door. They somehow managed to not see the sign indicating that the door was locked, all the while pressing their faces against the glass. The old guy spotted me and signaled at the door. I ignored him and continued to eat.
I should mention that I was not dressed in any way as a McDonald’s employee. I am wearing a copper red shirt and blue jeans.
Eventually, they made it in, and he came over to my table by himself.
Old Guy: ‘Lazy piece of poo, ain’t ya?’
Me: ‘Only on Thursdays.’
Old Guy: ‘Why didn’t you open the door?’
Me: ‘Because I’m eating and I don’t work here.’
Old Guy: ‘You are lying. Get me your manager.’
Me: ‘My manager is in New York on a business trip.’
Old Guy: ‘Baloney!’ He screamed this as he slapped my tray off my table, with my meal on it.
So I got up, he squared up, and I walked past him. I made it to the register, with him right on my heels yelling stuff like, ‘Not so tough now, right? Going to go cry to your manager now?’
I didn’t need to ask for the manager since the old guy was being so loud.
Manager: ‘What’s up?’
Old Guy: ‘This lazy piece of poo wouldn’t open the door for us because he was eating. Do something about it!’
Me: ‘That’s right and he knocked my tray off the table.’
Old Guy: ‘You got that meal for free, you’ll get another, so quit your complaining.’
Manager: ‘You’re right, he is getting a meal for free. You need to leave. I can’t have you assaulting my customers, so please leave or you will be kicked out.’
Old Guy: ‘But the customer is always right and you shouldn’t reward lazy employees for being lazy and talking back to a customer!’
Manager: ‘He doesn’t work here; he is a customer and you are on your way out.’
By this point, it seemed to have clicked for the old guy. He stared at me, then back to the manager. He called his wife, and both walked out.
I got a free meal and they gave me an Oreo sundae.
Thanks, old guy!”
She Really Wanted Those Waffles
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“I was on vacation with my family and the hotel where we were staying had a nice free breakfast. It had one of those waffle machines as well.
One morning, we walked down to eat breakfast. I was wearing Batman lounge pants and a t-shirt. I made everyone a waffle and after I handed the waffles to my family, I finally made mine and started to sit down. That’s when I heard someone say, ‘I’d like two waffles.’ Obviously, I ignored it and sat down with my family. The lady followed me and we had the following interaction.
Crazy Lady: ‘Didn’t you hear me? I said I wanted two waffles.’
Me: ‘Yeah, I heard you. The breakfast is self-serve. You have to make them yourself.’
Crazy Lady: ‘I just saw you hand out waffles to these people. Get off your butt and do your job.’
Me: ‘These people are my family. I don’t work here. I’m on vacation just like you.’
Crazy Lady: ‘Listen here, you lazy…’
Crazy Lady’s Kid: ‘Look, Mommy, he’s wearing Batman pants.’
She looked down and saw my pants when it finally clicked. She started making her own breakfast. Her husband walked up afterward and told me he was sorry, and offered to buy us lunch. He handed me a $20 bill and apologized again.”
The Candy Apple Meltdown
“I went to Aldi’s today on my lunch break from work. I was shopping for ingredients to make hard apple cider. I found the only apple juice Aldi’s sold without preservatives and loaded up my cart with a dozen half-gallon bottles and kept them in their cardboard boxes so they would be easier to transport. There were a few other items I needed to pick up, so I pushed my cart through the store shopping for them. A woman noticed the boxes of apple juice in my cart and asked where I had found them. I had nothing better to do, so I walked her over to the apple juice display, where she thanked me.
Another woman immediately came up to me and asked, ‘You used to have these candy apples in the store but I can’t find them. Where are they?’
I had no idea where they were so I said, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know – I don’t work here.’
Her eyes narrowed and she responded, ‘What do you mean you don’t work here? I just saw you help that other person.’
I was in a t-shirt and corduroy pants and didn’t look at all as if I would be working at this store. I could tell that this was not going to go well no matter what I said, but I attempted to be polite, ‘I’m sorry, ma’am. She asked me where I had found this apple juice so I showed her. I don’t actually work here.’
Her: ‘What do you mean you don’t work here?!’
Me: ‘I don’t work here. I am a customer, like you.’
Her: ‘Just tell me where the candy apples are!’
At this point, it was getting weird. ‘I really don’t know where the candy apples are. I don’t work here.’
Her: ‘You don’t know where anything is in this store?!’
Me: ‘I know where the apple juice is.’
Her: ‘WHERE ARE THE CANDY APPLES?!’
Me: ‘Ma’am, I’m sorry I can’t help you. I really don’t work here.’
Her: ‘WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!’
Me: ‘It means that I don’t work at this store. I don’t know where the candy apples are. I am a customer like you.’
Her: ‘THEN WHY ARE YOU STOCKING THE SHELVES?!’ She indicated the boxes in my cart filled with apple juice.
Me: ‘I am shopping, I am going to buy what is in my cart.’
Her: ‘NOBODY NEEDS THAT MUCH JUICE! YOU WORK HERE AND YOU NEED TO TELL ME WHERE THE CANDY APPLES ARE!’ At this point, everyone around us had stopped shopping and were just staring.
An Aldi’s shelf stocker came over and said, ‘Ma’am, the candy apples were a seasonal item and I’m afraid we are sold out.’
The woman glared at the Aldi’s employee, then me and said, indicating me, ‘WHY DIDN’T HE TELL ME THAT?!’
‘He doesn’t work here, ma’am.’
The woman then roared in exasperation, pushed her cart into an aisle display of canned food, knocking it over and screamed, ‘WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!!! I AM NEVER COMING BACK!’
She stormed out of the store, fuming. The employee gave me a confused look, which I returned, then I proceeded to the checkout.
I loaded the juice into the trunk of my car and hopped in the driver seat. I checked my mirrors before backing out and noticed that the candy apple lady was in the SUV to my left, sitting in her driver seat, sobbing.
I rolled down my window and waved to get her attention. She noticed me, waited about 15 seconds, then rolled down her window.
‘Are you OK, ma’am?’ I asked.
Through sobs and tears, she said, ‘I said I would bring candy apples to my grandson’s party.’
I asked her when the party was to take place and she told me, ‘Tonight.’ I told her that I had seen kits to make candy apples over at Safeway and that if she made them now they should be ready by the time of the party.
Her eyes lit up and she looked at me, ‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome.’
I went back to work.”
The Tale Of The Overzealous Security Guard
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“My local grocery store has a three-level subterranean parking structure. There are signs everywhere reminding employees that they must park on the third (lowest) level.
I usually park on the second floor down because there are more spots open closer to the elevator. They rotate a security guard to act as a parking attendant and wander around the parking structure. Today it was someone I didn’t recognize.
I parked my car on the second level as I always do. I got out and was immediately scolded, ‘EMPLOYEES THIRD FLOOR!’
Somehow this guy got it in his head that I worked at the grocery store. I wasn’t wearing anything remotely close to the all-black uniform. I tried to explain, but he wasn’t having it. He said I would be towed out of the garage if I didn’t move immediately. I told him he’d probably regret that.
Sure enough, when I returned from doing my shopping, my car was gone. Knowing exactly what happened, I went back into the store and quietly asked for a manager as I think ‘my car may have been stolen.’
While my groceries were melting, they brought in the building manager and he asked if I called the police. I asked to see if there was anything on tape just to be sure before we got authorities involved. He agreed and sure enough, we watched the guard call in a tow truck.
The building manager let out an, ‘Oh no,’ and called the store’s head manager. The head manager came in and the three of us watched the tape again. He apologized profusely and told me he would make this right.
The guard was called in and asked to explain himself. He couldn’t articulate why he thought I was an employee and STARTED CRYING. He was fired on the spot.
The manager personally drove me to the impound lot and paid to get my car out. He asked me to meet him back at the store as he wanted to make everything right.
We got back and he refunded my purchase while letting me keep the stuff I had in my cart, AND I got to replace whatever had thawed or melted. After more apologies and thanks for my patience, I was given a credit voucher for $300 for my ‘time and trouble.'”
Oh, You Know, Just Getting Assaulted For Holding My Phone
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“A while ago, while I was in my break from the retail store where I work, I was shopping in the electronics store next door. I was wearing the store uniform which is a very distinctive red and khaki with a jacket on top as well as my name tag, which clearly states where I am employed. Enter crazy mom and her four kids.
I heard this piercing whistle from behind me a few times, so I looked over my shoulder because it was loud. This lady was barreling towards me with her kids in tow. As I turned to her to see what all the hustle and whistling was about, she grabbed my wrist and knocked my phone out of my hand. I looked down and saw glass shards everywhere as the phone was smashed to pieces. So I gave her the classic, ‘What gives, lady?’ to which she responded by hysterically screaming that employees should not be texting while working and that I should be ashamed of keeping her waiting because I was texting.
I then turned away and she kicked my ankle as I walked away. I tripped, sprained my ankle, face planted and nailed my shoulder on the shelving. Her kids started laughing and pointing. About this point was when an employee arrived and was able to help me up and see if I was ok.
Now she finally thought for a second and a whole new look came over her face as she realized that I didn’t work at that store in the first place. Then another new look as I told the employee to call the police. She started pleading with me that it was just a mistake and that she was just having a bad day.
She was arrested on assault charges and eventually had to replace my phone, was given 350 hours of community service, I was awarded a decent sum of money, and my personal favorite is that she has to pay for and attend therapy sessions for the next three years on account of her rage issues.”
This Dude Made An Enemy At Every Turn
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“My buddy was taking me out to a fancy French restaurant as a treat and I was pretty gussied up. I enjoy getting dolled up and wearing a beautiful dress to enjoy a wonderful meal. I was wearing all black with my hair in an elaborate up-do and chandelier earrings. I think the all black is what started everything.
This particular restaurant has a well-known (and frankly down-right foxy) chef who typically works at a station, expoing and plating where everybody can see him. It’s also near the door to the only washroom and the server station. It’s a huge restaurant and with only the one washroom, there was a bit of a line. I waited and waited, and at one point, I think the chef and I exchanged a few pleasantries. When I was next in line, a middle-aged man in a Portland-issued plaid button-up and jeans got in line behind me. He had cranky energy and was shifting from foot-to-foot. It didn’t seem like he had to go badly, just that he was impatient. I had been waiting much, much longer than him and found his constant sighing and scoffing irritating.
When it was my turn, I reached for the door only to have this awful man push in front of me and nearly knock me over, shoving himself into the open door. I was so taken aback, I just sort of froze and said, ‘Excuse me, I was next.’ He then wheeled around and started YELLING about how he wasn’t about to wait while ‘some waitress changed her tampon.’ And then yelled at the chef that he should have a staff restroom because it’s ‘disgusting’ that the staff uses the same restroom as guests, and implied he might not pay for his meal because of it.
I stood there in absolute shock (and a full bladder) while this man took care of his business. Clearly taking his sweet time out of spite. The chef apologized to me and a waiter who had been at the server station commiserated.
I decided to not let it go. I didn’t work here, but even if I did, there is no reason to be treated like I’m not a human.
When he came out, I used my entire body to block his path out of the bathroom and gave him a stern, but quiet lecture about how: a) I actually wasn’t an employee and b) there is nothing wrong with sharing the restroom with the staff and told him that he had ruined what should have been a special night out.
Again, this all happened in full view of the entire kitchen staff and several members of the wait staff. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this person was seated directly next to my friend. His female dining companion was sitting next to me. I had been gone for 20 minutes and my friend was confused and annoyed. I figured at that point I had nothing to lose, so I loudly explained what happened while gesturing to the awful man and making pointed eye contact with the woman. The man looked furious and the woman just silently glared at him.
The waiter wordlessly dropped their check after a few minutes. They were mid-meal and hadn’t been offered dessert. It was clearly a pointed, but polite, ‘Get out’ from the staff after his rant. They paid without incident, and as they got up to leave, he tried to put his hand on her shoulder only to have her move away and say, ‘Don’t touch me.’
We got a cheese plate and a couple glasses of bubbly as a gift from the restaurant.”