Working with people can be hard, especially if you hate them. Whether it was a boss, a coworker, or a customer, these unfortunate workers heard the target of their hate say one simple thing that caused them to go from uninterested to a raging fury.
(Content has been edited for clarity)
She Got That Mad Over A Few Cents?!
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“‘You are an idiot, and I hope you never get a real job.’ This was said by some lady at my cafe after I told her she was six cents short on her card.”
He Didn’t Want To Pay That $6 Fee, So He Insulted The Teller
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“When I worked as a cashier, I had this guy who didn’t want to pay a $6 parking charge, so he proceeded to call me a ‘pathetic minimum wage loser.’
I said, ‘Actually, I make $12 an hour, and I have $6 in my pocket.’ He was insulted, and begrudgingly paid the charge.”
“This Is What’s Wrong With Our School System”
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“I hated working as a cashier.
I worked as a contract barista in Australia for a coffee company that has catering coffee carts when I was 15 years old.
One time, we had an early event. I had to wake up at 3 a.m., and we had to be there at 5 a.m. to set up for the event. It took us about an hour longer to set up because we had to make several trips a block away to fill up our water tanks. So not only did we have to walk that far several times, we had to haul about 60lbs of water back, about three times total.
When it got time to actually taking orders, I was tired as all get out.
We had an automatic register with a calculator that day (some days we had a money box and had to do mental math), which I was really thankful for too, cause I can do money math, but I’m not very fast, especially so if I’m tired and worn out, which I was.
As I was taking one customer’s order, he noticed me inputting the amount and using the calculator (which took three seconds from the time he told me his order, no different than any other fast food place). He called me out, saying,’Whoa kid, you’re using a calculator? Why can’t you just do it in your head?’ He then looked at my boss and said, ‘See, this is what’s wrong with our school system. Kid can’t even do mental math.’
My boss kicked him out (away?) from the coffee carts, telling him that it’s a requirement for us to use the calculator to avoid any issues. And then he told him he has no right talking to a young kid like that.
Thankfully he put me on to take care of actually making the coffee after that, which is what I was best at anyways.
To anyone reading this, please be nice to kids, especially if they are obviously making an effort. It’s been almost six years since that happened, and what that guy said comes to my mind almost every time I have a brain fart or struggle in math.”
His Daughter’s Cleft Palate Wasn’t A Good Enough Reason To Get Time Off
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“My daughter was born with a cleft lip. We were living out of state and decided to take her to the hospital in our hometown. I asked my boss for a few days off so I could be with her and my wife for major surgery. Our daughter was only 3 months old at the time of the surgery. My boss said no, ‘It’s not our fault that she was born with a cleft lip.’ It was so unexpected, I didn’t know what to do, so I walked out of her office. After stewing about it at my desk for a few minutes, I went back and told her off. I got the time off.”
Even After A Talk With The Manager, He Didn’t Think He’d Done Anything Wrong
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“One evening, a couple of black men came into our restaurant to order food. They got their food and left; everything was fine. As soon as they left, my coworker went off about how much he hated black people, how they’re all thugs, etc. Lots of racial slurs were used. I guess because I’m white, he figured I’d be fine with it.
The next day, I pulled the manager aside and told him everything. The guy got a talking to, but no disciplinary action was taken. The next time we worked together, he started going on a racist rant again then stopped himself, looked directly at me, and said (loudly), ‘Oh, sorry, I forgot I better watch my mouth because SENSITIVE PEOPLE might get upset!’
Freaking piece of crap degenerate. Every time I saw him, my face got hot, and I felt the anger and hatred just seething through my skin. I still had to work with him a lot, and I hated it. He sure watched his tongue around black coworkers, though! He was a coward on top of being racist.”
Her Reaction To A Stale Bagel Was Way Over The Top
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“When I was serving in a restaurant, a woman once told me I should be shot for serving her a bagel that she said was stale. When I told the manager what she said, he spoke to her for about five minutes or so and then walked away. She waved me over and apologized, saying that she didn’t mean I should be shot for serving it, she meant the chef should be shot.”
He Bragged About The Stupidest, Most Idiotic Thing Ever
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“A co-worker I have little to do with very proudly told me the story of how he got wasted. Then after a smashing a few brews, he spewed on himself. So he jumped in his car to get some new clothes. He put a cool song on and was headbanging while not looking at the road. When he eventually stopped to look at where he was going, he realized he was on the wrong side of the road, and a white SUV was half in the ditch to avoid a collision.
He thought this was awesome and then bragged about how hungover he was the next day.
I told him I think he’s a freaking idiot and that he wouldn’t be sitting here bragging if he collided with a car and killed some innocent kids or something. His response was to call me a pansy, then scoff and walk away.”
Never Refer To People As “The Help”
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“It was a normal, albeit slow day at work, so I figured it would be rather uneventful. And it was, at least until this hussy came up next to me while I was cleaning tables in the dining room:
‘Honey, tell the help (referring to me) to clean up this booth. I want to sit here, and shouldn’t have to sit in filth.’
Number 1: There were like five clean tables around this lady. Why do you need this booth so badly?
Number 2: I’m not ‘the help,’ I’m an employee.
Number 3: If you’re going to be a witch, don’t have your lapdog of a husband tell me to do stuff. Tell me yourself.
Number 4: Geez Louise, how entitled can you be. Woman? I mean seriously.”
He Should Have Known Better Than Anyone Not To Say Something Like That
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“My supervisor made a racist comment about a potential employee.
‘I have an interview with a terrorist tomorrow,’ were his exact words. The applicant was Jewish to boot. He didn’t even have a ‘traditional’ Middle Eastern name.
The person under him brought it up as a joke, and no one laughed. I reminded her (she is also my boss) that if HR got a hold of that slander, he would lose his job in a heartbeat. And thanks to his actions, if that kid wasn’t hired and given a fair chance, I would personally report him.
The kid got the job, but it didn’t work out for unrelated reasons, but holy crap that supervisor has been on my butt for months because I held him accountable for his crappy behavior. He’s been way hard on me and has been putting off a new position he created specifically for myself to help out my district manager.
Racists flourish, my friends. They always find positions of power and abuse it.”
He Made A Mistake That Cost Him Dearly
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“Restaurant owner here. A total ‘dude bro’ cola rep came into my restaurant because we needed a soda dispenser installed. After he’d been talking to my wife for 20 minutes, I came over to sit down and catch the rest of the conversation. I was greeted with a, ‘At last, here comes the boss!’ My wife is the boss. We went with the other guy.”
He Was Always Claiming She Did Things She Knows She Didn’t Do
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“I have a coworker who always says, ‘Everyone agrees with me,’ and ‘We’re all sick of putting up with you doing __.’ Also, ‘You do this every shift!’
He said, ‘You do this every shift,’ the only time I left dishes in the sink overnight after finding out my grandpa passed away. Mind you, I was the only one working that night and the only one working in the morning. The only reason he knew of the dishes was because he came in to use the work computer for school. Then he lectured me about it and how everyone was getting sick of me leaving dishes each shift. Meanwhile, I’m friends with the coworkers he’s referring to and am certain they didn’t give a crap. One of them is my best friend. The other I’ve worked with for years and we get along great and have a blast together when we work. The person speaking for them is new and is not able to consider the fact that I have a 10-year friendship with the person he’s trying to say agrees with him about this single event being habitual.
Related: I also had a supervisor once write in my annual review that I often oversleep and am late to my shift when it only happened once in three years. I later told a higher up in the company, and they said that was nonsense, and we can check and see clear as day that it’s not true. I got it removed it from my review.
So whatever that behavior is, it makes me hate people. I think it’s like…the act of lying to me about what I did? Something like that.”
Her Coworker’s Gossip Rubbed Her The Wrong Way
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“When I was starting work at a new job last fall, I immediately began to dislike one coworker. I was just getting to know her (we’ll call her Lily), and I was expressing to her that another coworker- Jane (fake name), had told me we needed to perform a task. I couldn’t remember Jane’s name though (it was my first week there), so I was trying to think of how to describe her.
Lily cut in and just said, ‘The ugly trailer trash lady?’ I was so shocked that I didn’t know what to say.
I was like, ‘Um…no; she has brown hair and glasses.’
Lily said, ‘Yeah, no, that’s her. She’s trailer trash.’
I immediately hated her. Anyone that can describe someone else in such a way with no thought is just a crappy person.
And forget you, Lily. I’ve gotten to know Jane, and she’s the sweetest nicest person. She doesn’t bend over backwards for you because you treat her like garbage. She is nice and easy to work with if you just treat her like a PERSON.”
His Snide Remark Was Exactly What She DIDN’T Need At That Moment
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“Customer: ‘How are you?’
Me: ‘Okay. What can I get for you?’
Customer: ‘Just okay?’
Me: ‘Sir, I’m seven months pregnant, in so much pain I can barely stand, and my husband is deployed. So yes, just ‘okay.”
You wouldn’t think ‘Just okay,’ is hate-inducing, but I was so angry with that customer.”
Digging Up A Tree Is Tough Work, Especially For Men
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“During a volunteering event for my company last year, we were working on cleaning up and improving a local nature center. People were encouraged to bring their own tools to supplement the limited amount of tools that the nature center had. The first task was to remove a small tree, so about six guys started digging around the base. They were making slow progress as they had to cut the roots with the spade shovels and were trying to pry the tree back and forth with the shovels to get deeper underneath it.
After a little while, a nature center employee noticed the slow progress and handed a girl a digging bar, which she took over to the guys working on the tree. With the digging bar, they make progress much faster.
On the sidelines, one of the women standing watching said out loud, ‘All those men and it took a woman to solve the problem.’ She started looking around; I assume expecting the other women to agree with her. Nobody said anything, and I just stared at her and scoffed. I think she realized how inappropriate her comment was because she kinda slunk away to another group.”
She Treated That Poor Cashier As If Her Bad Decision Was HIS Fault
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“When I worked at a grocery store, my city passed a law banning all plastic bags. Many of the cashiers (that were there for just an easy dollar while in school including me) would forget to ask if they wanted a paper bag for additional cost, so we would just give them to them for free at the beginning of the ban to not have to have to charge them a new transaction. About two months into the ban, pretty much everyone would say they wanted paper bags, and many people brought reusable bags, so they didn’t ask for paper. One day after I hung up this lady’s transaction, she said, ‘Can I have my bags?’ I politely said she didn’t state she needed bags during her purchase so I didn’t add any, and each one would be 10 cents. She yelled. ‘You expect me to carry all this? I’M NOT PAYING FOR A BAG! I come here and expect to receive a bag for my items, are you REALLY GOING TO MAKE AN ISSUE OVER 10 CENTS?!’
I said, ‘ARE YOU?’ She left without a bag, not wanting to break her stand.
Most likely I would’ve given her the bags for free had she said she forgot to ask for bags and didn’t have change, as it was a pain to have to make a new transaction and pay with credit/debit. But no.”
Her Phone Conversation Was Obviously More Important
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“I had a lady at the register on her phone, and there was a line of people behind her. She wasn’t making any effort to get money to pay or do anything other than talk on her phone while people continued to line up behind her. I said, ‘Can I get you anything else?’ She was still on her phone, but she said no. So I said, ‘Okay, your total is $XX.’
She then pulled the phone away from her face and shouted, ‘I WASN’T TALKING TO YOU!’ and then went back to talking on her phone. Some other customers that were regulars stuck up for me and shamed her out of there anyway. Working retail, you obviously have many bad customers, but this woman truly left an impression on me. She was so selfish, rude, and unconcerned with how her actions affected anyone else. It just boggles my mind that people can even be that way.”
Their First Lunch Together Was Also Their Last
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“My first week at a job a few years ago, I was having lunch with a woman that everyone in the company seemed to hate. I didn’t know her at all, so I figured I’d give her the benefit of the doubt.
Right when we started eating, a (heavy) cop came in and sat down across the room at a different table. She very LOUDLY said, ‘How is he even a cop? He’s too effing fat! He’d never be able to chase after anyone, hahaha!’ I was suddenly full and left the restaurant. I never had lunch with or associated with her again.”
His Slur Against Aboriginals Was Despicable
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“I started working at a bakery when I was 17.
I left after two weeks, after having to sit through conversations on break with another guy who had been there for like 20 years. He was always talking about how ‘we should just line up all the (hateful slur for Australian Aboriginals, it’s one of those that cannot ever be used in a non-hateful way outside of describing it) in a row, weapon in their mouth and blow them away.’ I went to the boss and said, ‘Nah, I’m out. This guy’s messed up in the head.’ I didn’t think he’d fire the other guy when the new kid complained, and I was right.
The kicker is the boss yells at me on the way out saying I wasted his time and I was a lazy son of a ‘B’ who didn’t want to work. I’m glad I noped out of there.”
Never Question Someone’s Service Dog
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“There is a lady who comes to the store I work in who has a tiny service dog. You wouldn’t even know she needs it by looking at her. The lady is super sweet, and one of my favorite customers and her dog is so well behaved and just the sweetest little thing.
One day, she was in the store, and another lady came in, and while I was checking the second lady out at the register, she looked over and asked me, ‘Do you know what disability that lady with the dog has?’ She said this in a fairly judgmental tone like she was irritated by the idea of the dog being there.
What the actual heck? How is that any of your business? She has a service dog, it’s wearing a vest and has a clear label that says ‘SERVICE DOG.’ And yes, I do know why she needs it, but that’s HER business. People, man…”
Her 9/11 Story Didn’t Impress Her Boss
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“On the morning of 9/11, I was about ten minutes late to my waiter job in a crappy steakhouse chain. My uncle was working as a deaf interpreter in the Pentagon at the time, and my family had been unable to get through to him, which was why I was late (at home on the phone with my mom, didn’t have a cell at the time). My manager TORE into me. I was 19 at the time and didn’t have anything resembling confidence, so I just quietly listened to him tell me about how unacceptable this was. Fricking ridiculous.”
“A Woman’s Work Is Never Done!”
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“When I was wiping tables and collecting dishes at my cafe job, a man said, ‘A woman’s work is never done!’ with this cheery smile.
The expression on his face when I whipped around and snapped, ‘What did you just say to me?’ was exquisite.
After he stumbled and mumbled over an apology, I said, ‘If you don’t want me to think you’re sexist, don’t say sexist things.’
I went and told my manager, figuring I would get in trouble for sassing the customers. She was just glad I hadn’t killed the guy.”
A Baby Just Died And He Couldn’t Care Less
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“I hate my supervisor. Just know that out of hundreds of people he supervised, not a one had anything good to say about him. One of my coworkers had a baby die. The baby girl was less than a year old. Her funeral was on a Tuesday around noon. This is a slow shift for any restaurant, so the shift leader let anyone we could spare leave for an hour to pay their respects at the funeral. Our supervisor came storming through, ticked off that we were so understaffed. When we explained the situation, he screamed, ‘I don’t care whose baby died! I didn’t approve any time off!’ First of all dude, we have two tables occupied. They’re ok. Secondly, one of your employees is dealing with her baby’s DEATH.”