My Best and Worst Stories from Working Retail

[@GuitarLOVE6437]

True story from working at McDonald's. I used to work the drive-thru all the time. A lady came through. "You're 22 and in college right?" she said. "Yep," I said. "So you're too old for my 17-year-old son, huh?" "Yeah, and I don't really swing that way." "Give him a few years and it'll be fine!" There's two seconds of awkward silence. "I mean I'm not into men." "Ooooh! That'd be a turn-off, too!" and she drove on through.

[@FrozenGuineaPig]

"When I started I was trained in the fitting room." Me, having worked in a fitting room for close to year: Is this gonna be a poop story?

[@emmagillette2323]

I worked at Gamestop when I was 16, and every day there was ALWAYS some dude who refused to believe that a 16 year old girl could possibly recommend a game to him. I would recommend a game, he would look at me incredulously, then ask my male co-worker the same question. I always loved it when my co-worker would give him the same answer as mine.

[@keegansings6667]

Emma Zaugg I work at the New Zealand version of GameStop, and this happens all the time too!! Smh

[@econnor4083]

i worked at a phone shop and you always got guys who refused to take advice on tech from a girl i would always direct them to my new male colleague who wouldn't be able to answer the question and come to me for the answer and i would put on my biggest smile and answer why maintaining eye contact.

[@KayBeast]

I worked for Hannaford (a grocery store chain in the Northeastern US) for about 8 years, in multiple departments and locations, and I have a TON of funny work stories, but I'm just gonna tell 2 of them. The first one was from when I worked in the Pharmacy as a technician. At this time, I was known for dyeing my hair a lot, I had blue, pink, green, rainbow, all of it, for like, 2-3 years. Both customers and coworkers were entertained by it, though some didn't get why I liked it. Anyway, one of my favorite customers went away for a while, and then came back, and by that point I was in a low-money situation, so my hair had faded and the roots had grown out so much that basically my hair was back to it's natural color, with a little bleaching near the ends. This customer comes in for his prescription, greets me, and then looks confused. "Oh, your hair looks so normal.... Are you feeling ok?" I explained the money thing to him and he left and it was whatever, but I've always remembered that fondly. Like, this guy I only saw at work was really concerned for me cause my hair wasn't as colorful as usual. :) The other one is really short. Basically, around the time I was new at Hannaford, I was bagging groceries for this woman and her baby. The baby was about a year old, wasn't talking yet, but was alert and seemed happy to be there. I always make small talk with kids while I'm bagging, and this was no exception. So I said hi, and this baby just stared at me, for a solid moment, let out this HUGE GASP and then immediately starts going off in baby talk. For like, 3 minutes. Looking me in the face, babbling away excitedly and waving their arms around emphatically. To this day, I still have no idea what this baby had to tell me, but clearly something amazing happened and they needed to tell me all about it. :D

[@PassTheMarmalade1957]

I used to work in a hotel. EVERYONE ordered room-service in their underwear. EVERYONE.

[@ameliad507]

Lady Marmalade I take pizzas to people at hotels all the time and I can confirm this lmao

[@ameliad507]

For me it's just a courtesy thing. Like the LEAST you could do is put on a shirt and gym shorts lol. You can take them off directly after.

[@torilee6677]

At the very least put on a robe! People are so gross.

[@tengwarsenna]

There was a big cocaine bust at the hotel I worked security at on a day I didn't work. The thing is, the police left the guys rifle they found in the room in our office for like, a week afterwards before an officer came by to pick it up.

[@PassTheMarmalade1957]

I had to ask people if they wanted me to come in and put the tray down, or if they wanted to take the tray at the door themselves. Sometimes people would ask me to come in, and there would be another person lying in the bed with the sheets completely covering them. Because they were obviously naked under there.

[@alliebliterary4681]

I used to work in the McDs drive thru, and one guy threw his sandal through the window at my coworker because he wouldn’t give him free fries. My coworker put his shoe in the garbage and wouldn’t return it, and my manager backed him up. We told the guy we put it in the trash compactor.

[@AutumnPepper]

I was helping an old lady, I’d say in her mid 70s, look for a pillow. We were struggling to find just what pillow type she wanted, but she had the best response, by sharing with me this piece of wisdom you all should know... “I find that pillows are like men. You only know what they’re like once you’ve slept with them.”

[@kt7137]

I work at Starbucks and I have two stories that almost always make me laugh when I remember or re tell them. 1. There was one day that we ran out of cold brew. We had several disappointed customers which is expected. One lady tried to order cold brew and when I told her we had run out she goes “wow, my whole plan for today just changed”. 2. It’s our morning rush and I’m taking orders in the drive thru. The standard iced coffee comes with classic sweetener and no cream, so we always have to ask what people want in their iced coffee. One lady aks “can I have a venti iced coffee with cream” and I reply “of course! Did you want the coffee sweetened?” And instead of saying “hold on” or “let me ask” she just shouts “AMANDA!!!” (Who I’m assuming is her daughter in the back seat) and everyone working who had on a headset starts cracking up and now it’s an inside joke with some coworkers to yell “AMANDA!!!”

[@silverfeathers9850]

You know those horrible customers that complain about how much a product costs, then looks at you dead in the eye like you, a simple employee, is responsible for how high the price is -_-

[@TheFalloutBunny]

oh gosh soooo true ... my supermarket was absorbed by a bigger chain and so our whole store was reworked and we got a whole new range of products from the new chain while fortunately our whole staff stayed the same ... after all the changes we had our regular customers complain for months ... 50% were like 'why the hell is everything so expensive now? why do you do this? I dont find anything anymore. you will lose me as customer if you dont give me a discount blablabla' and the other 50% were like 'the new productrange is sooo much cheaper and better in quality! no wonder the old chain went bankrupt...' it is fucking annoying if you repeat yourself over and over again about having no influence on the prices and almost no influence on the new products ... really people just use your brain a little more ok?

[@finalfantasymoogle3880]

Silver Feathers I give them directions to the nearest goodwill

[@mimicatbats]

Silver Feathers seriously I don't own Target, Susan. Yelling at a person with zero influence...nice.

[@kittyneko7]

“Huh, yeah I’ll probably just buy it online.” Knife through heart!!!

[@annaarrigoni2779]

I hate when customers do that! Sorry that the hairspray you picked out was like $10 but that brand is gonna be $10 everywhere else and it's not the store's fault!

[@teanainternetima]

Last summer I worked at a small boutique and there was an old lady that used to come every day. She wolud always stroll around the place and talk to me and girl who worked with me but never bought anything. One day she told us she will not be around much anymore because she is going to have knee surgery. A week later she came by just to tell us her knee is alright, in case we have wondered. We loved her

[@maddubear2943]

I worked in a movie theater for 2 years, definitely had some interesting experiences: -Just the fact that people would show up 20 mins before the premiere of a big movie like Star Wars and then act SHOCKED that it was sold out and demand that I find seats for them -Once an old woman came and literally spoke to me in riddle. I was working the box office and she told me she "was looking for a movie in which there were more than 3 but less than 6 tickets left and near the left exit of the theater". It took awhile lol. -People coming in and not knowing the name of the movie, just vaguely saying, "oh it's the one with that older actor" and expecting me to instantly know what they're talking about. -My coworker and I were messing around once and I put up the barrier rope to block off the theater he was in, he ran straight into it and tore the whole thing off the wall... oops. -My manager threw an entire slushie at one of my coworkers. (Also, popcorn fights were a daily occurrence) -Things we found in theaters included: whole watermelons, full sets of top and bottom dentures, an entire baby's outfit, and a whole lot of $$$ (check your pockets before leaving, y'all!) -Also once a person did smear shit all over the bathroom but thankfully cleaning it up was above my pay grade. -People sitting through an entire movie and then asking for a full refund because they "just didn't like it". -AND THE CLASSIC: "Enjoy the show" "You too". (Don't worry, literally everyone does this) I have sooooooo many more but that's everything I could think of for now! Loved the video Ang, I love hearing about all the strange things that happen to you lol :-)

[@tabularasaconfirmed]

MadduBear the riddles one LMAOOO

[@emilemma]

omg the "asking for refunds for a movie they didn't like after watching the whole thing" is soooooo real. I had a lady sit through "call me by your name" for over an hour and 15 minutes and then wanted a refund because she didn't realize it featured a gay couple and was uncomfortable with sex/romance between two men. My other favorite was people coming out after a movie ended and complaining that there was someone loud/on their phone/kicking their seat during the whole movie and wanted us to do something about it AFTERWARDS but didn't come out to tell us about it during the movie or move to a different seat.

[@THfangirl95]

I currently work at one and I can confirm pretty much all of that

[@theotherauthor740]

MadduBear my FAVORITE thing is the split second after they say “you too.” when they’re walking away and the expression they make when they realize what they said. 😂

[@idiotequeidiot]

I work at a movie theater too and totally believe that lmao. I once caught a middle aged couple sneaking into a second movie and when the ushers went in to ask them to leave, the woman stormed out and screamed in my face accusing us of embarrassing her?? For catching her wrongfully in the theater lol?? I've never seen anyone so furious demanding the numbers to corporate.. like lady, you're literally in the wrong here. Worst part is she got her money back for her original movie AND re-admit tickets for another time!! (and when she came back it was awkward as hell lmao). Ever since then I've reeeeeally disliked retail..... But yeah. Also, my coworker walked in on a couple having sex in a theater once. And another coworker saw a guy shitting into a trash can. So that happens.

[@kichan]

I work in a bakery in a grocery chain and one day while I was scheduled to make cookies, a lady on a motor cart stopped at our cookie bar and started singing all of the cookie names. I walked around the counter to see if she needed help or had any questions, and she spoke in the most charmingly thespian voice "No my dear, I am SINGING the cookie names in hopes it will keep me from purchasing any." So I leave her to her singing. A few minutes later I see her driving past the other side of my cookie bar with the most unamused look on her face. She looks at me, and without stopping her cart she says, "I am afraid to tell you that the singing did not work." And in her hand is a big box of cookies. She still comes in from time to time but the look on her face paired with her way of speaking amused me. I couldn't laugh, though. I'm not allowed to laugh at customers (not that I'd be laughing AT her, she was just a humorous person).

[@BleachTune]

I work in a local theater and I once had a woman buy tickets for her and her five children to see Fantastic Beasts and where to find them, they were in the movie for a solid hour before she comes out and in an accent I couldn’t place says ‘I need money back, this is Devil.’ And I was so confused at first I just said ‘I’m sorry?’ And she repeated it like there times ‘This movie has devil, there’s devil, need money back.’ So I figure out what she means And reply ‘Oh the magic... In the Harry Potter movie?’ And she nods so I explained that we don’t give refunds but I could offer her passes to see something else, so she agrees, I give her the passes and she comes back the next day and takes her children to a horror movie...

[@TheGiftof1Liners]

BleachTune ooooohh wow this is my favorite one so far

[@abbysmith7676]

One of my favorites was when I worked at a Taco Bell in Texas. A middle aged man in a cowboy hat came in and as he was deciding on his order he looked at me and said "Man ya'll sure have a lot of ways to wrap meat, beans, and cheese!" "...yes sir, we sure do."

[@taylor7666]

I think the ‘they didnt want to do that’ is a very important perspective to show a teenager, who isnt quite used to thinking about other peoples troubles and such. GI issues suck and whoever did that definitely felt more terrified and guilty than any worker would have. Your manager was a very wise lady

[@ChelShell95]

OKAY so I moved to Portland, OR from Salem about two years ago and when I first moved I got a job at Voodoo Donuts. I worked noc shift on the weekends a lot and mostly served drunk dudes. So one night this group came in and they were really into my sweater. It was a black distressed knit Misfits sweater from Hot Topic. They pretty much immediately started offering me money for it. I was like “nah this is my roommates I can’t sell it” and they just offered more. I even told them it was a $50 Hot Topic sweater and they still offered me $300 for it. They set down three $100 bills in front of me and I was finally like “okay whatever take the sweater”. So I called my roommate on break to tell her the story. She wasn’t mad, we split the money and I had just completed my 90 days so I got a free t-shirt to put on. The guys probably just wanted me to take my shirt off, but jokes on them I had a high-necked bralette on that also came down about three inches at the bottom so all that showed was a little strip of stomach😂

[@HowtobeFancy]

In my first month of selling shoes at Sears when I was 16, a man vomited in front of my register. I'm super squeamish, but in an effort to be a "professional", I went to the back to get cleaning supplies. When I came out, a man in a FULL hasmet-like suit was placing orange cones around the barf and yelling at me to get back. Apparently, we had a very strict "do not touch bodily functions" policy? It still makes me giggle 20 years later.

[@lindakaraappleby2038]

How to be Fancy I read "oranges" instead of orange cones and I'm laughing so hard right now

[@angelaokotinsky3673]

How to be Fancy I wish my store had the policy! I've had to clean up vomit and mysterious brown smudges in the changeroom at my store!

[@elizabethnicole2785]

I saw Sears and cracked up - I have the craziest bodily fluid stories from my 3 years there, let me tell you 😂 I wish that had been implemented when I worked there, definitely had to clean up blood and vom 🤢

[@trianglelinecircle]

I work at a very dog-friendly art store and we have a customer who shows up with her dog in the sidecar of her motorcycle. The dog wears goggles.... doggles?

[@peach_moon]

V TAD I want your job

[@bellhen4169]

A DOG FRIENDLY ART STORE??? sign me up

[@kromeriffic978]

I work in a convenience store and apart from the normal-sized bottles of wine, we also sell small single-serving size ones too. One time I had a customer with just a normal mix of things, but as I was scanning he stopped me to say, "Can you do the wine next, please?" And I scanned it, and he went "oh thank GOD" and just downed it right there in front of me. "I've been in a traffic jam for. Six. HOURS," he added.

[@anguista]

Sebastian Cromarty I'm very sad for him.

[@SomeoneCalledDana]

truly iconic

[@digimaui]

I've worked at the same Target for almost six years now. One of the most memorable stories is about a guest we called "ball guy." He would come in every single day, sometimes twice a day. You knew he was there before you saw him because he had a huge cluster of keys hanging from his belt that jangled against his leg as he walked. He would get a ball from the toy section and bounce it around the store. Then he'd get a drink at Starbucks. Then he would get a different ball and bounce it around the store. He would also purposely leave things where they didn't belong. It was so annoying and we all hated him. One night he was throwing his ball really high, trying to hit the signs or whatever, so our head of security came over and asked him to stop, but ball guy got mad and was like "how old are you to be telling me what to do?" (the security manager was 21) and he got really nasty about it so he was BANNED FROM THE STORE.

[@mirofarrakis]

I don't have a retail story but your Newfoundland accent is so cute

[@cierra7246]

I just started working at a department store and I've already had the same "poop in the fitting room" experience that you had. We're pretty sure it was this elderly lady who just had an accident, but cleaning it up still wasn't a fun time and it took six cans of Lysol to get the place smelling normal again. My favorite experience so far, however happened to me the other day. There was this little boy who had to be about one sitting in a shopping cart. He was staring at me as babies tend to do and so I waved at him, and let me tell you I nearly screeched with delight when instead of waving back at me he did the sign language sign for "I love you". It was the cutest thing and made my day at least ten times better.

[@PastafarianPriestess]

I work at a small, local theatrical costume shop. Obviously, the most busy time of year is October. It's not uncommon to work 10 or 11 hours shifts for a week straight during that month, and so all of the workers get a little out of it. One time I answered the phone, and it immediately started ringing so I asked the first person to hold. The second person had a quick question, so I finished with them pretty quickly and went back to the first person and instead of asking how I could help them, I said, "Sorry for the wait, how can I hold you?" I realized what I said, and beyond that, I realized there was a customer standing three feet from me who gave me perhaps THE most judgmental look I have ever gotten from a customer. A coworker one time was helping someone who had been assigned to be Woody from Toy Story for an office party, Trying to be friendly, she said, "Oh, yeah! 'There's a snake in my boot!'" The guy just stared blankly at her. The same coworker, during October, went to the front to greet a customer as they came in, and greeted the customer with the name of the store as if she were on the phone instead of talking in person. There was a tangible silence for a good 5 seconds after that. There was also the time a woman shopping for a 20s party asked me if we had masks on sticks, "like what they have in the Great Zaxby." The other week, this precious little boy was in the store with his mom & brother, and he pointed at a Benjamin Franklin costume and said, "Look, they have Narnia costumes!" They both were confused and tried to explain that it was a Ben Franklin costume, and his brother pointed at the name and said, "Look, read it: Benjamin Franklin." The little boy pointed at another place on the package and said, "But it also says 'A Narnia." I realized he was pointing at the size, which for kids costumes is done by age, and listed in a couple languages--so he was pointing at where it said "años." There was also the guy who rented a yeti costume, had his friend dress up in it, and while the guy and his girlfriend were hiking, the friend (in costume) jumped out of the bushes to "attack" them. The guy "killed" the yeti and pulled something out of the yeti's mouth--an engagement ring. As of a year or so ago, the guy and his now-wife were still happily married.

[@beatingheartsbaby16]

I worked at a McDonald’s and a kid vomited in the slide in the play area. Since I was the smallest worker on that particular shift and the only one who could fit in the slide I had to clean it. My manager wrapped me up in plastic bags, gave me some gloves, and rubber banned wash cloths to my elbows and knees and sent me down the slide a few times.

[@bezilliox]

Down the slide??? Omg.

[@juukyuchan]

LMAOOOO

[@Broomstick88]

I’m living in my bed, 9 months pregnant, snort laughing and crying at this! I want this to be what puts me in labor because it’s magical

[@linna3179]

Hahahha 😂 I can’t stop laughing sorry lol 😂 (2022)

[@olly420]

I work at a second hand retail store and I have seen/dealt with it all. Best one tho is as I was finishing up someone's purchase and saying goodbye, he was saying goodbye too and automatically added 'love you'

[@bib4eto656]

I used to work at a seaside resort hotel reception. Night shifts were amusing. Once, a naked guy came in from the pool area, hiding his unmentionables with hands, and said that his friends had stolen his clothes while skinny dipping. Another time, this drunk guy uprooted a rose bush from the garden and walked around the hotel lobby, hugging it.

[@XSemperIdem5]

Ok ouch on the rosebush one, haha.

[@bib4eto656]

XSemperIdem5 He later took it up to his room, too :D

[@EleanorMedhurst]

I used to work in a department store and we found poop on the floor on at least two different occasions.... like not in a fitting room, just in the middle of an aisle. How did they do it? we'll never know.

[@lilyonthepadart]

didn't you guys have cctv? I hope you didn't have to touch it

[@_lizbeths_]

Eleanor Medhurst that happened there i work and they checked the cameras and saw a dog pooping there!

[@gemmapinkmoon3954]

Makes actually sense if it's a dog. The Winners I worked at they kept finding bags of urine and feces on aregular basis, luckily it wasn't me who found it

[@DennisWDobbins]

The question isn't "How did they do it?" but "Why did they do it?"

[@Chowderchef]

I work in a grocery store and my god, recently someone took a shit twice on the floors. One in an aisle, the other at one of the registers

[@lauradore_a]

I work in a health and beauty shop in England, and we have targets on certain fragrances and other bits that we have to try and actively sell. Valentine's Day a guy came in looking for a perfume for his wife. He ended up buying a fragrance from me that I was talking up that we needed sales on. He gave it to me before he left cause he thought I liked it so much 😂

[@ElAiNelikeswaffles]

One time while I was working in retail within the clothing section. We had a situation in the dressing room. A woman had been in there for an hour bringing clothes in and not taking it out to the attendant. The attendant called security and the woman didn't open the door when they knocked. They kept knocking for like an hour and finally broke in after no response. They found her unconscious and she had peed herself. She was in the middle of shop lifting when security came and thought it was a good idea to do drugs. Long story short, she was shop lifting, got caught, over dosed and then was taken away in an ambulance with police following. It was a wild shift.

[@shelbyx914]

when you mentioned what your manager said to you about the mess in the changing room, it reminded me of a similar phrase you said in your "worst day ever" video about the woman you sat next to on the train which actually changed my perspective when you posted that video!!

[@raedefrane5505]

I worked at a local grocery store. A Middle Eastern gentlemen came through my til and it was starting to pick up in pace in the store, with a line developing. I decided to call a grocery guy to assist me and I called over the PA the usual phrase, "Can I can get a packet to til 1 please? packer to til one." The man turns to me and dead ass says "What did you call me?" I think he saw the surprise and horror in my eyes because he immediately switched and started laughing, saying he was joking. I almost died. Pretty funny though.

[@halmollie]

When I worked at a smaller chain video game store, during my first week, my coworker left to go on a break while no customers were there (there was only two of us working). I'm cleaning when suddenly this man runs in the store wearing a ski looking mask over his face, and yells, "Give me all your money!!" One look at him and I had to try so hard not to laugh? The "ski mask" he was wearing was a full metal alchemist beanie he pulled down over his face. He lifted up the masked and said, "Hey wait....I don't know you." AS IF THAT WOULD MAKE IT ANY BETTER? Turns out he was a regular customer who would stay at the store for hours to annoy the employees with trash anime and racist/homophobic early 2000 humor no one cared about

[@magnysvoss3876]

On the topic of children- I'm a dog groomer and in the first salon it was pretty open between the check in area and the grooming area. There was just a little gate with a latch separating the two areas. There was also a large kennel right next to the gate on the grooming side. So this one day this little boy figured out how to unlatch the gate and came onto our side. His mom just continued to talk to my manager as her son crawled into the kennel, shut the door to the kennel, and started barking at his mom. My coworkers and I weren't sure what to do but we were pretty sure the mom was going to scold him and tell him to get out. BUT NO. She's just looks over and says "Awwww are you a doggie?" No wonder this child just waltzes into kennels! His mom doesn't care at all! I have a lot more stories (especially dealing with poop because I'm a groomer) but that was a really odd customer service situation where my coworkers and I felt helpless.

[@RobinT346]

I once triggered an evacuation of an entire shopping centre and the implementation of a bomb threat alert while working in a clothes shop (NEXT). Somebody had left a bag in the fitting room which was a bit odd (the bag was odd, leaving stuff behind happens all the time). I called security over to come and pick it up so that it could be returned to it's owner. Security takes one look at it and is all "nope!" and calls in the local police (this is the sort of town centre that has bobbies on the beat as a regular feature). The constable comes in and is all "nope!" and calls for back up. Back up comes in and it's a sodding bomb squad with dogs. The dogs come in and they go freaking wild for this package on full alert. The bomb squad is all "right then". Shopping centre evacuated (no madam you can't try on one more thing. No we can't just do a quick transaction for you. This is a bomb alert. We are leaving. Put that back please.) So that's what 40 shops and an entire food court on a Sunday lunchtime. Fun times. And of course it was raining because of course. So the bomb squad goes in with their little doohickies to take a closer look and do a controlled explosion - this was around the year 2000 and we are in an area (i.e. the North of England) with a history of IRA attacks so bomb threats were taken seriously. Then the bomb team were able to take a close look at the suspicious package. It was a leg of lamb (maybe a pork joint, I don't remember now. definitely a big chunk of meat) and a can of oven cleaner. The perfect combination to make any dog including trained dogs super excited. We evacuated an entire shopping centre because of somebody's Sunday roast.

[@SheHuntsZombies]

I have countless ones from the years of various retail oh my, one that lives with me that isn't a funny story that I want to share, I worked for a plus size clothing/lingerie store and I did bra fittings, etc. A lady would come in from time to time to purchase some bras and panties. This is about 12 years ago keep in mind but this lady was trans-gendered and thankfully I grew up with my best friends mom who was a psychiatrist who treated a varied clientele from her home office so it was always normal to me to interact, and respect all types of people. These other ladies I worked with though.. they would always gossip about it, and always point it out and giggle. That lady sticks with me to this day, it must have not been easy to return to the store to be fitted and purchase essentials when all eyes were on you. Retail really preps you for life and I get why everyone says "everyone should work in retail at least once" to be able to understand what it's truly like.

[@AmberOfB0rg]

I worked in an upscale sex shop and had one person come in who asked to try on a see-through negligee. I unlocked the dressing room and after a short while they came out in said negligee and nothing else, came to the counter and made small talk about how 'as I could see, they had already had their bottom surgery and were getting their top done soon.' I'm happy for you. Please stop walking around the store naked. As a side note, I did not, in fact check on the accuracy of their story but maintained eye contact the whole time. Also got calls every now and then asking "Do you have breasts?" And every time (just in case it was an actual customer) I'd ask whether they meant the silicone fillets with the response being, "No, you, yourself, do you have breasts??" I'm not sure how it was funny for them as my reaction was never more than just hanging up. There were really awesome stories too. One man was looking at the vinyl maid dresses and needed to know how big the sleeves would fit. I asked approximately how big he thought the arms of the person he was buying it for were and he quietly said it was for him. I explained the sleeves were very gathered onto very stretchy elastic and that he shouldn't have a problem with it. I then left him to finish his shopping. On the way out he tipped me $10! Super sweet guy.

[@afirewasinmyhead]

I used to work at Value Village and once a man with a big puffy jacket walked by the fitting rooms where I was working, unzipped his jacket, and the tiniest little dog poked its head out. He made the shhhh 🤫 face before I could tell him that only service dogs were allowed in the store. And then he left.

[@MKMonsterr]

I had that recently but it was a bunny in their jacket instead.

[@afirewasinmyhead]

MKMonster Ohmygosh... I love bunnies so much, I don’t think I’d be able to keep my cool if it had been a bunny, lol.

[@XSemperIdem5]

MKMonster saw a guy once walk into a Starbucks just casually carrying a bunny.

[@afirewasinmyhead]

XSemperIdem5 😭💖🐰

[@havatron3526]

I worked in an open kitchen fish and chips restaurant for two and a half years. aside from all the times we found weed stashed in the bathroom, or one time there was a guy doing meth in the ladies' room, even casual customer interactions were wild sometimes. one man wanted me to put hot chowder into a medium sized pepsi cup because he didn't think our soup cups were worth the price; another time someone threw a hamburger at me because I forgot to leave off the pickles; but the best was when a guy got so stressed about how long it was taking to make his burger that he left the restuarant. I chased him down as he headed toward the ferry dock and when he saw me running after him with a bag of food, he yelled "I DON'T WANT IT ANYMORE" and full tilt sprinted away.

[@clairecheney]

I used to work in a charity shop, and this one day, we had a new guy in. So he and I are working the register, and this woman comes in. Quite friendly, nice customer. Well. We were trying to shift some of the stuff we had out so we could put out some of the mountains of stuff we had in the back, so we had all the baby clothes on sale for 10p each. Everything, coats, rompers, the works, all 10p. This woman bought, legit, 200+ items (it was some stupid odd number). Me, being the OCD person I am, kept a running total of all of them, a little piece of paper with little checks on it to keep count. Well, I'm bagging them up and finally finished bag 15 and I realize my paper is gone. To this day I don't know what happened to it, whether it ended up in one of the bags or whatever, but I had to unload every bag, then repack, counting every tiny little piece of clothing. It took me about an hour to finally check this woman through. My boss bought me a cupcake for that one.

[@ratsteaparty]

I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO LEARN A NEWFIE ACCENT I AM IN TOTAL AWE YOU DON'T REALISE THE TALENT YOU HAVE IT IS SUCH A TREASURE

[@lonewarrior666]

I used to work at Home Depot and like I’ve had some interesting stories? Like I had a customer who forgot that actual nails are a thing (he was looking at all the liquid nails to hold up his house trim and wanted something super super strong) or the time someone wanted me to color match my apron for the color for their Halloween event because it was the perfect color for hell. Lol

[@LiarsTongue]

Oh god where do I begin. When I work at a pet store I got a phone call asking for doggie birth control. Then the customer went on to say that their dog was pregnant and needed something to "get rid of the puppies!" Between trying to explain birth control doesn't work like that and there is no such thing for dogs, I ended up just telling him to go to the vet. AND I STILL GET THAT QUESTION 5 YEARS LATER....USE GOOGLE PEOPLE...

[@ashleygimble5852]

I worked at a hardware store for years when I was a teenager, and let me tell you, being a teenage girl in a male-dominated environment was..... great...... Not! Customers would take one look at me and ask, "Are there any men around to help?" even though I could do a lot of the same work, if not more of it, than some of my male coworkers. One time this old lady very reluctantly asked me for help and when I helped her she didn't believe my advice!!! And then asked, "is there a man that knows what he's doing?" and so I said, "sure, ma'am," walked to the service desk and yelled, "ANY MEN BACK HERE KNOW WHAT THEYRE DOING?? I NEED ONE." and my coworkers lost it. I gave no fucks.

[@Tayuyasoundnin]

I work in at a Starbucks drive thru that was renovated almost three years ago, it used to be a KFC. We still get customers that drive up to order and say "Can I please have a 3 piece meal with mashed potatoes?" I'm always so in awe of how they don't realize its Starbucks??

[@Sahiko]

I used to work in a flower shop and so many weird/funny things happened. The one that comes to mind right now happened during the Christmas season. A woman came up to me with a white poinsettia, except it wasn't white enough (they tend to be cream/lime, not pure white). And this was very upsetting to her, because the white orchids she'd previously bought from us matched the exact shade of her curtains, but the poinsettias didn't, and now she was at a loss on what to do. I recommended maybe buying either a different coloured poinsettia to contrast the curtains, but that was just unthinkable, or keeping the white orchids, which was also unacceptable because orchids weren't seasonally festive enough. I didn't suggest she change her curtains, because I had a feeling that wouldn't have been a welcome suggestion. I don't know exactly what she expected me to do, but she was very upset that I couldn't make the flowers she wanted match her curtains at home.

[@SkylarStryker]

Okay Ang. I work in a starbucks kiosk inside of a grocery store. My favorite morning, it was a Sunday morning (we don't get busy until around 8) and I was opening the store. My now-fiance who had only been on a few dates with me was also opening his department just across the way from me. Around 5:40 am I made a blonde roast for a man who tells me he's in a big rush. Checking his watch and jogging in place, in short shorts. I give him the coffee (which took the longest of anything? If he was in a hurry...why?) after about 6 minutes. He leaves. My fiance comes over to say hello and good morning to me, and it has been around 10min since the man left. I am stationed very close to the front door. The man RUNS in. And hollers. Then screams, "HELP! AN ASSASSIN! CALL 911!" My fiance turns and walks away on one heel because he knows he is about to laugh at this man. I am trying not to laugh also. I say, "what?" with a smirk. He starts hollering this story about either a gunman or a person with a knife (definitely black though, by this old insane mans account) AND COUNTS ON ME TO CALL 911...he has an iphone, I don't even know how to use the work phone. So he gets the attention of everyone else. He has a GIANT ERECTION AND HE FINALLY LEAVES ME BE, but all morning for the next 2 hours he is standing in the front part of the store telling passerby he was robbed. Other people start asking me why the police havent come if there was an armed robbery. I have to say "I don't know. Crazy." We checked the cameras later. No one approached him. He walked to his car then ran back into the store.

[@anjaliab13]

I work at a beauty store and we sell a $400 hair dryer. And one of the cashiers said that a woman came in to buy one because she “already had one and loved it but needed one for her Florida house.” And we were all just standing around in the back room like... who drops $800 on hair dryers, casually? People have too much money.

[@Strawberrysoymilkk]

So I work at Zumiez, which if anyone doesn't know it's a skateboard shop that sells brands like Vans, Thrasher, etc. My job was to greet customers and make sales. I had a lot of instances where guys would ask for my number, thinking I was flirting with them. The back room there is really small, so most of our shoes are stored high up on the walls in the store. I have to climb a ladder to get to them. One time an old lady and her daughter came in looking for a pair of vans. It was summer, so I was wearing shorts. When I pulled the ladder out, the old lady started freaking out, yelling "don't go up there you're gonna fall!!" Luckily her daughter calmed her down, but as I was grabbing the shoebox, her daughter said "Sweetie you might wanna get down from there, a bunch of guys are looking at your bottom." I looked down and there was a group of guys looking up at my butt! I was so embarrassed and disgusted. And I had so many other instances like this one. Guys can be creeps :(

[@caseyrose000]

My favorite story of mine, on Black Friday I had a person come into my store and complain to my face that a mini fridge we were selling was too small. Yes. You read that right. A MINI fridge was too small.

[@bunnyjanie]

I love your videos. They always brighten up my day. I definitely relate to this video ! I worked at Barnes and Noble and now work at a Zoo. The amount of rudeness and entitlement is surreal and draining . Especially when people visit the zoo during the winter and get upset that certain animals aren’t going to be out on exhibit because of their sensitivity to the cold . Anyway great video ! 💕

[@angelaokotinsky3673]

Also Ang I would love to hear more retail stories of yours! Like a 15-minute video of them!!

[@bugbugtapes8945]

I haven’t watched your videos in a while and this made me so happy! You are so clearly talking differently since getting braces/trays/whatever, you are glowing with confidence!!!! ❤️🙏

[@kyoukohibiya]

hi !!! canadian subscriber here who just recently turned sixteen!!! i've been wanting a retail job but haven't been able to think of where!!! thIS VIDEO CAME OUT ON THE PERFECT DAY I LOVE YOU ALB

[@kristimj]

One time I was working at an office supply store and my night duty was to touch up/clean each aisle before we closed. We were taught just to go aisle by aisle because it was more efficient. So as I'm doing this, a woman happens to also be shopping aisle by aisle and keeps staring at me. I didn't mind cause whatever I'm just doing my job. She has this huge black fur coat on - mind you it was winter in Idaho so it was kinda normal - and whips around and gets in my face. She yells at me "I'M NOT STEALING ANYTHING!" and opens up her coat and two black Pomeranian dogs pop out of her coat and land on the floor. I didn't see them at first cause the blended in with her coat. I just stood there flabbergasted thinking "what the hell just happened???" and she left with her dogs.

[@persgodiva]

I worked at my city's theatre as a check-in girl for 10+ years. I loved the job to bits and generally had no problem with anyone there. There were so so many weird things that happened there tbh: from people literally dying in the audience, to actors falling off stage, to an undercover police officer arresting someone for filming a play DURING THE PLAY. The time a very high politician came unannounced who didn't speak a word of english or german, so I (half-spanish) had to guide him around for the entire erst of the night. Once, a dude came to see a play - in a speedo, sneakers and a tank-top.

[@strawberryjacquiri]

I had a similar experience to the "I have a girlfriend!!" guy, haha. I used to work at Toys R Us and part of our cashier shtick was to ask people if they had rewards cards. No? Would you like to sign up for one? So this guy says yes, and I kind of got the sense that he was just trying to humor me and didn't want to talk much, but we have to put in their phone number and email so we can attach them to the card, and the second he says yes, he'll get one, I say, "Okay, great, what's your phone number?" he shakes his head and says, "No, sorry, you're too young for me, you're not my type," "No, no, for the rewards card!" and he'd say, "Oh, okay, [number]," and it continued down the line like that, every time I asked him for a new piece of information he would tell me he "wasn't interested in me like that." NOT LIKE iT'S MY JOB...

[@BL10305]

I work at a locally owned store that sells items with my university's mascot on it (there has got to be a better way to say that). Every shift is basically an associate and a supervisor and that's the whole team (its a small store). Anywho, a couple months back it's like 7:30 at night (we close at 9) a woman comes in and asks if she can use our phone. She's acting a little weird and we ask if she knows the number and where she is calling to. She does not and its not local, so we aren't able to use the store phone, so my supervisor (thinking it is probably an emergency type situation and this lady is trying to get someone to come get her) allows her to use her personal cell phone to look up the number. Cue an entire hour of this lady on the internet, calling people, texting, and pretending like she is going to buy something. Now, at the time it wasn't clear exactly what was going on, and both me and my supervisor were unsure of what to do. Neither of us wanted to get in trouble with any higher ups for being rude to the customer, but also this was absurd and clearly wasn't going anywhere. Eventually the lady leaves, and my supervisor turns to me freaked out and says "Becky, there are so many dicks on my phone." Yeah apparently our lady of the hour had been searching Craigslist for someone looking for a certain kind of service. I'm not sure if she found it, but my supervisor is never allowing a customer to touch her phone again.

[@smokyeye]

When I was 18-19, I worked at a small backwoods grocery store in the summer. One day, in the middle of the day, a regular customer, a pretty big guy probably in his 40s, came in blind drunk, walked straight to the booze section, picked up some beers, and tried to just walk out the store. However, he was so drunk that he fell down and the beers went flying. He just got up and walked away, leaving the beers. He was pretty embarrassed about it when he came in the next day and apologized to me and another girl who had been working there at that time :D

[@missythemermaid7715]

I totally relate to what you were saying about retail giving you social skills you didn't have before! I used to be super shy with talking to people I didn't know or sometimes even people I did know, but my job completely changed that. Even though working there is challenging sometimes, I'm super thankful that I was able to grow as a person through the experience!! Oh and a friend of mine used to work at Sears and also found poop in the fitting room... It's a favourite spot for poop emergencies I guess!

[@SarahGarcia]

Wow, I'm so glad to hear you had a better overall experience working retail than I ever have! The strangest week of my work life involved a bomb threat lockdown one day, then dozens of unidentifiable calls from someone who insisted on telling every person who answered that we were "stupid b*tches". ' Typically, at the register, when customers swear and yell at me I just respond deadpan with "would you like a bag for ten cents." Unlike you, I wasn't made for customer service! But I agree that no matter how much I hated that job, it did help me with my anxiety a lot!

[@eliseperryasmr]

I relate to ALL OF THIS hahaha! I worked at a sandwich shop and a restaurant/whole grains store. Definitely enjoyed making my own fun. I used to answer the phone like a live answering machine on days we kept getting the same questions over and over again. People would listen for the info and then hang up! And doing dishes at the sandwich shop, so many bubble beards and messes. And such memorable customers. I too am thankful for my retail/service experience. Good skills and good memories :)

[@immalamellama]

Automated response is my curse. Once I worked a lot of evening shifts consecutively, and when the time came to work a morning I couldn't stop greeting customers with a loud, cheery "Good Evening!". Card payment is also forever ruined for me because whenever I see a terminal I blurt out "would you like a copy?". (All of course in an unnaturally high pitched customer service voice.) One of the most memorable situations happened during the summer when one day it started pouring so hard that we quickly gathered everything from the tables outside and hid inside the cafe with the remaining customers for maybe an hour or two. After the rain subsided we went out and discovered that someone had stolen a single table... The weather conditions were absymal and it was a heavy metal table but I guess the Hulk was walking past and needed an umbrella ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I also had a couple of customers from hell who went in, confidently ordered a tiramisu, then after I told them we don't sell tiramisu, ordered a creme brulee, to which I suggested they take a look at the menu which was both pasted on the wall behind them and laid on the counter in front of them (or they could look inside the cake fridge right next to the counter). They settled on something we did actually sell and afterwards when it came to paying, they had the audacity to say "keep the change" when there was none.

[@SOVADEA]

I'm working as a volunteer in a second hand store/thrift shop at current. for almost a year now. I've felt the same since I've started, along with the counselling studies i completed. Probably wouldn't have the social skills i do now if I hadn't become a part of this just because, not for working on the $. Just out of my curiosity, I'd started there. The only serious bad sides are; being a personal shopper for a sadly large lady whom is blind and her carer leaves her side in the shop just to get groceries next door. And secondly, I've become a babysitter for some parents who really aren't looking out for their children enough. There's so many stories I have and I've only been there since last May. Thank you for your content Alb, Love you lots.

[@alaynahanson2549]

I love your stories so much! They’re my fave to listen to on KZbin!

[@maisiellis]

Your videos bring so much joy to my day! Love you so much Ange!! 💙

[@leahaf808]

I have a story too! Don't read it if you're easily grossed out. I used to work at a cafe, and one day this lady came down and apologised for having 'missed' the toilet. I grabbed blue roll and some spray, thinking that she'd accidentally peed on the floor, and went to wipe it up. I opened the door and it literally looked like someone had taken 4 giant chocolate thick shakes and poured them round the floor in the toilet. I do not know how a human body could physically hold that much diahorrea. It took me two hours to clean it up. At the end, I had literally two bin bags full of shit covered blue roll. It got on my shoes, my clothes, even a bit in my hair. I ended up throwing away my clothes. Although it was horrific, I didn't blame the lady. She was disabled, using crutches, and it must have taken a huge amount of courage to come and let us know. She was clearly so mortified, but she still told us staff so that no-one went in there and had to deal with it. That takes guts.

[@BKaitsuki]

i work retail, and my boss always bring : the day I got this man wanting to make dipaer for his parents is the day i stopped caring '' [i work in a fabric store] But my funny/weird storries are all in the same category, people wanting to make weird stuff. but the funnies it that ine day, i had someone she wanted to make an outfit to look exactly like Queen Elizabeth, but everytime i showed a fabric it was '' ooouh yess lizliz would love that '' or it was '' naaahhh too basic for lizliz '' everytme she said lizliz i wanted to laugh so bad !!!

[@rammie4342]

omg that's hilarious. i work in a fabric store too and my favorite answer to "what are you making?" is probably "a diaper for a baby goat"

[@rebelliouscottoncandy]

Okay, I don't know if anyone will read this, but I'm putting it here anyway. I tell this to like everyone. I worked at JCPenney in the women's section, so I would help out a lot of people both young and old. We have a lot of jeans and I kind of memorised how each of them fit so I helped out a lot of people like that. There was this one old lady that I was helping with finding jeans. She was super sweet and fun to help. The only problem is, in the dressing room, she would leave the door open to try on the pants and if they didn't work, she would come out in her underwear and talk to me. Thank goodness it was a slow day! So everytime she would go into the dressing room I would try my best to close the door as much as I could without being rude or her saying something. Needless to say that I found her a perfect pair of jeans that day, haha.

[@wolfsbane1991]

I'm a large animal vet. One time I was driving out to a horse with a large wound on it's front leg. It was above the carpus so not too worried about joint infections etc. The lady who owned the horse was acting super cool, she wasn't worried at ALL about the blood or the wound or anything (sometimes you'll get very squeamish owners!). And she kept telling me how NOT scared of blood and open fleshwounds she was, etc (people like to try and impress their vet, forgetting that we deal with gross stuff on a daily basis). However, she didn't tell me she was afraid of needles! The second I pricked my syringe in the neck of the horse to sedate it, she fainted! And all I could do was wait for her to wake up! There was no one else in the stable and I can't treat a sedated horse, I need someone to hold it while I sew together the wound. So I basically stood there, and she finally came through and was like "I think I need to call my friend if you're going to sew in stitches" and I was like ".... yeah, I think you do!". Lol her friend came and the horse got treated. But it was funny standing there, like "uh lady, get up! I'm a vet, no clue what to do with a human!" :D

[@MeganMelindy]

As someone who works in retail, I love hearing people's stories! The best are the ones from Walmart and Sears, no matter what crazy story you have, someone from one of those stores can top yours! My shortest weird story from working at Laura Secord is this, a woman returned a pack of chocolate covered almonds because "the almonds were too hard". Like, what kind of almonds have you been eating?! Also, love that brief taste of the Newfoundland accent!!

[@inth3cards]

I have a volunteer job at a science museum and one day, without knowing, I signed up to work a shift on the day of the lunar eclipse. Our museum reached max capacity more than once that day and I think it’s the most traffic the museum had ever seen. So many things happened that day like I saw a lady pay $50 for our solar eclipse glasses that were just included in the cost of admission (somewhere in the 10’s) but this takes the cake. So, all of the volunteers have to wear a smock and a name tag. We’re pretty easy to spot and even if you’ve never been to the museum, it’s not difficult to work out that we’re staff. I was working outside and most likely was going in to refill my water. Now, in order to do this, I had to walk past everyone that couldn’t get in because we were at max capacity. As I’m walking past them all, a woman from the line yells “WHY ARE YOU CUTTING IN LINE?” and I calmly turn around, look her in the eye and say “I work here, ma’am.”. She was so embarrassed and everyone in the line was embarrassed for her and felt bad for me. It happened in front of my one manager and she kept asking if I was okay and I just laughed it off.

[@XSemperIdem5]

Thank you for the laughs; I had a crappy day but your stories made me laugh. Ok yikes on just 10%. I had up to 25% on most items if paid in cash or the store's own credit card. I once had a lady ask me for help choosing bed sheets. When I asked her what size her bed was she said she didn't know. Yet I had to know? 🤷 How had she been buying sheets for years without knowing that? I had people order stuff and get totally wrong items. A guy ordered a shirt and got a lamp. Some people got baby clothes and that's not at all what they ordered. It all came from the warehouses so it was a surprise to me too when I unboxed their order right at the register for them. There was the guy who tried to return a pack of tighty whities he had in his closet for years. We didn't even sell that brand anymore and he was so upset we wouldn't give him a full refund for what he paid all those years ago. I'm sure I'll think of stories later and I'll come back to tell them.

[@melynmihoci2938]

Oh my goodness I have almost too many. One of my favorites has to be a slip of the tongue I made once. A mother and her daughter were in my store, and when they came up to the register, I handed them their bag and was very much intending to send them on their way with a cheery "Enjoy the rest of your day, ladies!" However, what came out of my mouth was "Enjoy the rest of your days, lady!" and we just stared at each other in shock over the inadvertent threat. We both laughed afterwards, but I am convinced I turned purple with embarrassment.

[@angelinblack77]

One of my favorite little things that happened to me was when I worked at Starbucks. I was on the register, and I said to the next guy in line: "Hello, what can I get started for you?" He answered, "How about my child?" and then winked at me. I was literally speechless for a good couple seconds.

[@albinwonderland]

OH MY GOD I SCREAMED AT THIS ONE!!!!!!

[@loufurdoof10]

A super similar thing happened to me when working at McDonald's. I asked this man if I could get him anything else and he said "yeah, but you're not old enough." At the time I was barely 17 y/o and did not know what to do

[@faeriesmak]

I used to work at a convenience store/gas station and was primarily a second shift employee. An older man started to come in frequently during my shift and talk to me, which was pretty normal. I had a lot of regulars that would stop in and chat. After a few weeks he came in and handed me what I thought was a fabric rose and left. I thought that it was strange, especially since he was an older man and I was maybe 18 or 19 at the time. Well..when I got home my Mom took a look at the Rose and realized that it wasn’t just a fabric rose but it was a rose on a stem made from a folded pair of red lace panties. EWWWWWWW!

[@veronicacamp9334]

I really really wish I had your enthusiasm about getting your first job. I’m 17 and I can’t even bring myself to ask customer service if they have any openings/applications. I really need to find a job

[@stephanienokes8868]

Its pretty cool that we have so much in common 😊 I have worked in a lot of places, all of them I had so many... Experiences to put it nicely lol. I think Timmie's was the one that got me out of customer service for good, but also made me a better worker by showing me the extremes of how people can treat one another. Ive had people throw hot coffee through the drive-thru window, but I've also had a deaf man teach me a bit of sign language through the same window.

[@Jessiestyle]

I work in a luxury deisgner store and the other week when i was putting through a ladies payment she gave me a custard cheese tart to say thanks. I couldnt believe it! I have worked in retail for 8 years and i was so hungry and she made me so happy!

[@ARRTY97]

Yes! If there was a way to do more than one thumbs up, I would give you all of the thumbs up. Such an entertaining video. I did retail for years and can so relate.

[@ARRTY97]

Ok my story is that we got a tip off that someone was going to rib our store that night. I was not the main cashier and I tried to bail of course. The main manager had to work that night which she never did and I wound up being the main cashier because the original one literally kept passing out. We had 2 undercover cops with us and nothing happened, thank goodness. But my eyes were super big the whole night, I was terrified.

[@shounenningyo]

I usually don't comment on stuff, but I just had to share this because of your story. For about a year I worked at a shoe store, and for a couple of months there was a guy who would come in sometimes who would ask to use our restroom. Our only restroom was employees only as it was back in the stock room, so of course we had to tell him no. Once you told him no he'd say "Oh well, too bad", poop his pants, and then walk around the store like that. I really think he must have been unwell in some way, but the fact that it happened a few times made it feel like some kind of prank.

[@melodyintheair5729]

OMG Ok Ang I have the best retail/service story ever!!! I used to work at A&W and this one guy would come maybe once or twice a week to get a breakfast with eggs in it. He was very pale and always had this wide eyed look on his face. One day he started to chat me up after I put in his order and the cook was busy getting it ready and he told me that HE WAS FROM MARS. I thought well ok I thought he was crazy but now I'm SURE he is CRAZY. He then told me he loved eating eggs on earth because Mars had no eggs at all so this A&W breakfast was a big treat for him. I kind of just played along but to this day...years later...I wonder if he was actually a Martian...or if maybe he was just crazy lol

[@TheFalloutBunny]

Oooh XD I love these stories so much! Im working part-time at the supermarket while studying at uni and it's been 4 years now. I have so many weird stories to tell :D for example one customer I will never forget is the old grumpy bean-dude. I was restocking shelves and he came up to me without greeting and said: Where are the beans? I go: Hallo sir! What kind of beans do you need? Just beans! ... I mean we have dried ones, frozen ones, fresh green beans, canned ones with and without sauce ... (we were standing in the canned veggies isle) FOR SOUP YOU IDIOT! ... and he walks off. Turned out he wanted dry kidney beans for his soup and asked 2 co-workers the same grumpy unspecific way until he found them himself. seriously wtf??

[@Astridologist]

Your story about handing out around 20 resumes and your first choice being the only one calling you back is the exact same with my first job! Ironically enough I also got a job for TJX Canada but I work at homesense. I’ve been there for nearly 3 years and they’re such an amazing company to work for! I always recommend anyone who’s looking for a job to work for the company, whether it be for winners or homesense. Sadly my province doesn’t have a Marshall’s, otherwise I’d recommend that to them as well! The 10 foot 10 second rule is definitely still a really big part of your job as an associate. I had a similar experience as you did with the guy who defensively said he had a girlfriend. I was on cash one day, I had only been working for the company for a few months and this guy comes through my cash and buys a candle. So I ring him through and he’s being kind of quiet so to break the silence I asked if he wanted some protective paper around his candle and he started saying stuff like “it’s for my girlfriend. She loves peaches. And candles. Which is why I’m getting the peach candle. It’s for her. My girlfriend.” And I couldn’t even respond, however my manager was behind me at the cash and heard the whole thing and he thought it was hilarious. He made a joke about it for a year after it happened until he stopped working there.

[@Sonicsora]

Now I'm trying to remember my funny/weird customer service stories. DANG. One I can remember off the top of my head is akin to your 'I HAVE A GIRLFRIEND!!!' guy story- I was instructed to approach *everyone* always, make small talk, up talk sales, explain discounts, etc. After doing this for a year or more, I see a dude lingering near the entrance across from the women's bathroom. I know from how he's standing/where he's waiting he's waiting for a friend/family member to exit the bathroom. When I saw dudes waiting by the bathroom I'd give a quick greeting, recommend the much more comfortable couch nearby to sit on, and bomp away so they could wait in peace. So of course I approach just to give a quick greeting before I drifted off to start cleaning up the aisle. This was a mistake. HOO BOY. I opened with my usual greeting, only for him to launch into this incredibly weird rambly story about how everything is ZOMG sooo much cheaper in OTHER STORE!!! and asking me if I knew why things were priced this way. I awkwardly shrugged, and apologized saying I had no real hand in pricing. I explained the deals going on best I could, but he kept interrupting me. I tried to make two conversational exits to leave, but hell naw, this guy was insistent on me hearing out his woes and how he can get 40 pair of pants for 5 dollars in OTHER STORE!!! Which turned into him... weirdly talking about opening his own brand store. Another customer, an older woman had to come to my rescue holding up a pair of pants going 'Could you help me at the register?' Right as I was starting to leave, the dude had to throw in one last thing. "Hey, could you like... uh give me a name for a bag?" I shared a brief look with the other customer before awkwardly going, "Baggo." and leaving. The dude excitedly and loudly went, "Baggo!!" When his mom finally came out of the bathroom he told her he came up with a BRILLIANT idea. I could literally hear him from my register which was pretty far away. I legit was going 'baggo' under my breath the rest of the day and chortling.

[@snm1202]

Something my sister and I joke about often is when we both worked at Sam's Club (Bulk store, kind of like a lower quality Costco) and when talking about something she said "It's a mystery!" And the music over the loudspeakers made these weird tones. One of those moments that was just too perfect

[@carleria90]

I remembered you said you have pink hair since a really young age and I'm kinda envious to the fact you could work in retail with pink hair. I'm a lawyer and I couldn't even imagine having my hair the way I want to.

[@Astridologist]

Carla Valeria so many retail companies actually don’t let you have coloured hair! I work for the same company Ang worked for but just at homesense instead of winners and one of the main things the company focuses on is allowing their employees to express themselves and be who they are. So they encourage people to dye their hair the way they want, get piercings if they want and get tattoos if they want. Things that a lot of retail stores wouldn’t hire you for are actually a huge part of many of the people who work for the company! Since starting at my job 3 years ago I’ve gotten 5 tattoos and dyed my hair multiple different colours and I’ve never been faced with anything other than my bosses and fellow employees being excited about it! It really sucks that you can’t wear your hair the way you want, it must be hard to have to make your appearance a certain way just so you can continue in a career you enjoy.

[@NavyGrey]

It's also something I've been struggling with in every customer service oriented job I've held. I literally work in a liquor store and we get a wide range of weird customers all of whom respond nicely to my medusa piercing or tattoo but where the cooperate office is concerned it's viewed as "unprofessional". I don't understand how it's still such a stigma in the working environment.

[@carleria90]

Wasavi I don't understand it either. At first I thought I was something to do with my kind of job or the country I live in. But with your replys I've come to realize its a worldwide phenomenon. It's really strange because piercings tattoos and unnatural hair is mainstream now.

[@FireBear1923]

one time i was making some casual small talk with a customer while handing him back his change when suddenly he unzipped his jacket, placed his hand on his stomach, and said, "i think i have a massive stomach ulcer." i was so confused because that came from out of absolutely nowhere so i just went, "oh, maybe you should go to the doctor then?" and he was like, "nah, i don't like doctors" and then he picked up his coffee and walked away without any further context

[@carliecasas8533]

I used to work as an usher for Broadway in Chicago and sometimes the patrons would be so absolutely rude or do very strange things. Something I remember the most and will haunt me to this day was when I was ushering Hamilton (which was the best thing about the job, you get to watch the plays, even if you have to watch the audience as well and be on your feet the whole time). I was on one side of the mezzanine and I could see someone on their phone across the way. It wasn't in my section so I just let it go thinking the other usher would tell them something. When people are on their phones it's very obvious because the house of the theatre is completely dark and if light isn't coming from the stage and is a white light illuminating an audience member's face they're clearly on their phone. I could tell this man was swiping on his phone because it would be so bright and then split seconds in between it would be dim. After two songs I realized the other usher definitely didn't see him from the angle where he was standing and decided to go over and tell him something. I cut through the lobby on that level and went back inside to tell him to put it away. The interaction was as follows. Mind you he was on the older side if that helps set up the picture. "Excuse me, sir. Could you please put your phone away?" "No." "...I'm sorry?" "No. I'm on Facebook. I'm not taking pictures or a video." "Yes, but it's distracting to the other patrons." "It's too cold in here. You need to turn up the heat. I need to do something to stay warm." So, I went back to the lobby and told my supervisor what happened and she came with me to go confront the man. We we went back into the theatre he had put his phone away. I like to think he knew I wasn't going to take his crap and do something about it. I'm glad he paid 200+ to scroll through facebook.

[@Toamst]

I used to work at McDonlads and a customer was giving me a twonie to pay for his coffee, but before he handed it to me he sneezed right into the hand that he was holding the money with, looked at it for like 10 seconds and then hands it to me. It was COMPLETELY covered in boogers. It was busy so I didn’t have time to clean it off or anything so I stuck it in a separate compartment in the cash so my coworkers didn’t touch it. I had to run and grab something from the back shortly after, and when I came back and helped the next customer... the twonie was gone

[@faeriesmak]

Alison Glasgow Do you mean a twenty? I have never heard of a twonie.

[@Toamst]

Actually, I do mean a twonie, it's a Canadian two dollar coin

[@faeriesmak]

Oh nice. Thanks! I had no idea.

[@misslaput7010]

Omg ANG I worked at winners for 3 years now! Yes we still do the 10 foot 10 second rule, and they totally helped my social skills as well! Paging on the phones was something that definitely helped me to project my voice too lol. I have a good story from then, I also specialize in service! (Used to be fitting room) and one day this woman came up to my register with a lot of stuff and I was just processing it normally while she was trying to call someone very frustratedly, then she places 2 black bras on my counter and I pick them up and check the sizes to check for mismates (gotta get those CIPS) and I realize they're not even the same brand name and shes like "oh yeah that's my bra I'm wearing the new one" as I notice all the deodorant marks on the one I'm holding. Retail teaches you many things about people 😌

[@epicrainbowmoustache]

I worked in the cafe area of a science museum, where all the exhibits are interactive. From the cafe you could see the crane exhibit, where kids could lift up foam blocks and stack them. The wheel to control the crane was always a bit loose, so it would break all the time- it never became unsafe to use but without the wheel it didn't work properly . On one particular day, the wheel had broken off and we had put up yellow barriers around the crane. However one man didn't realise that it was out of order as the barriers added to the whole building site appearance of the exhibit. So he started using it whilst his kids helped by hooking blocks to the crane. The wheel came off when he touched it, and he panicked, tries to put it back, looked around to see if anyone notices. He saw me watching, looked terrified and grabbed his kids and full on sprinted out of sight 😂. I saw a lot of other weird things happen on the same exhibit- one time a kid got his brother to hold on to the hook of the crane, and then used his brother as a wrecking ball. Luckily they didn't get hurt, safety wasn't at risk, and it certainly put a smile on my face to watch people messing around during my longer shifts.

[@Willetta27]

I worked at a failing juice shop right out of highschool for a little under a year. One time in particular a family came in when all of our tables had the chairs up, we were sweeping and shutting down because we were two minutes until close, and they decided to order an entire sit down dinner. My coworkers made all of the more complicated food and left me with the most simple task of scooping a glob of pulled pork into a sandwich and serving it to the Man at the table. Being new to the shop and not always particularly bright, it didn't occur to me that it went without saying that I should have at least microwaved the pulled pork I dug out of the refrigerated tub before placing it on the sandwich. It still tickles me to think of the incidental justice in the moment he bit into a cold glob of barbecue pork mush. Well worth having to close late. My coworkers had a good laugh when I told them.

[@missriotgrrl91]

Your Newfoundland accent made my LIFE! I'm a Newfoundlander living in Chicago and I have absolutely answered my salon's phone in a heavy Newfoundland accent before.

[@albinwonderland]

I'm glad it's not just me!! I whip the accent out for fun sometimes but other times it just slips out, like when I'm on the phone with my siblings. 😂 I'm sure you find the same!

[@missriotgrrl91]

OH constantly! I've actually encountered a few other Newfoundlanders in the states and I feel bad for anyone trying to understand what we are saying!

[@erininunderland4314]

I worked in tourism for 2 years. I worked at my town's living outdoor museum and I had to dress up in the old clothing and stuff. I could literally write a novel about this place 😂 A highlight of mine was when this little old lady from one of our Chinese tour groups sat down on a bench to have her lunch and the first thing she pulled out of her bag was a full ear of corn! With the husk still on!! So she ate that raw. Then she pulled out a jar with raw eggs in it and she just drank it like it was water. I felt bad for sharing but she was honestly fascinating me! The next and last thing she pulled from her bag was this MASSIVE Tupperware container. She opened the lid, and there was an entire roast chicken in there! And she ate the entire thing!!!! Because it was a tourist attraction, we had people all over the world coming and visiting, which meant we had a lot of different cultures in the area. There were so many occasions where people from Eastern cultures would literally pull down their pants and poop in the middle of the street (IN FRONT OF PEOPLE) and it was so confronting!!

[@sarahthebox]

OMG! I work at Fabricland, and one time there was only ONE customer in the store, a lady with two kids. One kid was FAST ASLEEP in the stroller the whole time, and the other was like maybe 8 or 9 years old. I was walking around and my foot slide on something. I thought it was a piece of cello wrap that comes off the fabric..... but nope.... it was a piece of HUMAN FECES. My coworker asked the lady "Did one of your kids do this?" And she just said "Oh yea, probably." The Washroom was a TOTAL mess as well. and like WHICH KID?????? The 9 year old????? Or the toddler who was asleep the whole time???? It's one thing that it was a child, but the fact that the mother reacted like that was just so surprising. She did not feel bad at all that now someone else had to clean up her child's poop in public.

[@Courti]

I’m kind of at that point where I’ve worked in a customer service environment for so long that weird encounters have kind of just become the norm and don’t stand out in my mind anymore! I regret not writing them down... I currently work in an ER and that’s... a gold mine for funny stories.

[@twistedlogic317]

I don't really have any weird stories but the job itself was out of the ordinary: my first job was at a peach orchard! I worked on the orchard and also selling at farmers markets.

[@faeriesmak]

Amanda Frey Mine was at a strawberry farm!

[@ChokeOnBananas]

I work in an office supplies shop and we get a lot of weird customers. There was a lady who kept coming to copy some documents and insisting that they weren't legible and that we make the text darker. When I had to deal with her I'd make her copies as usual and tell her that they were darker... she believed me. We had a man who just left a mental hospital who thought that he was the prince of Lithuania and a direct descendant of its only king. He was copying a large number of handwritten complaints to the president of Lithuania for throwing him into a mental institute and dishonoring him. Pretty sure she doesn't even know he exists. There was a woman who didn't know how to use the internet and we had to help her with the computer a lot, so she brought us snacks for that. She also loved to talk, a lot. We thought she was just a lonely old woman but then she threw a "I'm an unofficial gipsy witch who has super powers" on us. We never saw her since that confession.

[@squash6497]

The first story happened in a store I worked at. I was super lucky to not be working there that day. Also your Newfie accent KILLS ME :D

[@hypersasuke17]

I worked at Party City for about a year and a half and one of my favorite stories to tell is of this man who insisted over and over for his money back. The game was used, opened, and he had no receipt. Not to mention he was doing this during Halloween and the line was wrapping all around the store (no joke). I was so tired and not interested that I called my manager. Another fun thing is that on certain candies (15 for $1, 10 for $1, and 5 for $1), we had to count out how many pieces their were and a woman took a hand held basket and filled it to the brim for a baby shower. So I asked, "how many pieces do you have?" Her response: "Oh, I don't know, I thought you weighed them." "Nope! We have to count exactly how many pieces you have so I can charge you correctly." I believe she had somewhere around 1,200 or so pieces, maybe more.