I used to work at a shack that may or may not have sold radios, this story happened one Christmas Eve. The only girl working at my store approached a redneck-y looking customer. "Hi Sir, can I help you find anything?" He went off, "No YOU can't, get me a man, someone who knows something about electronics." and so forth. She was almost on the verge of tears when I came over. I asked him what he needed. "I bought my kids a Playstation 2 for Christmas but my TV only has the screw thingy. I need an adapter." After the way he treated my coworker I wasn't really in the mood to help so instead of the RF Modulator he needed, I grabbed him a simple RCA to F connector (won't work). He says he thought it would be about $20 I told him it was on sale, thanks were said and he was on his way. Sure enough he barges in on boxing day screaming about how I ruined his kid's Christmas, I just pointed at my female coworker and said "You should have asked her, she's the only one around here that knows anything about that stuff". He nearly exploded and stormed out.
Not sure if this qualifies to be here but here's my story:
My Boss and I had been working out of town in an ocean side town in Oregon. We had to stay the night at a Motel until the work was done. We would work at a chain of Nursing homes and travel to where they needed us.
We'd install new flooring. As you can imagine some of the floors were pretty nasty. And it always smelled like urine in those places. And some other funky smells I don't know what they were.
A lot of these old people were totally senile with Alzheimer's. They would wander around in a daze. We had to try hard to keep them from getting into our stuff or getting hurt (little did we know we were the ones who would have to keep from getting hurt). I feel bad for them. But it can be very frustrating having to work and keep an eye on them too. The staff does the best they can but there are just to many of them walking around.
So one day this ancient old fragile woman seemed to take a liking to my boss. She managed to sneak up on him. Or maybe he was just not keeping his guard up enough. I don't know. But she gets close enough to him and suddenly reaches out and GRABS HIS BALLS!
He tries to pull away but she has this death grip on his nuts. He can't get loose! He's trying to turn away and shield himself from her but also not hurt the old lady. But she keeps this iron grip on his nuts. He's almost dragging her trying to get away but he can't go far because I'm sure he's worried she might fall and end up in the Hospital.
God I wish I could remember what she was saying. It was something funny. She kept yelling it.
It seemed like ages before the staff finally runs over to help. He's squirming around and a bunch of people are trying to unlatch her grip. It was like something from a bad comedy movie. If someone had videotaped it you'd never think it was real.
They finally pry her off his crotch. Not sure how much damage she did. But this is my Boss who only had one nut left to make kids because years before his other nut had swollen up to the size of a grapefruit and he had to go to the ER.
Overall it was usually a nice trip though. I liked working out in the beach towns, getting paid for staying the night, eating at nice restaurants that overlook the beach, and having all my meals paid for. Don't know if I'd say the same thing though if my Balls got put in a vice grip.
I have NEVER hit a woman, let alone an old person, but I probably would have knocked her out. At some point you have to do whatever you have to do to get the boys free. What a horrible situation.
I used to work at a shack that may or may not have sold radios, this story happened one Christmas Eve. The only girl working at my store approached a redneck-y looking customer. "Hi Sir, can I help you find anything?" He went off, "No YOU can't, get me a man, someone who knows something about electronics." and so forth. She was almost on the verge of tears when I came over. I asked him what he needed. "I bought my kids a Playstation 2 for Christmas but my TV only has the screw thingy. I need an adapter." After the way he treated my coworker I wasn't really in the mood to help so instead of the RF Modulator he needed, I grabbed him a simple RCA to F connector (won't work). He says he thought it would be about $20 I told him it was on sale, thanks were said and he was on his way. Sure enough he barges in on boxing day screaming about how I ruined his kid's Christmas, I just pointed at my female coworker and said "You should have asked her, she's the only one around here that knows anything about that stuff". He nearly exploded and stormed out.
I used to work at a shack that may or may not have sold radios, this story happened one Christmas Eve. The only girl working at my store approached a redneck-y looking customer. "Hi Sir, can I help you find anything?" He went off, "No YOU can't, get me a man, someone who knows something about electronics." and so forth. She was almost on the verge of tears when I came over. I asked him what he needed. "I bought my kids a Playstation 2 for Christmas but my TV only has the screw thingy. I need an adapter." After the way he treated my coworker I wasn't really in the mood to help so instead of the RF Modulator he needed, I grabbed him a simple RCA to F connector (won't work). He says he thought it would be about $20 I told him it was on sale, thanks were said and he was on his way. Sure enough he barges in on boxing day screaming about how I ruined his kid's Christmas, I just pointed at my female coworker and said "You should have asked her, she's the only one around here that knows anything about that stuff". He nearly exploded and stormed out.
I am well aware this is a necro but I love this thread, and I have a story:
I worked at an Aeropostale in college, and after a few weeks they hired another new guy. On his 2nd day of work they gave him the key to let people into the dressing rooms. Obviously you're supposed to check to see if its occupied first. Normal humans would either knock, or bend over to look for feet/legs. Well, no, first person that comes up to him and asks for a dressing room, he walks over, gets on his tippy toes and looks over the top of the door to see if anyone's in the dressing room.
chitwood, nothing wrong with revisiting this wonderful thread when you have something to add, no matter how long it's been. (in fact, almost a year to the day).
Yesterday I stop at a newly built Wendy's.
Clerk: Can I help you?
me: I want a double with cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle and ketchup only.
Clerk: Do you mean a double with cheese?
me: Uhh... yeah. Lettuce, tomato, pickle and ketchup only.
Clerk (gazing at the screen motionless for about 5 seconds): It has lettuce, tomato, mayo, red onion, ketchup, mustard and pickle.
me: I don't want all that. Just lettuce, tomato, pickle and ketchup.
Clerk: uhhhh.....no onion......no mustard. Anything else?
me: And no mayo.
Clerk: Only mayo?
me: No. No mayo.
Clerk: Everything but mayo?
me: Can we start over?
Eventually got it right but it reminded me once again why I keep Joe Pesci's "Lethal Weapon" timeless Leo Getz quote about the drive-thru in mind. I won't use the drive-thru if there is anything non-standard I need to order, it's the gateway to a bag of disappointment.
i swear on the name of Anand everything in this post is true.
i worked for a while at a fish n chip shop (just a regular take away fast food joint), and one day this guy comes in.. total OCD freak.
at this stage, me n the two girls who work there are feeling sorry for him. he spends at least five solid minutes staring at the price list, and five more standing there. not moving, just .. staring.
(shop was empty, or maybe had 1 customer, we were about to close)
so after a solid 10 minutes of total inactivity/ OCd fixation, he orders a portion of fish n chips.
with the specification that everything on the plate must be separate.
normally we dont do that, but as we were felling sorry for him, we said ok. (note: we all wanted to close and go home)
anyway, classic OCD thing. we cook the fish, put it on the plate... as one of the girls puts the plate down on his table, one of the chips (french fries) moves slightly, touching the fish.
cue screams. seriously, like a 5yo with a tootache.
this goes on for at least 5 minutes, until we finally manage to calm him and he "accepts" the tainted food.
now, a piece of fish n chips is something that even an old lady will take *maybe* 15 minutes to eat.
HALF AN HOUR later, he is still there. barely has touched the food.
we wanted to be home almost an hour ago. we're all starting to fume. i let one of the two girls go (we need to do the closing, washing n shit, takes time. shop needs to be closed down for that to happen).
so the guy hasnt practically touched the food, and hasnt moved, talked, read anything, just stares at the plate.
finally, after half hour, he gets up, pays.
DOES NOT LEAVE. just stands there, same spot as when he was looking at the food board.
this goes on for - you guessed it - a solid five minutes, until the first girl convinces him we need to close.
finally he says ok, we start to take out the mop n bucket, shut down the fryer, etc.
customer goes to the bathroom.
...
...
ten minutes, still nothing. his plate of food is still on his table, only thing we haven't touched. everything else is clean, ready to go, lights half dimmed.
customer comes back. sits down at his table again.
i go to the toilet.
ELBOW-HEIGHT SHIT SMEARED ALL OVER THE WALLS.
i'm frikking berserk, i rush out to murder this fuck, now we're in the UK so any contact is practically an assault, but i just dont care, i get back to the front of the store in a rage:
grab the guy by the collar
attempt to throw him out of the store
idk what happened exactly now, i think .. he just kinda "mimicked" being throw out, and literally threw himself out of the shop. I wasnt going to actually "throw" him out, but he "launches" himself at the pavement (thats the sidewalk, in UK lingo), lands nearly face first on the floor.
and thats it. he wails in pain for a second, then gets up, resumes weird mode, and without a sound walks away.
This is a story from my brother who worked in a grocery store at night stocking shelves. The particular store had a liquor department near the emergency exit, so kids would come in, grab beer or booze and run out the emergency exit.
The door exited into a short alley that ran alongside the store and emptied back into the front parking lot. The employees would often hear the alarm go off then see the beer run getaway car scream through the parking lot a few second later.
One Friday night my brother was stocking at the front of the store, heard the alarm go off, assumed it was a beer grab and sprinted out the front of the store. He snatched up a shopping cart (he's a big guy) spun it around like someone doing a hammer throw, and chucked it into the side of the thieves car as it made its getaway, smashing it up pretty good.
The liquor department was eventually moved farther from the emergency exit.
I don't think it's so much retail. This thread could be renamed to "Tales from dealing with the general public." Luckily my current job doesn't require this.
This is a story from my brother who worked in a grocery store at night stocking shelves. The particular store had a liquor department near the emergency exit, so kids would come in, grab beer or booze and run out the emergency exit.
The door exited into a short alley that ran alongside the store and emptied back into the front parking lot. The employees would often hear the alarm go off then see the beer run getaway car scream through the parking lot a few second later.
One Friday night my brother was stocking at the front of the store, heard the alarm go off, assumed it was a beer grab and sprinted out the front of the store. He snatched up a shopping cart (he's a big guy) spun it around like someone doing a hammer throw, and chucked it into the side of the thieves car as it made its getaway, smashing it up pretty good.
The liquor department was eventually moved farther from the emergency exit.
I'm not the type to steal in the first place, but if I was, I have to think I'd avoid stealing from someone who could hurl a shopping cart at me. Holy fuck.
The lesson learned is that people are stupid, criminal, unhygienic or possible all three of those things. While it's a valuable lesson, it's something a person should have learned before being old enough to hold down a steady job.
I love these type of stories. For anyone reading the thread again and not getting the proper link for the "vinegar boy" story in post #60 you can just google it or check it out here. Well worth a read.
I would recommend working in both the food industry (especially fast food) & retail to get an appreciation for other jobs. No matter how crappy my current job gets, I just remember the stress of dealing with those jobs & the myriad of people you'd have to deal with on a daily basis & realize it's not all that bad. I typically work 60-70 hours a week in IT, which is a field I love, and it's far less stressful than when I worked at the pizza shop, for sure.
Best thing I can think to compare it to is if you've ever taken a road trip & eating fast food & road food for a week or two straight...you never appreciate a home-cooked meal so much as you do after having ingested greasy food for days on end
My first job was in a grocery store, and I continued working there my first couple summers during college. I met a really cute girl there one summer. She agreed to go on a date with me, and I was stoked!
I love these type of stories. For anyone reading the thread again and not getting the proper link for the "vinegar boy" story in post #60 you can just google it or check it out here. Well worth a read.
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