It’s always the men 😩 I worked in retail for four years but it was at a woman’s boutique so I managed to avoid some of the worst interactions. I’m so sorry - these are awful. I seriously don’t understand how people can treat another person like this.
I know this was mainly about gross men but I’ve got a few good women stories too. Here’s a couple of my most memorable
While in my final few days working for a major drug store, a woman was mad because I wouldn’t give her what she wanted. I explained it was against company policy. I can’t even remember what it was but she argued with me for several minutes before leaving. She then stood in the doorway and saw me laugh at something a coworker said. She came back in yelling at me for laughing at her. I tried to explain that I in fact did not but of course she wasn’t hearing it and called corporate. The next day I was told they gave her a gift card. I didn’t bother to ask how much, just why they didn’t bother to ask me my side of the story.
While working at a pizza shop I had a woman come in completely hostile. The only thing I could possibly think of that I did wrong was not look at her the second she walked in because I was finishing another task. She had so much attitude that I almost apologized and asked her if I did something to offend her. I told myself maybe she is having a bad day, just let it go. She then got mad when I started to pick her money up off the counter because she wasn’t done counting it. She proceeded to demand several other things. Plates, napkins, cheese and other things. All of which we had available on request. Someone else had to get the cheese and pepper flakes because at the time we didn’t keep those at the ready. At this point I have several other customers waiting to pick up their food and several of my coworkers were watching wondering what this ladies problem was. When I handed her the cheese and pepper flakes she finally said thank you but not in a nice way. So I in a not nice way said you’re welcome. She then in a very sweet tone said “you must be having a bad day huh?” I just reacted and said “not until you came in”. She didn’t like that very much and screamed “ F*** you you f***ing c***”. I just laughed because it’s not a word that bothers me at all but as a woman she went straight to the worst thing she could possibly think to say.
Working at the same place I had a guy come in to pick up food that his wife had called in. I think this was at the end of Covid times. We were super busy in those days and made a habit of repeating orders back to people and marking the slips with a star when we did. All in an effort to eliminate any mistakes when we didn’t have time to fix them. There was a $20 pizza he said he didn’t order. I told him his wife ordered it and I repeated it back to her. He said no I didn’t he was sitting right next to her. I can tolerate being called a lot of things, but a liar is not one of them. As my heart rate went through the roof, my boss just told me to take it off. The guy paid for the other food and left. I looked up a minute later and saw him coming back in. Benefit of working for a small business I told my boss I wasn’t dealing with it and walked away. The guy very sheepishly had to apologize because when he got in the car, his wife said she did in fact order the other pizza.
Best creepy guy award goes to a customer no one liked. Around Christmas I wore a pair of antlers. The guy walked in for his food and the first thing he said was “are you horny?” I visibly rolled my eyes and walked away to get his food. He was somehow shocked that I didn’t think it was funny and that no one else had ever said that to me. I wore the antlers every day in December for over a decade and no one else had ever said that. He said I just don’t get old man humor. I said they are antlers not horns, it wasn’t funny, and it was a highly inappropriate thing to say to a basic stranger. He paid for his food and left.
Honorable mention goes to another annoying customer. Old man, always came in to order and then stood waiting for his food. While he was waiting, I was restocking the pop cooler. 2 liters on the bottom shelf so I was on my knees. He came over and stood next to me with his junk practically in my face. I have no idea if he was being intentionally gross or if he was that oblivious. I just got up and walked away. It was almost made worth it when I looked up and saw the horrified look on my male coworkers face. If his shock would have worn off before I got up, I think he might have flipped out on the guy.
I’m sorry that all happened to you! Especially the pizza lady and the “horny” guy….i guess that’s the upside of working these kinds of jobs, you get to tell these stories and everyone goes “what???” because they don’t know how low most people will stoop to 😭
These anecdotes are all too familiar and universal; thank you for sharing these stories. I've always wondered, are these guys getting off to our confused, uncomfortable reactions? Do they find themselves funny; are they going to retell this interaction to their friends? Where do they find the Audacity and how do they muster up that kind of courage?
Thank you for the comment 🩷🩷 and yeah I have no idea. When I was single it took a lot of courage to flirt with someone and if they weren’t into it I lost sleep over the embarrassment. I can’t fathom how there are people who just do this…regularly.
I'm an older man and the main thought I have during my encounters with cashiers or any retail workers is along the lines of I'm glad I don't have to do this thankless, difficult, underpaid (IMO) job. I think the hardest jobs I've had throughout my life paid the worst and vice versa. Also, regarding "I thought men twice my age were hitting on me" -- I used to sometimes engage in friendly banter when I was younger, but now I refrain (when it's a younger female employee) for fear of her misinterpreting my banter as an unwanted advance. Better to play it safe and eschew any perception of creepiness!
Hey thanks for the comment! Usually I don’t mind banter with older men, but I understand the hesitation. I only think they’re getting too comfortable when they start asking if I’m local or even which town I live in (which happens more often than I’d like) or making comments on my appearance. One man even asked me out and didn’t take no for an answer the first 3 times. Eek!
I wanted to reach through my screen and punch a few of these mongoloids
It’s always the men 😩 I worked in retail for four years but it was at a woman’s boutique so I managed to avoid some of the worst interactions. I’m so sorry - these are awful. I seriously don’t understand how people can treat another person like this.
I know this was mainly about gross men but I’ve got a few good women stories too. Here’s a couple of my most memorable
While in my final few days working for a major drug store, a woman was mad because I wouldn’t give her what she wanted. I explained it was against company policy. I can’t even remember what it was but she argued with me for several minutes before leaving. She then stood in the doorway and saw me laugh at something a coworker said. She came back in yelling at me for laughing at her. I tried to explain that I in fact did not but of course she wasn’t hearing it and called corporate. The next day I was told they gave her a gift card. I didn’t bother to ask how much, just why they didn’t bother to ask me my side of the story.
While working at a pizza shop I had a woman come in completely hostile. The only thing I could possibly think of that I did wrong was not look at her the second she walked in because I was finishing another task. She had so much attitude that I almost apologized and asked her if I did something to offend her. I told myself maybe she is having a bad day, just let it go. She then got mad when I started to pick her money up off the counter because she wasn’t done counting it. She proceeded to demand several other things. Plates, napkins, cheese and other things. All of which we had available on request. Someone else had to get the cheese and pepper flakes because at the time we didn’t keep those at the ready. At this point I have several other customers waiting to pick up their food and several of my coworkers were watching wondering what this ladies problem was. When I handed her the cheese and pepper flakes she finally said thank you but not in a nice way. So I in a not nice way said you’re welcome. She then in a very sweet tone said “you must be having a bad day huh?” I just reacted and said “not until you came in”. She didn’t like that very much and screamed “ F*** you you f***ing c***”. I just laughed because it’s not a word that bothers me at all but as a woman she went straight to the worst thing she could possibly think to say.
Working at the same place I had a guy come in to pick up food that his wife had called in. I think this was at the end of Covid times. We were super busy in those days and made a habit of repeating orders back to people and marking the slips with a star when we did. All in an effort to eliminate any mistakes when we didn’t have time to fix them. There was a $20 pizza he said he didn’t order. I told him his wife ordered it and I repeated it back to her. He said no I didn’t he was sitting right next to her. I can tolerate being called a lot of things, but a liar is not one of them. As my heart rate went through the roof, my boss just told me to take it off. The guy paid for the other food and left. I looked up a minute later and saw him coming back in. Benefit of working for a small business I told my boss I wasn’t dealing with it and walked away. The guy very sheepishly had to apologize because when he got in the car, his wife said she did in fact order the other pizza.
Best creepy guy award goes to a customer no one liked. Around Christmas I wore a pair of antlers. The guy walked in for his food and the first thing he said was “are you horny?” I visibly rolled my eyes and walked away to get his food. He was somehow shocked that I didn’t think it was funny and that no one else had ever said that to me. I wore the antlers every day in December for over a decade and no one else had ever said that. He said I just don’t get old man humor. I said they are antlers not horns, it wasn’t funny, and it was a highly inappropriate thing to say to a basic stranger. He paid for his food and left.
Honorable mention goes to another annoying customer. Old man, always came in to order and then stood waiting for his food. While he was waiting, I was restocking the pop cooler. 2 liters on the bottom shelf so I was on my knees. He came over and stood next to me with his junk practically in my face. I have no idea if he was being intentionally gross or if he was that oblivious. I just got up and walked away. It was almost made worth it when I looked up and saw the horrified look on my male coworkers face. If his shock would have worn off before I got up, I think he might have flipped out on the guy.
I’m sorry that all happened to you! Especially the pizza lady and the “horny” guy….i guess that’s the upside of working these kinds of jobs, you get to tell these stories and everyone goes “what???” because they don’t know how low most people will stoop to 😭
These anecdotes are all too familiar and universal; thank you for sharing these stories. I've always wondered, are these guys getting off to our confused, uncomfortable reactions? Do they find themselves funny; are they going to retell this interaction to their friends? Where do they find the Audacity and how do they muster up that kind of courage?
Thank you for the comment 🩷🩷 and yeah I have no idea. When I was single it took a lot of courage to flirt with someone and if they weren’t into it I lost sleep over the embarrassment. I can’t fathom how there are people who just do this…regularly.
I'm an older man and the main thought I have during my encounters with cashiers or any retail workers is along the lines of I'm glad I don't have to do this thankless, difficult, underpaid (IMO) job. I think the hardest jobs I've had throughout my life paid the worst and vice versa. Also, regarding "I thought men twice my age were hitting on me" -- I used to sometimes engage in friendly banter when I was younger, but now I refrain (when it's a younger female employee) for fear of her misinterpreting my banter as an unwanted advance. Better to play it safe and eschew any perception of creepiness!
Hey thanks for the comment! Usually I don’t mind banter with older men, but I understand the hesitation. I only think they’re getting too comfortable when they start asking if I’m local or even which town I live in (which happens more often than I’d like) or making comments on my appearance. One man even asked me out and didn’t take no for an answer the first 3 times. Eek!
The horror stories you’ve had to endure (as recounted here), yikes!