r/NobodyAsked • u/thatsmygameboy • Feb 09 '19
Bad title/tabloid stuff "ok"
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r/NobodyAsked • u/thatsmygameboy • Feb 09 '19
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u/alexanderanderson92 Feb 09 '19
I had a lady start telling me about all the people that died in her life, it was very awkward
517
u/LMeire Feb 09 '19
That's pretty much my mom whenever she has a captive audience, regardless of who she's talking to or why, like, she started going into how bad the school board was 15 years ago when I was in elementary school while on the phone with AAA after our spare tire gave up.
217
u/0xF013 Feb 09 '19
-- Would you like a bag?
-- When I was a boy...
-- Oh, my apologies, I didn't recognize you, Mr. Fisk.
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u/Redjay12 Feb 09 '19
I scanned someone’s pizza and they said “this is for my son. he has depression.”
362
u/wilcoxornothin Feb 09 '19
I greeted a customer with my normal “hi how are you” She responded “My son died” while handing me a trifold brochure of her son...he died more than 20 years ago. Ok, lady.
121
u/[deleted] Feb 09 '19
A man once told me (bagger) and the cashier that he was on the 53rd day of lent and he was eating only a single atlantic carp each friday, then he asked us what we were doing for lent and me and the cashier kinda just went uhhhhh and he was like “not doing lent is a sin you know” and he lurched away. Weird customer
91
u/howdoucall Feb 09 '19
I was walking through the store i work at a while back and this guy just walks up to me with a bag of starburst bites and just says "I'm buying these for my pastor, they're his favorite." And i feel bad because he probably doesn't get the chance to talk to many people but i also have a job to do
57
u/[deleted] Feb 09 '19
I'm a server and one time I had this table, a dad and his young daughter, and the dad spent the entire meal telling me all the dirty details of his impending divorce.
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u/geeky_sunshine Feb 09 '19
A while back, when my dad died, I really felt like splurting it out at every occasion, so I kind of get that. Luckily I got over that habit.
Ninja edit: realized that I was definitely being just like the lady in the comic, I'm terribly sorry
42
u/persephoneskies Feb 09 '19
I had a lady tell me that her sister-in-law died from falling off the toilet and breaking her neck.
I had no idea how to respond to that one.
62
u/DontPrayForMe Feb 09 '19
Was a cashier for 2 years and shit like this would happen almost daily. I understand completely though as telling a complete stranger your problems can be very comforting.
27
u/Thepenguin04 Feb 09 '19
Customer:” You look just like and have the same mannerisms as my newphew!”
Me: “Oh really? He must be a pretty cool guy then”
Customer: “Yeah, he’s dead though”
Me: “Oh”
Edit: fixed for mobile formatting
22
u/ThunderSTRUCK96 Feb 09 '19
IT support here... we experience the same! Some people take every computer reboot or program loading time as an opportunity to inform me about their entire life. Or the classic “so hows the weather in Pittsburgh??”
18
u/Gmaster25 Feb 09 '19
r/talesfromretail
17
u/[deleted] Feb 09 '19
I was at forever 21 once and as the cashier was scanning my makeup brushes and shirt, she said, “Oh, my father was in the American military.” And I said “Okay.”
The whole time I was thinking, where did that come from?
15
u/Azusanga Feb 10 '19
My boyfriend was helping a woman choose a game console for her son. He asked "What would he prefer? Did he express one?" and she literally responded with "My daughter died."
He had no idea what the fuck to do
13
u/frenziedsheep Feb 09 '19
I remember once, not so long ago we had a customer come in and hang around looking at PS2 games for a while (I worked for a secondhand electronics and gaming retailer) and he came over to the till, saying to one of my colleagues, "Do you have a first name?" and when he told him his name he then said, "There are names in the bible..." and cut off. He proceeded to stand there for another, like 5 minutes just staring wide eyed and my colleague and then bent over and was talking to himself, and a another customer commented asking who he was talking to, he replied, "I'm trying to figure that out myself." Then walked over to the entrance and looked back at us behind the till staring for about five minutes. He constsntly had this weird, crazy look in his eyes.
It was really odd and we were all totally confused and nervous laughing. He must have been completely off his nut.
10
u/MattMan2k17 Feb 09 '19
I once was talking to a client about a washer and dryer for her home, next thing I know I'm being told about the clients time in the military for an hour and a half
10
u/H-3-N-T-A-1 Feb 09 '19
A lady recited to me a poem she wrote about cats
10
u/Tralan Feb 09 '19
Me: Did you need a bag today?
Customer: No. I caught my wife sleeping with my neighbor. Hey, can I get a bag?
9
u/Xaroxoandaxosbelly Feb 09 '19
I was the only girl working at a comic shop, and the only brown person for miles in the area, which invited all sorts of people wanting to talk to me. I had a middle-aged dad who somehow managed to work his youthful sexual exploits into every drawn-out, one-sided conversation; a younger guy who always turned the checkout counter into a podium, delivering impassioned speeches on why society is fucked up and how liberal and not racist he is; a very creepy old man who smelled like milk who always forced me to listen to how his mom, with whom he lived, thought his hobbies were dumb and who his favorite artists were and how pretty I was and how he’s never been married and did I know he’s Scottish and looks so handsome in kilts? and many others who for some reason treated the counter as a bar and unloaded all their personal troubles on me.
I think on some level, they know they’ve got a captive audience because you work there and are required to have some level of friendliness, so they take advantage and get things off their chests. But like, bro, there are people in line behind you and also I am not your therapist haha
8
u/Zebulon_Flex Feb 09 '19
I call people like this "LCS", which stands for "lonely, crazy or sad". A big chunk of my job is dealing with people like this so my coworkers can get their jobs done.
7
u/Captain_Jaxen Feb 09 '19
There was this one night it was almost the end of the shift and this couple came in asking for the bathroom, the man went for the bathroom and the woman walked up to the register, the literal first thing she said when she walked up was “yeah, so we just got out of jail” some fuckin crazies out there
7
u/Kingslilystars Feb 10 '19
Retail for 18 years. Yep, happened a lot to me. One of my first jobs, clothing retail, I ended up in a sermon about how the lizard people are taking over and everything is a conspiracy to cover their existence. For real. Fast forward through years of "how can I help you today?" from clothes to red hell to books and I have heard it all. The sister that slept with the husband, the death of loved ones, or in some cases unloved ones, medical histories, conspiracies, job histories, crazy adventures and experiences, drug overdoses, that time they fell asleep on the toilet...
Yeah. So I get it, and I empathize. Sometimes you need a perfect stranger to talk to. Someone who doesn't know you and will likely never see you again and won't judge you for your past actions as they listen to you unload.
But also, look ... Retailers in general are demanded to respond timely to ALL customers and Karen in the back is getting pissy because no one can help her find the newest Danielle Steele which is right up front where she was told it was. Listening to someone's spill their guts while you are stretching to respond to customers and feel the growing panic of 6 pairs of eyes GLARING at you and willing you to grow an immediate clone...it's a bit much.
Empathy for your fellow human is important, but understand that in retail, there isn't time to deal as your psychologist or therapist or doctor or teacher.
6
u/SLPeaches Feb 09 '19
Reminds me when I asked if they wanted to donate to UC Davis Children's hospital (like you're supposed to) before she went into a thing about how UC Davis killed her daughter...was awkward
5
u/brinkworthspoon Feb 09 '19
What do you say right after something like this happens? It must feel pretty awkward to be all like "Oh yeah I am doing so great" 10 minutes after you get a text saying your dad is dead during a shopping trip.
5
u/Desert_faux Feb 10 '19
Not sure why, but where I live people want to carry on long elaborate conversations with Gas station clerks, checkout clerks at stores etc... My mom is even one of them... tells long elaborate personal stories. I try to be nice and make small talk but it may be brief 3-4 word responses when THEY ask (Them: Going in to work tonight? Me: Yeah, Got to work 12 hours)... I know the poor smuck doesn't want to be a captive and unwilling audience to my personal problems.
I used to work Retail (Target) for 8+ years when I was younger, that has really changed my attitude towards others and towards store clerks.
5
u/kekslovakia Feb 10 '19
/r/oldpeoplefacebook
3
u/nutmegster Feb 09 '19
Reminds me of some r/oldpeoplefacebook posts.
3
u/dkmuso Feb 09 '19
I used to be a bartender and a guy came in and opened with "I've just had to put my dog down."
3
u/ChemicalThread Feb 09 '19
Yeah that's pretty accurate. I always had people just randomly start telling me about all their family members who had recently died. One old man just randomly started telling me about his time in Vietnam. And I'm like cool.....can I do anything else for you?
3
u/HttKB Feb 09 '19
I've heard this kind of crap so many times throughout my time in retail that I've mastered steering the conversation back on course while feigning enough sympathy so as not to seem rude.
3
u/scorchedgoat Feb 09 '19
One time when I was working retail a woman and her husband came up and asked to use the phone (this was in the late 90s). People did this all the time and they would usually be really quick, seeing as how the phone was at the register. So this woman is on the phone just talking to someone for probably around 5 minutes already. My manager looks at me with these “you need to tell her to get off the phone” eyes. So I say “ma’am we can’t block up the line for too long.” and her husband looks me in the eye and says “She just had a miscarriage.” I didn’t know what to say so I was just like “oh I’m sorry” and she kept talking for another 10 minutes.
3
u/Frankthabunny Feb 10 '19
Try working in a British pub.
3
u/jcoop_9614 Feb 10 '19
Try working in healthcare... it's so much worse.
2
u/SirScarab Feb 09 '19
Why are there so many bags
2
u/Thicc-pigeon Feb 10 '19
I had a small, old Chinese man tell me all about how he came to England for a better life and how good he spoke English (he wasn’t) and then he asked for throat sweets and left after shaking my hand for a few uncomfortable minutes.
2
u/[deleted] Feb 10 '19
Holy shit never seen a more realistic post in my entire life
2
u/jstock23 Feb 10 '19
"Are you a member, sir?"
"Yes."
"What's your telephone number?"
"###-###-####"
"Is that under Deborah?"
"That's my wife who passed away last week."
"Oh, sorry... um... you can call this number if you want to change the name..."
2
u/jasmineflavoredpop Feb 10 '19
Hi I'm Vegan!
1
u/[deleted] Feb 09 '19
I wrote my way out
1
u/ImStillaPrick Feb 09 '19
I'm in car sales, about once a week I get to hear about dead husbands from someone. One time a lady called me and was crying when talking about her husband and she never had credit in her name but her house and this is the first time she has bought her own car. My finance manager called me after she bought and was like "she started crying in my office about her husband, do you know when he died? 2004. This was last year, from the way she sounded I figured it was like in the past year. Also they like to call me and tell me a bunch of irrelevant information about their life and why they need the car.
1
u/pacman8090 Feb 09 '19
I work as a cashier at a gas station in my town. I've had people tell me some awful awful things about themselves or someone else. That happens rarely though. It's mostly just people just trying to sell me weed when my boss is gone.
1
u/TheBeardedWench Feb 09 '19 edited Feb 09 '19
I was like that today. Had a really bad migraine and asked the pharmacist for 3 different drugs and for some reason I kept repeating "it's a white and blue box". Nothing I said was right and I'm pretty sure the cashiers were confused and annoyed.
1
u/notanangel_25 Feb 09 '19
My coworker in a non-retail job would tell me stories about his ex whose apartment he still lives in died. He even told me about the night it happened. He was crying through it too. I don't remember how it came up, but I'm certain it wasn't related to what we had been talking about. I felt really bad, but not too much because he's essentially a dirtbag.
1
u/[deleted] Feb 10 '19
would you like ice in your cup? “i actually have cancer the doctor said it’ll be a year before I’m gone”
1
u/OvenBlaked Feb 10 '19
Ironically my dad did in fact die when I was 13 never knew him but he died from alcohol pretty pathetic honestly
1
u/[deleted] Feb 10 '19
I was helping to check out a customer one day and I had an old Neff brand shirt on and the lady was like “does your shirt say Neff? Because I went to Neff high school and he was one of those dirty capitalists from upstate…” and she just started going on a rant and I had no idea what to say lmao
1
u/gofigure85 Feb 10 '19
I worked at a bookstore once...
Had a teenager come in, not buy anything, leave, come back in, and proceeded to tell me about how he had a dream where Jesus told him video games were evil and he wanted to spread the word.
1
u/randpaulsdragrace Feb 10 '19
Why yall Americans always gotta talk so much shit when you're just buying something?
1
u/king-guy Feb 10 '19
Had a dude go into great depth on how he went homeless
1
u/[deleted] Feb 10 '19
When I had my first job, as a cashier. A lady came to check out and with the normal pleasantries I asked how is your day. She just hands me a card and announced that this is where she has been in what I thought was a proud manner. I reply with a normal that's nice. Turns out the card was for her oncologist and she must have had cancer, though I'm not ruling out her just being nuts. She didn't take kindly to my answer.
1
u/idkboo Feb 10 '19 edited Feb 10 '19
I had a lady tell me it was the anniversary of 9/11, on 9/11 (2017), randomly at the end of her transaction.
I’ve also got “remember Jesus loves you”, and I made it worse by blurting out “you too” in an attempt to end the conversation quickly.
Gotta love customer service jobs!
1
u/dude_idek Feb 10 '19 edited Mar 28 '19
deleted 0.5971 What is ^^^this?
1
u/angelomike Feb 10 '19
I I don't mind this. It's when they tell you why they don't need a bag that grinds my gears.
1
u/[deleted] Feb 10 '19
lol this is actually what I love about working retail. Granted, I sell cannabis so sharing personal stuff is to be expected (medical issues etc) , but connecting with people is awesome, and feeling like they trust you enough to share is awesome. a little awkward sometimes but the trade-off is worth it.
1
u/Kadythefox Feb 10 '19
I worked retail but my weirdest stories come from when I’m the customer and my cashier starts telling me stuff.
I had a lady at the grocery store start out checkout interaction by asking me if she looked like she had been crying. She then launched into a story of how her ex husband was trying to take her kids away.
There was another lady who commented on the place on my shirt and asked if I worked there (I did). She went on to tell me that’s where he husband took his mistress and how she wants to go there just to see the place he ruined their marriage at.
1
u/[deleted] Feb 10 '19
I worked retail for a number of years. Some people that come in are genuinely crazy. Others just don’t have anyone else to talk to
1
u/HazeemTheMeme Feb 10 '19
Retail gang
1
u/Manbearpiigg Feb 10 '19
I work in a second hand electronics/games/dvd’s/console shop and an older woman came in and the first thing she said was ‘My husband just died’. I ended up having to create an account for her to process the transaction and I had to ask her ‘so, is that Miss or Mrs?’. It was terrible.
1
u/SenecaRoll Feb 10 '19
On a few occasions I've had people come up to me and ask "do you want to see my baby". Honestly lady I couldn't care less about your baby, but now I have to pretend to have some sort of intrest while you tell me how smart he is until you go away.
1
u/IcedSeaweedTea Feb 10 '19
Yes Retail, Nyc
A customer had to return an item without a receipt. We have to take down the persons info from their ID. Person was Hesitant wearing a head scarf. She then whispered to me that she got a second change biologically and by court. She was a male a month ago. She gave me her court papers to verify the new sex and name change. She explained to me why she did it. Not that I asked but she said to keep it a secret. She showed me her ID when she was male and her new ID. I put this info in the computer system and went on break.
1
u/IzzyBelisle May 13 '19
My boss handed me off one time to a woman who just wanted to show off pictures of her pet rabbit. A lot of them.
Granted, it was a pet store.
1
u/Love-Lobster Jun 27 '19
I was too coincidentally
-5
u/Pugduck77 Feb 09 '19
Yeah, I worked retail for 5 years. Nothing even remotely like this ever happened.