Working as a cashier is simultaneously one of the most boring and most interesting jobs there is. Long periods of monotonous ringing up items interspersed with interesting/frustrating/entertaining customers.
After working the job for a while, most folks stop noticing the actual items they are ringing up. Sometimes the combo of items, or the behavior of the customer, is just so bizarre that you can't help but notice.
Reddit user u/LordZozzy asked:
20.
I once had a guy come through my register in a hurry with nothing but a pack of condoms... I'm usually on guard with this sort of thing and say something like" thank you, see you again"... nope. This night I said "bye, have a good night!" We then made eye contact and both laughed.
The other one was a girl, must have been about 15 or 16, came in dressed in her school uniform and purchased a pregnancy test. I then saw her go straight down the corridor to the bathrooms... about half an hour later I saw her run out in tears... I'm thinking that was NOT good news...
19.
I work at a hardware store, with house charge accounts for local businesses. Lawncare, the local city departments, some home/repair companies, etc.
We have a local funeral home with an account and I'm starting to wonder if they are just buying stuff to mess with me.
One week it was about 6 pairs of pliers, and 4 50ft garden hoses.
One week it was insulation, plaster, and 6 canvas drop cloths. They returned the insulation.
They also use discretion and never give the name of the funeral home, just the phone number. I know them now, so I just punch in the account name before they even start.
Also had a local hair stylist come in and buy 12 pair of needle nose pliers for the salon she works for, and order 12 more pair to be delivered. Like...what the heck are you guys doing with all those pliers at the hair salon????
18.
i was a cashier. not by the items but how they handle their items. the paper in plastic double bag with the "please pack them light" with $600 worth of groceries combo is the worst kind of person
17.
When I was a cashier at Little Caesars a customer came in on the phone saying something like "Okay hun I'm at the pizza place. Since 20 kids and their parents came to the bday party I was thinking like 5 or 6 pizzas. Sound good? Okay loveyoubye". But when he moved his phone from his face he didn't hang up and the screen was very clearly on the home screen the whole time. He ordered made some small talk about too many people, paid, and then left. The only judgement I made was pity because he must be a very lonely dude, that really loved pizza but didn't want to be judged for buying so many for just him. Other than that the only people I "judged" by their purchases were the super fryed stoners that couldn't decide between cheese and pepperoni, and only because it took them forever to choose.
16.
I used to work for a sporting goods store that sold tattoo sleeves. Not just any tattoo sleeve.. but specifically the tattoo sleeve of Monta Ellis. So you'd be "wearing" the same tattoos he had. I'm in the Bay Area so this was a while back when he was with the Warriors. We had less than 10 in stock and I did judge the customers that bought them. It was $12.00.
15.
One customer bought like five jars of mayonnaise among other things and my bagger was like "OH I used to love eating mayo right from the jar!"
Her and my bagger then had a 5 minute conversation about the joys of mayonnaise and I just sat there trying to hand this lady her change wondering what plane of existence I had ascended to.
14.
I worked at Taco Bell for a year & a half, most of the time didn't really pay attention to what you ordered. But one time, at 7:30 am on a Saturday, this guy pulled up to the drive thru & ordered a single side of sour cream. When he got to the window he paid with change (obviously, as his total was 35 cents or something). But the weirdest part was he asked for a spork. I still wonder what he was doing.
13.
Worked at a OffBrand Kroger store. Guy would always come in for a can of whiped cream and pop rocks (the candy that fizzles in your mouth) Atleast twice a month.
I always wondered wtf was this about (probably some weird oral act) It was confirmed when a lady started coming in for those 2 items, aparently he got into a wreck bevause i seen him in her passenger seat with crutches in the back.
12.
My first job was as a cashier in a supermarket (this was like 20 years ago though). I never judged people on what they bought, but I would occasionally judge customers for certain other behaviors. There was this one regular who nobody could stand because she would come in early in the day with her magnifying glass, and she would methodically pick up every single item, on every shelf, in every aisle, and read the nutrition facts through her magnifying glass while taking notes in a notebook. It wasn't at all unusual for her to come in at the beginning of your 4 hour shift, and she'd only be maybe 2/3ds of the way through the store when you left.
God help you if she ended up checking out on your register, like I said she kept a note of every item she selected and during check out she would watch like a hawk, and then have a complete freakout/meltdown if an item rang up at literally one cent more than it said on the shelf. Because of this she took like an hour just to check out which killed the soul of that unlucky cashier as well as pissing off all of the other customers by clogging up that line for an unreasonable amount of time.
11.
I make sandwiches, and I definitely judge people who request odd combinations. You want just tomato on a blueberry bagel? Whatever floats your boat, man.
10.
When I was 15 I worked at a DVD store. I wasn't allowed to dust and stock in the adults only section, but only one customer borrowed out from that section anyway.
Small, middle aged man with severe eczema or psoriasis, always wore a blue plastic jacket that made swishing noises when he walked. Quietly came in at 8 AM when nobody else was around, would borrow out whatever the titles were, and quickly depart. Carried a black bag and declined our transparent plastic ones. Back in my day, you had to leave your home for porn.
Even as a 15 year old girl I appreciated he seemed embarrassed and made the transaction as fast as possible. After a year of this, he came in one morning and borrowed out a single DVD.
Finding Nemo.
I guess I couldn't hide my surprise, so he said the only thing he's ever said to me. "I have clown fish, and everybody keeps telling me to watch it."
And that's it, he eventually ran out of titles I guess and stopped coming in. Over a decade later and I still remember the customer who liked MILFs and clownfish.
9.
Dude comes in for a frozen pizza, 6 pack of BL, pint of ben and jerry's and a pack of smokes.
"You getting the wife out of town special tonight?"
"My wife's been out of town for 17 years now"
And that's the last time i used that line.
8.
Giphy
Worked cashier for many years when I was younger. The answer is...
No. I don't even notice. I don't notice anything. I don't want to be here. You could be buying gasoline and a lighter and tell me you're lighting someone on fire and I'd be like "Would you like a gift receipt sir"
7.
Worked at a supermarket, dude buys $300 worth of cherries. Cleared out the whole area where we had them. We weren't even having a sale. To this day I still wonder what the hell he needed that many cherries for.
Might have been a DIY liqueur person. You take cherries (or any fruit really), soak them in brandy/whiskey/etc and sugar, leave for a while and have a nice drink for sipping or gifting. All those cherries would make a lot of liqueur, making the per bottle cost reasonable.
6.
For the most part I don't really care as long as they're polite.
There is this one regular who likes to bring a lot of stuff to the registers but only buys 1/3 of it (still spends heaps). She's also pretty rude. I judge the crap out of her.
5.
When I worked at Wawa I'd get the same people buying the same coffee, breakfast and pack of cigarettes everyday. But there was this old mailman that bought a bundle of tootsie pops instead of the cigarettes everyday. I'm not sure if he ate them all day or gave them out to kids but he always made me smile. I quit that job and went on to become a mailman myself.
4.
Giphy
Alright so I’m working at dollar General, a normal night, but this guy comes in striding with confidence. Greet him with a hello, as I do with customers, but he’s in the zone and forgoes the formalities. He walks straight to the movie rack and grabs a cheesy Kung Fu movie, and walks to the counter, I ring it up and it Costs $5.46. He reach in to his coat pocket and pulled out a bag of nickels and a single penny. A 109 nickels and a single penny for a Kung fu movie called, “Kung Fu masters” or something that looked like it had a 100 dollar budget. I’ve never had more respect for some one in my entire life. He knew what he wanted and he got it.
3.
Not really, only customer that ever really got my attention was a lady who bought a cake that said something along the lines of "We never want to see you again". Previously when I've told this story people have said it couldve been a gag gift but going off of this ladies expression I don't think it was, she showed some real pride when she saw I noticed what was on it
2.
We had a guy come in every week to buy a generic birthday cake. No big, except he was insistent that the cake have a seven day expiration window-essentially meaning it had to be a cake baked fresh that day, which they didn't always have. The bakery people would grumble but whatever. He wouldn't tell anyone why, usually just shrugged but one time he came in upset and didn't buy his usual cake.
He finally spilled his guts to the cashier-his wife had some pretty crippling health issues (Alzheimer's or cancer, I can't remember now) and they would celebrate every day with a piece of cake, like celebrating they were still alive and together. She had gotten sent to the hospital and they wouldn't let him bring her cake. Broke all of our hearts, and the bakery kept fresh cakes for him after that without complaint.
1.
I work in online grocery fulfilment. In short, I shop for people, bag it up and place the items in rolling totes, fridge and freezers. I've seen some weird orders. One of my favorite types to speculate on is when they are 50% organic vegan items and the other half is absolute junk food and meat products.
I always visualize a couple who's polar opposites or a vegan poser who hides their guilty pleasures from their religiously vegan room mates under their bed or in a locked fridge somewhere in the house. These thoughts are all in a funny 90's sitcom style.
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
Giphy
Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
south park wedding GIF
Giphy
See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
homer simpson episode 23 GIF
Giphy
Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
Giphy
Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
Disney World GIF
Giphy
The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.