All She Needed Was Help Opening A Door
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“I had a stroke when I was 30. I lost a lot of muscle strength in my right leg and I had to walk with the aid of a walker for almost a year. I was cleared to drive around the last two months of that year, but I still needed the walker to get around.
I was struggling with the main door at Circle K one night. A customer sat there and watched me try to open the door wide enough to get in for about a minute or two without any help. It was as if it was some kind of spectacle to him. When he decided he was ready to leave the store, he opened the door opposite of me wide enough for him to slip out and then quickly pulled the door closed behind him. He just laughed at me as he walked to his car.
I broke down crying right there. I had never felt so humiliated and worthless in my entire life. Luckily, a lady pumping gas saw what happened and came to my aid and comfort.”
A Day As Wonderful As This Woman Was Would Have To Be Apocalyptic
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“I do inventories. I was counting in a grocery store when a woman in her mid-50s turned the corner and purposefully bumped her cart on the ladder I was on and just said, ‘Where’s the apple cider vinegar?’ No apologies for almost knocking me off my ladder. I told her that I did not work there and that I was from a private firm and did not know where the items were. I was just about to tell her that I could get her someone to help her when she just told me, ‘Yeah, yeah, go eff yourself,’ and rolled away.
I just yelled, ‘I hope your day is as wonderful as you are,’ and she gave me the dirtiest look. I made the most condescending smug face I could and waved at her.
She had the nerve to complain to the store owner! I asked her if she took it as an insult and she said yes. Then, I just told her that just meant she was a punk then because a nice person would have taken it as a compliment. She went nuts and stormed out of the store, knocking off an entire display of glass jars on purpose when she left the store.
Guess who made my day by calling the police?”
Gotta Call The Cops On ‘Em All!
“I was in a raid train for Pokémon GO. It was a group of about 20 people in a few vehicles, driving from gym to gym and raiding for Pokémon to catch. We parked in an empty parking lot and walked to a nearby gym that was at a church. This lady saw us walking, walked out of her building, and started screaming at us.
‘I CAN CALL THE POLICE ON YOU!’ she hollered. ‘YOU ARE LOITERING! YOU TEENAGERS NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE! YOU ARE TRESPASSING!!’
Our raid leader let her know that we would be done in less than five minutes and then we would be gone, but she was not having it and started round two of her diatribe. Most of the people in our group thought it was pretty funny, but one guy in his late 50s said, ‘Go ahead! Call the police! I work here! I pay my taxes! I can park here, and you can’t do anything about it!’
She did the gaspy-clutch-my-pearls look and ran back in her building. We were already done and were on our way back to our vehicles when she came out with her phone.
‘I’M CALLING THE POLICE NOW!’ she screamed at us. ‘YOU’RE ALL GOING TO GET ARRESTED! I WON’T HAVE YOU TALKING TO ME LIKE THIS!! I’M WRITING DOWN YOUR LICENSE PLATE NUMBERS! YOU ARE GOING TO GET ARRESTED!’
We were in and out in less than five minutes and she caused this massive scene for no reason. Legend says she is still yelling about it to this day!
After we left, we did make a note to not park there for that gym anymore, even though it was a parking lot that was not anywhere near that lady’s business. We checked the website for her business after the incident. Ironically, on the front page of the site was some bible quote about how to treat people through the eyes of Christ.”
How To Not Ask Questions To The Disabled
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“I wear prosthetic legs so I’m pretty used to people staring and don’t really mind it for the most part. I’ve gotten occasional questions about why I don’t have feet which, I usually wave off with, ‘Oh, I was just in an accident,’ which is true.
However, I was at a barbecue/dinner party a little while ago and a guy who said he was a physical therapist started insisting I tell him exactly what happened.
‘What, are you afraid to tell me?’ he persisted. ‘I really want to know. I’m a PHYSICAL THERAPIST. I’m not afraid.’
Then, when I did tell him that I got hit by a train, he said ‘Well, how the heck did you manage that?! You must feel real bad!’
Dude, I fell! It happens!
It was pretty recent so, I’m still sore about it. If someone doesn’t want to talk about a disability, don’t press it. You’re not owed an explanation.”
Always Low Morals
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“My dad and I were at Walmart and the line was going surprisingly fast. Those lines are usually disgustingly long, so this was a great surprise. The cashier was working as fast and she could and smiling at every person which was kind of weird, but no big deal.
Finally, it was our turn, and suddenly the cashier stopped smiling. She gave my dad and me a hard stare. She started scanning the items super slowly. After three items, she went off somewhere to replenish plastic bags. Anyone could see there were CLEARLY enough plastic bags. She left the line waiting for almost 15 freaking minutes and started to hang plastic bags onto the rack. One. By. One.
At that point, my dad was super angry but he kept his cool. He then politely asked if she could please scan our items first as we would be needing a plastic bag. Her expression turned even worse and she reluctantly finished scanning our items. Right as we were about to leave, I heard the cashier whisper under her breath, ‘I hope you ching chong chopsticks have a wonderful day.’
At that point I almost strangled her, but the person next in line beat me to it, shouting and threatening to get her fired and call over the manager. Everyone else in line started to complain and shout and several other employees came to see what was going on. My dad, hating the commotion, forced me to leave. I never ended up seeing what happened in the end. I hope she got fired because being rude is one thing, but being prejudice is honestly a whole different level.”
Total Eclipse Of The Heart
“It was during the last solar eclipse. I was outside my apartment complex to watch, but kind of bummed because I did not have any solar glasses to watch it. An Indian man – let’s call him ‘Mr. M’ – from the complex offered to share the spare ones he had inside since his family was watching from their porch.
We were standing outside, sharing the glasses when an older white woman – let’s call her Ms. A – walked up and made small talk with us. Mr. M went back inside to check on his kids. That’s when Ms. A turned to me and, with a sneer, said, ‘I just can’t stand THEIR kind, can you? I can’t believe there are so many of them around here!’
I was in shock. She had been friendly enough to his face, but the venom in her voice at the moment was jaw-dropping.
‘I don’t see anything wrong with him,’ I told her. ‘He was very nice to me.’
When Mr. M came back, Ms. A started launching questions at him, asking about where he was from (Israel, as a matter of fact), what he thought of America and why, when he moved here, and if he was thankful we let him into this country.
What the heck?!
I didn’t know what to do. She was verbally attacking him while he and I kept looking at each other like, ‘Is this for real?’ I ended up steering the conversation away from her by thanking him for his graciousness with the solar glasses and asking if he would walk me upstairs. I then apologized for that woman and told him that I had never met her before and I would really enjoy seeing him around the complex. We talked about our lives for a little more and parted ways when his daughter came out to get him.
To this day, I have second hand raging embarrassment from that nasty woman and I refuse to say more than two words to her when she approaches me. I have, though, seen Mr. M multiple times and love talking to him!”
Overbearing Mother Puts A Rookie Waitress On A Race Against Time
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“I just started my first waitressing job at a place known for free pie on Wednesdays. It was my third night and my coworker’s second as a supervisor. It was just the two of us and the cook on a Sunday night. Well, the cook left to take the dishwasher home on his 30-minute break and never came back.
The first half of a group of ten walked in for a late dinner after a high school graduation. I politely explained that our cook went on break and had not returned. I added that, at that point, we did not think he was coming back. I told them that they were more than welcome to stay, but that it was going to take longer than usual since we were completely understaffed. I added that their drinks would be free, but they would have to pay for their food.
The mother of the graduate was being difficult, complaining about how this was ridiculous and what not. I apologized, telling her that we were doing the best we could, but that it was out of my control and that my supervisor could not get ahold of any other cooks, so she was going to be cooking. I, again, gave them the option to go elsewhere or to the other location that was about two miles away. They said, ‘No, it’s fine,’ and sat down.
The rest of the party showed up and everyone was super chill and understanding of the situation. I started taking orders and the mom took out her phone, started a stopwatch, and waved it in my face, yelling at me while I was trying to take orders about how she was timing me. She said that if it took more than how long she had the watch set for, that she was not paying for anything.
The rest of the time I was there, the mom yelled at me about how horrible the service was, how she could not believe how incompetent I was, and, overall, was just a punk. No one else at the table was even remotely upset. By the time they got up to pay, my manager was back in front checking people out. The mom decided that getting free drinks AND a 25% discount was not good enough and decided that she was not going to pay for her daughter’s (the graduate’s) food. The last person in line was a boy about 16 years old who ended up paying for the daughter’s food when he realized what happened. He was the only one to tip.
I’ve been waiting tables for over a year since this happened. While I no longer work there, I have never had an experience since in which a customer was even half as rude as that lady was. She realized how much we were struggling and thought she was going to be able to get free food out of it and was angry when she did not. Honestly though, to have started serving with such a bad experience was good in the end since nothing shakes me now.”
A Romantic Day At The Park Interrupted
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“I was 19, at a park in the deep South with my then boyfriend. I went down a slide and he kissed me as he was helping me up, as I have a slight motor development issue. It might have been romantic, too.
Except, a woman who was at the field adjacent to the playground, began to accuse us of grinding against one another lasciviously. We denied it and tried to get her to calm down, but she began screaming about children and called us perverts. Some guy she knew, who originally had not even been in the area, began to side with her.
We tried to leave, but the park had a crescent-shaped driveway with one-way signs which caused us to pass her. At that point, she started throwing rocks at our car while aiming for the windshield and cursing, making it impossible to leave.
We called my boyfriend’s mother, as he lived only a block or so away. She showed up and had us get in her car for safety. We called the cops and one showed up. When he saw our ages and that my driver’s license was for the major urban area nearby, he said, ‘This isn’t [my city’s name]. You can’t act like that here.’
He blindly sided with her. When we mentioned that she hurled rocks at us, he replied, ‘Why did you drive by her?’ When we pointed to the one-way sign, the police officer told us we should have ignored it and drove the opposite way in the single lane to bypass her.
All of those strangers were unbelievably rude.”
Irate Man Becomes Acquainted With A New Friend Named Karma
“I was with my family going to the mall. We were driving through the mall parking lot, which was insanely busy as usual. As we were about to turn a corner, a guy stepped out and crossed the road in front of our car. No big deal.
We noticed, though, that a wad of cash was just about to fall out of his back pocket. We pulled up to drive alongside him in the opposite lane and my dad rolled down his window and shouted to the guy that his money was going to fall out of his pocket. As my dad was warning him, all of the cash dumped out and onto the ground. There had to have been at least $50 there. My dad shouted again at the guy, pointing at the man’s money behind him on the sidewalk.
This fella looked at my dad and, immediately, just started flipping us off, shouting at us, swearing at us, being such an imbecile. Literally, if he had turned his head just a little bit, he would have seen his money all over the ground and realized his mistake, but he did not. He just kept swearing at us and flipping us off. It was kind of painful to watch. Even funnier, the entire mall parking lot witnessed this guy being a punk too.
He walked off, his money still blowing around back on the sidewalk. It was a long walkway, so if anyone came across the money, they would not have been able to connect it to him.
It was absolute perfect karma though. Later on, when he walked into some place to buy something, he would have reached for his money, realized it wasn’t there and thought Huh, maybe that guy in the parking lot was trying to tell me something.”
Are Saved Seats No Longer Sacred?
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“Sometime ago, I was going to Mexico with my mom. As we were waiting to board, my mom met this very nice lady who was also waiting for the plane. My mom was talking with her and they decided to look around the area and go to the bathroom. I was the one left to look over protect our bags and save our seats.
Time went by and a dude in his mid twenties came by and tried to sit in our seats. I told him that people were sitting there. He said, ‘Okay,’ and left.
More time passed and this lady who looked like she was in her early 60s came by and tried to take our seats. I told her that people were sitting there. She just looked at me, then the chair, and then back to me.
‘Well, it looks like they’re not sitting there anymore,’ she said, and then sat down.
The moment she sat down, my mom and the lady came back. My mom stared at her and told her that those were her and her friend’s seats. She said it in a way that meant, Fight me. I dare you. That lady got up so quick to find another seat.
With this, I always think back on how older generations try to say that kids today have no respect. However, the dude in his mid-twenties respected me. This old lady did not.”
A Belligerent Road Obstacle
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“My mom picked up my two kids and me from my place. We were about to turn right onto a major road but, a few hundred feet from the intersection, there was a car stopped in the road, blocking the only driving lane in that direction. The driver was talking across the passenger seat to someone in a parked car on the right side of the road. My mom is super passive aggressive and non-confrontational so she just sat and waited.
Oncoming traffic was too steady to just pull around the car while we just waited. We waited for one minute… Then two… Then three…
Dude, that’s way too long. Waaayyyy too long. I dropped my window.
‘No, don’t!’ said Mom.
‘It’s OK,’ I assured her. ‘I’ll be polite.’
I stuck my head out of the window and said, ‘Excuse me! We’re kind of trying to drive here. Can you pull over or something?’
That is probably pretty close to what I said too. I know I didn’t curse or anything. It wasn’t that bad. But the lady replied with, ‘Get stuffed, imbecile!’
She started yelling all sorts of belligerent stuff to us. Then, she actually pulled forward and over and let us pass, while still yelling all sorts of Jerry Springer stuff at us.
We started to pull forward toward the intersection and got about 250 feet from the angry lady when she floored it from a stop toward us from behind.
‘She’s going to hit us!’ my mom, panicked, said in as close to a scream as she could muster. She promptly pulled to the left and in front of oncoming traffic to avoid the angry lady. We DID NOT get hit by a car, thank God. The oncoming traffic stopped. Then, the angry lady threw a freaking half full jumbo Baja Blast from Taco Bell through my still open window and it exploded just as one would expect it would. It was freaking everywhere, but just up front, though, so the kids did not get soaked. Small miracles, right?
The angry lady squealed off into traffic, almost causing an accident, and drove away. Mom sat there for 30 seconds before pulling over and making me drive home. I got chewed out from pops for ‘causing’ this ridiculous situation and had to pay to get the car cleaned.”
Opened Doors Are A Privilege, Not A Gift
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“Once, I was at a 7-11. This lady held the door open for me. I smiled and said, ‘Thank you,’ albeit quietly. I guess she didn’t hear me because she proceeded to scream and go on a rant the entire time she was in the store about how rude I was and how my ‘momma didn’t raise me right.’ This was hilarious to me, considering she was the one berating someone in public because she didn’t hear me thank her for holding open a door.
Even if I had not said thank you, for all she knew, I could have had mental or speech issues, or been from a country with other customs. What an idiot. I’m sure she went great places in life.”
Raising Pain At Rasing Cane’s
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“I’ve encountered many imbecile strangers in my time, but there is one story in which I actually did get my revenge and it felt GREAT.
I was at Raising Cane’s. My sister and I went there on a Friday. It was not busy. I was standing in the back deciding what I wanted. I could just feel the cashier glaring at me. When I looked up, she rolled her eyes at me.
‘Whenever you’re ready, I guess,’ she said, obviously annoyed.
After I ordered my food, having paid in cash, she did not hand the change to me. She slammed it down on the counter. No, ‘Have a good day.’ No, ‘Your change is whatever.’
My sister and I sat down. When they called my name, I went to the counter to get it and she saw it was me. She did not hand me my food. She PUSHED IT across the counter. One of my sauces fell out. She did not apologize. She just rolled her eyes and went back to talking to someone in the drive-thru window.
Five minutes later, she was at the soda fountain. The manager had his back turned to me and the cashier and I were making direct eye contact. I PUSHED my full soda off the table. The manager told her to clean it up. She started fighting him about it, but came over and cleaned up my soda looking ANGRY the whole time.
It was glorious. Never saw her again.”
The Relentless Pervert
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“This guy would not leave me alone on the bus. I would move to a different seat and he would keep following me. He would not shut up about how he wanted me to be his girlfriend and how he would take good care of me.
Trying to avoid him, I called someone so he hopefully would not talk to me. He just kept squirming around, trying to get a peep or two in while I was on the phone.
‘Can’t you see I’m on the phone?’ I said, giving him a nasty look.
Then, he pulled out some baby oil and said, ‘I always keep my hands moisturized,’ and kept touching me. What grossed me out was that he put so much on. It was so greasy and while he was rubbing it all over, I could see all the dirt on his hands and arms. He just kept touching me and trying to grab my hands. I was visibly disturbed and grossed out.
At one point, he grabbed my hand and tried to kiss it. At the last second, I yanked my hand away and raised it like I was about to hit him in the face. After that, he was not so aggressive, but he still kept trying. He was relentless.
Luckily, two kind strangers took over and acted like they recognized me from class and kept interrupting the creep whenever he tried talking again. They also walked me to my next bus stop because he was following me. So, that was an encounter I had with one rude stranger and two kind strangers.”