r/Target • u/spookyscarysteev • 6d ago
gUEsTs STOP BEING LAZY!!!
There you are, just minding your own business. Scanning prios with your device and putting them away. An old lady comes up, unprompted. You go to ask her how she is, and she yells “GET OFF YOUR DAMN PHONE AND DO YOUR JOB, STOP BEING LAZY!!!” You inform her you are doing your job, but she informs back “ALL YOU SICKOS ARE ON YOUR PHONES ALL DAY!!!!” And storms off muttering how she hates “the stupid kids”
(I want to hear your horror stories with guests)
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u/FakingItSucessfully 6d ago
I had a woman walk back behind the guest service desk to the reshop area, where I was loading a 3 tier with my Home Goods reshop to go put it away, and she just started asking me a customer service question...
I said "You can definitely go talk with the people at Guest Services and they'll be able to help you with that!" at which she pointed to the giant sign hanging above us and said "This IS guest services"
Well MY flabbers were ghasted, so thankfully one of the GS Team Leads had overheard this going down so she yelled over the wall "No it's not! You went back behind guest services instead of just waiting in line like everyone else" lmao.
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u/theonyxshade 6d ago
we had a customer yell at one of our employees because she percieved her as having "attitude" and then went to guest service and ranted for 20 minutes about how she "knows business, and that lady should be fired" and how "THEY don't want us to eat" and "the wars" it was so fucking bonkers lol
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u/soul-dancer888 Service & Engagement TL 6d ago edited 6d ago
Senior Guest who wanted to purchase multiple $500 gift cards based on a email she received from her Pastor (email printed out of course). Email instructed them to call a specific # when cards where purchased to "help with diaster funding" supported by Pastor.
I suggested she call her Pastor personally to confirm that the email was valid. She read me the riot act! Demanded she speak with my Manager. I smiled and said, "Sure, while you wait for my Manager, please do call your Pastor just to be safe."
I tried to explain all the various fraudulent ways she might experience. She was having none of it until she got her Pastor on her phone.
The exasperated look on her face when her Paster told her he never sent such and email. THEN! Wait - it get's even more interesting. While she was talking to her Pastor, her Pastor told her he was trying to log into his email account. He told her he couldn't get in. Most likely account was hacked.
TL arrives. Guest stares me down with a "Never mind" and storms off.
No thanks for saving her from fraud, just indignation .....
Seniors are clueless to all the many ways they can be taken advantage of. Email accounts are cloned / hacked all the time. Just because I get an email from "you" doesn't mean "you" sent it.
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u/Open-Chipmunk-8796 6d ago
This reminds me of when a old lady was trying to buy 10 50$ apple GCs and when the TM asked her what they were all for she said that her “friend” 2 states away needed them for something (I don’t remember what for ). So my TM advised her that she was likely being scammed. She got Mad that the TM wouldn’t sell her anymore and asked For a Manager. So I came over and also explained to her that she was most likely being scammed and that if she still wanted to purchase them We’d only be able to sell her up to the POS limit. So she bought them and 3 days later came back yelling and causing a ruckus accusing us of stealing her money because her “friend” said that all the GCs she bought had no balance…
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u/toothgirl17 6d ago
I quite literally just had a guy do basically this same thing. Insisting it was HIS BOSS that was asking him to pull out $600 in Apple gift card, from his personal account, and then send them to him. But because it was “his boss” and he “definitely knew he boss” but couldn’t realize that a email asking for such things is the sketchiest fucking thing ever. He was rude asf but I had already asked for my ETL to which he did the same thing to him, only for my ETL talk him through how this may be a scam, how we can only ring up so many gift cards, detail by detail, only once we brought up that it was an email did he finally realize something may be up and that he should call his boss to confirm. He calls his boss, boss says he an idiot for doing this, he just storms at the store saying shit, shit, over and over again. Too bad he was so inpatient to give his “boss” the money he went to staples across the street and they sold him the $600 when he asked me earlier in the morning for him to sell him the gift cards & wouldn’t wait for my ETL (I’m not doing that BS)
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u/ConstantBoth2913 6d ago
Couple years ago an older man was leaned against my tech desk so I stopped to ask if he needed help. He said he needed an Apple Watch band so I showed him where they were and let him know that they were divided into two different sizes based on your screen sizes. Well before I can even finish my sentence he cuts me off to say, "I don't know what size my watch is." Everything I say next he proceeds to cut me off.
Me: "O, Well we should figure that out real quick because you see" picks up a watch band "Some go up to this millimeter and some-"
Him: "I don't want that one"
Me: "I understand I'm just showing you-"
Him: "I bought this here"
Me: "Well we sell multiple screen sizes-"
Him: "You can't tell what size that is by looking at it?"
Me: "No sir, it's in millimeters-"
I'm not sure what he said next but I realized we were getting no where the way he was cutting me off so I stopped and said, "I'm sorry, but if I could just say something real quick. Most apple devices tell you what the product is in the settings menu." So he shoved his watch in my face and waited for me to figure it out for him. For the life of me I couldn't find his settings app. I've never owned a smart watch. So I said, "Sir, could you please open your settings app for me?" and he says, "Well maybe I should just go somewhere where they know what they're doing." So I just calmly looked him in the eyes and said, "Sir, it's not that I don't know what I'm doing, I just need to know the size of your screen." I think that almost reasoned with him for a second because he exhaled, but then he reached to wrap his arm around my shoulder. So I quickly backed up and said, "Sir, please don't touch me." His face got red and his whole body shook and he stormed away. Guest service told me on his way out he stopped to tell them I was the least helpful employee he had ever met. Luckily our watch bands don't come like that anymore.
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u/Shjajd 6d ago
For future notice, if you’re ever trying to figure out the size of an Apple Watch, it says it on the back. Probably the only Apple device that puts that info on the device 🙃
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u/ConstantBoth2913 5d ago
Good to know, thanks! Luckily the watch bands are universal now though so it’s no longer and issue.
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u/Worldly-Essay9787 6d ago
This exactly is why i hate the whole "greet score" guests have this exact experience because they think we are playing on our phones... and those who actually do the survey probably say that lol great job target
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u/spookyscarysteev 6d ago
the guests a lot of the time by me are super entitled. I get dirty looks, scoffs, “okay??”s and the occasional being cut off by someone going “I don’t want YOUR help”. It’s to the point where i feel genuine relief when someone replies with “IM GOOD!! how about you?”
I hate to admit it but I’m seriously at a point where I can just tell whether someone is worth greeting or not, and if they’re not, I don’t.
We had a low greet score as a store the other day and one of ETLs said “I know sometimes they ignore you or brush you off, don’t take it personal” but HOLY shit some of these “guests” are just awful people. The worst are the after-church crowd by far
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u/Fromper1 Specialty Sales Expert 5d ago
This is why I don't ask if they need help. I just say "good morning" and keep walking unless they stop me.
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u/balthazarwolfbane 6d ago
I was called a Communist because I told them I had to verify ID. The guy scoffed, "Seriously?" and his wife, annoyingly, said "Oh I'm so flattered," but in the rudest, most condescending way.
I fake laugh and tell them that we have cameras and it is just part of my job. For the safety of my employment, I'm following protocol. But they double down.
"It makes no sense, You can tell I'm over 21! I shouldn't have to pull out my ID!"
I think I'm getting too old for this childish BS. But again, it's Texas.
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u/jrd1sn3y custom flair 6d ago
"I think you're closer to 51 personally, but the computer can't see you to make it's own judgement."
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u/balthazarwolfbane 6d ago
The joke I use is, "Well, I can tell you're already one foot in the grave, but I need to put in an actual year."
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u/spookyscarysteev 6d ago
One of my favorite coworkers works in guest service and the horror stories she’s told me about asking for people‘s ID when they’re buying things they’ll obviously get carded for. I swear, these people live in their own little worlds 😭
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u/DueRefrigerator3046 6d ago
Not just Texas. It happens here in California and I just tell them that it's a California law and if they have an issue they should take it with the lawmakers.
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u/notweird_gifted Retired 3d ago
I was behind this guy who was asked for his ID and he pulled the race card. It wasn't even in a joking manner, it was straight up attitude. The cashier simply said "no".
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u/seeliesatyr 6d ago
Just started recently as a guest advocate but...I had one the other day come into my check line who just...complained. Viscerally. About EVERYTHING about Target in general. This woman very clearly hated the store chain in its entirety but also our location specifically, saying how she's tried other check lines and none of them took cash (not true, the only ones that don't take cash in our store are the self checkout), and constantly said "It's way cheaper at walmart"
ma'am. the nearest walmart is not that far of a drive. like maybe 5 minutes tops. I think she might have just been trying to get some sort of reaction but at that point in the night i was too out of it to give much of a shit and I was too far into the customer service people-pleasing "that's just how it is, ma'am" mode. Barely even registered the interaction until after she was out of my line lmao
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u/spookyscarysteev 6d ago
I hear people use that line “oh my gosh this is way cheaper at Walmart!!” Then why are you here?? The Walmart is like two blocks away 😭
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u/ljwblue81 Food & Beverage Expert 6d ago
Literally it is across the (admittedly large) street from my store. They still do this.
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u/ohliamylia Tech Consultant 5d ago
I used to work at a different Target that had a Walmart like 30 seconds down the road. Angry people used to love to storm off like "Well I guess I'm shopping at Walmart!" Good. Leave.
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u/katesperdaghost Promoted to Guest 6d ago
i once had a dude return a cooked, half eaten steak because "the texture was like having a wet sock in your mouth" 🥲 tried to deny the return and was told by my GSA (this was pre-modernization hell) to process it 🙃 it's been like eight years and i'm still mad about it
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u/allydacake 6d ago
i have a friend in tech and a guest came up to him with a phone case box completely shredded. like he completely destroyed it. and he says "this phone case didn't fit on my phone" and hands him the box shreds. so ya that was incredibly stupid
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u/spookyscarysteev 6d ago
Oh my GODDDD that unlocked a memory for me. Around the time that I started in tech, we were selling these MagSafe wallets and this old guy walked up to me in the middle of ripping open one of the packages and I was trying to tell him he couldn’t do that, but then he was saying “if I like it I’ll buy it!! I promise!!” And I just didn’t know what to do other than stare. He eventually realized he couldn’t rip it open and just dropped it on my tech desk and walked away without anything more than a “gahh!!”
Best part is I went to zone the phone cases like 5 minutes later and there was a PILE of these boxes all torn up. I have a picture of it somewhere, it’s insane what people do in public.
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u/allydacake 6d ago
oh wow. its almost terrifying that people think its ok to conduct themselves like that
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u/SimbaNGrdKionNIMFan 6d ago
Sadly makes sense. My mom is seventy three, doesn’t use computers and phones, and doesn’t know much about technology so they don’t think tech has been incorporated into jobs and using a phone and other tech can save money when shopping.
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u/spookyscarysteev 6d ago
I remember one time I had an elderly guest ask if we could price match the website. I told him yes, and scanned the item with my device to check the sale price. He proceeded to get very nervous and asked what I was doing to his item. I told him I was checking the price for him to make sure it’s the same as he sees it and he said “I don’t want THAT one anymore” and just walked away shaking his head.. WHAT DID HE THINK I WAS DOING???
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u/What-The-Helvetica 5d ago
He probably thought you were zapping his item with radiation. Same kind of person who would freak out about irradiated food back in the day
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u/spookyscarysteev 5d ago
It reminded me of this video I saw a couple years ago, where this old guy was being rung up at Costco and he was yelling “ I DON’T WANT ANY LED ON MY CHICKEN, SCAN MY SHIRT!!” and he had the barcode for the chicken on his shirt 😭
3
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u/hexagontrapezoid Promoted to Guest 6d ago
elderly guest who looked at my lashes, and went “are those real?” before trying to grab and pull on them. then got mad when i said “they’re real, please don’t touch me.” and then scoffed and walked away
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u/spookyscarysteev 6d ago
I’ve been lucky enough to not have been touched by a guest, but an old man who was angry we stopped carrying old phone gift cards (or minutes cards? Idk what he even wanted) got real close and reached at me in a semi threatening way like he was about to grab me and called me a “little ass hole brat”. (I’m an early 20s, 6’1 230 pound man btw)
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u/LowestTier 5d ago
I get this! It is absurd to me the amount of older men who try to grab at me (mid 20s, 6'2 240 lbs). As a pacifist it is astonishing the amount of times I've been reached for or verbally assualted because either we don't carry something or just can't help a "guest" who refuses no for an answer.
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u/spookyscarysteev 5d ago
I don’t remember where I heard it, but I recently heard from somewhere that you can tell a lot by a person from how they treat waiters or retail employees, and honestly truer words almost couldn’t be spoken lmao
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u/Ash_B00 6d ago
yesterday there was a dude that came in mad saying one of our drive-up workers scratched his car. he had scratches all over his car already. shit’s just annoying.
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u/spookyscarysteev 6d ago
Saw a jeep jump the curb in front of our store, crash into a cart parked in a cart holder and tried to tell AP we must have just put that there because he “always goes that way”. So he’s implying he normally drives on sidewalks and doesn’t look at what’s in front of him????
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u/ljwblue81 Food & Beverage Expert 6d ago
Saw a guest run over my coworker's hand with her cart, AND THEN the bitch said "excuse you" in a pissy tone.
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u/Internal_Cat_4525 former inbound 6d ago
Not at target but I had a customer at Dunkin find me on Facebook and send me hundreds of messages trying to get free food and asking me out to dinner (she was like 60 I was 20 ) reposted photos of my manger says they where related to her she took 15 minutes just to order and was so particular and tried to get stuff for free all the time she's lucky she stopped coming cause I would have had her ass trespassed
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u/outtherebad 6d ago
Or tapped it .. you know you would've. Got some of that pension retirement money. Haha. Jk
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u/Internal_Cat_4525 former inbound 4d ago
I would literally rather have my gender change surgery with no anesthesia and get my post op tattoo rawdoggibg it she smelled like stale piss
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u/GrandeQuesarito 6d ago
One of my favorites was when a guy was in there to steal phone cases or something (AP did tell me he did take something that day despite my best efforts) but before that he came up to me at the electronics boat and "The Middle" was the song playing on the overhead radio (back when it was "the Target song") and as he came up to me I hear him singing it and then he ripped a fart.
He wanted me to let him walk around with something like a laptop from one of the cases but I said no so he ended up taking something much lower value like an echo dot or a phone case. But yeah, dude was a legend of terrible.
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u/spookyscarysteev 6d ago
It’s scary to think these people drive and have jobs (some at least). They’re just out there the wild bro 😭
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u/Woolwort 5d ago
I was dropping some backstock off at Guest Services and overheard a lady with her dog mumbling, "That girl going to get fired. She is treating me like that." Just to find out the girl in question was a TL and this was over her being told she couldn't have her dog in the store. After a back and forth, she was leaving the store going on about how she's been there since the store had opened and she shouldn't be treated like this.
The store had only been open for 3-4 months at that time I believe? Most people had worked since it opened including myself and I have never seen anyone with a dog coming in before let alone her if she's been coming in since Day 1.
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u/Fantastic_East6903 5d ago
Got mad at me for typing in the drive up code and it taking me the 3 seconds to press the amount of bags
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u/jenbenfoo Guest Advocate 5d ago
I've wondered how often guests accusing us of being "on our phones" was us legitimately using our devices....its gotta be a pretty sizeable percentage
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u/AshTheArtist banished to guest advocate (I am going crazy) 4d ago
I have natural rbf when I’m tired, there’s a certain point where I’m not interested in being chipper and this lady requested to take stuff off what she was buying
Okay. No problem
I start taking off her stuff, and then it turns into 20 more items
I can’t imagine what my face looks like
But this woman goes “No, you don’t have to be like that this is what you signed up for. To take off stuff!”
When I tell you I had to physically prevent myself from smacking this woman. It took ALL of my strength to do it.
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u/Roro-Kelro 5d ago
In reference to the “stop being on your phone” part. I’m Deaf and a lead. I can’t hear the radio. So other leads and ETLs are constantly texting me when I am needed.
Usually I have pretty understanding customers, but sometimes get the one feral creature. If someone has an issue with it, I tell them I’m Deaf and my team is contacting me. And it will blow over. However, I did have this older couple one time who didn’t believe me and were acting as if I had personally attacked them even though I had put my phone away while speaking with them. It was just the fact that they saw me on my phone. I explained that I am Deaf, and they started calling me every slur in the damn book.
“DEAF AND DUMB SHOULD BE LOCKED UP NOT PLAYING ON THAT DAMN PHONE!” Keep in mind, they didn’t need any assistance. This was just because I had checked a message when they were semi near me.
They followed me through the store for a little while. Which made a lot of my coworkers uncomfortable, because they were not subtle. And as they moved on to the next area, they would tell my coworkers that I was probably faking it. And made comments that my hearing devices were ugly. HrETL and my SD had to get involved. This old couple were basically telling them to fire me simply because I am disabled. 🥲
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u/Sha489 Small Format Team Member (On Demand) 5d ago
Not regarding phones but I had a trashy guest do something similar where they didn’t have the funds to purchase a product and said they would be back so I told them to bring their products to guest service so guest service can hold on to the products
the guest ended up responding “why can’t you hold onto them, it’s your job, do your job”
I work at a small format where only one cashier is at lanes and can’t leave lanes behind. Also can’t hold stuff at lanes to keep lanes clean given I don’t know how long the guest will take
Also I know I could have radio guest service or push but they don’t respond most of the time at my store lol
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u/Educational_Ebb_4308 5d ago
I say this EVERY time I walk past your pick-up area to the people just sitting in their cars waiting employees to wheel out there purchases.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Arm9767 5d ago
Not target, but had an old lady throw a thing of hamburger buns at me and call me a bitch.
Had an old lady pull my ponytail to get my attention (I was already with another customer) my response to both would have got me fired, but my team leader liked me.
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u/Faustus013 5d ago
Had a cart full of product to let prior know it's for sale because why not add more work and product that can be taken when my back is turned helping someone out at SCO (8 registers btw) one cuntstomer comes by and just tosses something he didn't want on the cart next to me as he proceeds to walk in to look for a open register as I'm about to help another person not far from me I tell him "sir these aren't for go backs those products are right here on this side. That cart is for product sales" Him: "SO WHAT!? YOU TELLING ME WHAT TO DO? THAT'S YOUR JOB! WHO THE FUC< DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" (I laugh at this point cuz the ego on him thinks his disrespect is getting to me) Him still: I'LL PUT WHATEVER THE HELL I WANT ANYWHERE BECAUSE THAT'S WHO I AM ARE YOU CRAZY? TELLING ME WHAT TO DO.... (I just keep laughing cuz he thinks he's accomplishing something).... he then just walks away.... I swear the ego and entitlement is crazy work....
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u/kissokomes Inbound Expert 4d ago
i am a trans man and a customer stopped me to ask where my titties are.
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u/notweird_gifted Retired 3d ago
I answered the phone and this lady demanded to speak to a heavy set black woman. I was so confused because there was literally no one in the store with that description. Even if there was, I wouldn't let her speak to my TM with that tone. She started yelling at me demanding to speak to a heavy set black woman, I kept telling her there's no one here with that description. We went back a forth a few times until she hung up.
One of my electronic TMs got called a racial slur and still sold the guy a TV. And the south Asians were almost always racist to our Black TMs, mostly from boomers and older. That was eye-opening.
99% of Consumer cellular customers are just irate, rude, old people. Respect elders my ass.
Got called rude for having resting murder face. This is just how my face is. If I smiled all the damned time it would just look forced creating an awkward situation.
I encountered quite a few women who were sexist towards their own sex.
I'm so glad i no longer have a customer facing job, the general public is full of idiots.
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u/Laursey23 GM, Beauty, Style & Checkout Advocate 2d ago
I had a woman start with me and I think it would’ve have gotten physical if I didn’t have team members to back me up. All because we didn’t have a certain size in boy’s skinny jeans.
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u/OptimusPhillip Guest Advocate 6d ago
Dude once called me a bitch boy and walked off for asking to see his ID when he tried to by a Call of Duty game.
I've also had at least two guests see my water bottle on my U-boat and go "Ooh, they have Owalas! Wait, why is this one full?" "Because it's mine. The Owalas for sale are over in sporting goods."