Normal Workdays Take A Twisted Turn
Heading to work is a mundane task. The dull routine of answering calls, pushing papers, and helping customers is a drag and gets old quickly.
Once in a while, though, the universe steps in, and—for better or worse—something completely unexpected happens. Keep reading to hear some of the most bizarre days at work people have ever experienced.
1. Copy That!
I used to manage a copy and print store. One day, I had this very innocent-looking lady in her 70s come in. She had me copy several covers to cleaning/repair manuals for various armaments and heavy-duty munitions.
This wasn't too out of the ordinary since my store was the closest copy place to our county fairgrounds, where we had shows about that kind of stuff every month.
Less than a week later, she came back with a slightly odder print job. I looked them over, and my blood ran cold: covers for about a half dozen homemade explosives manuals, tactical tags for maps—marking IEDs, enemy/friendly units, rally and objective points—and detailed maps of our local air force base. This clearly sent up a few red flags, but for some reason, refusing to copy them for her just didn't seem safe.
After she left, I notified my regional manager and the FBI. Two agents were at my store in less than 15 minutes. They erased all the hard drives on my copiers, and I spent the next two hours answering questions. I got a call from one of the agents a few days later with a few final questions and the standard, "Thanks for doing this service to your country." I never heard anything more related to that incident.
It was definitely a day to remember.
2. Seeds Of Doubt
I was working the customer service booth at a grocery store. I had an elderly woman call multiple times, swear at me, and call my credibility into question because she purchased oranges that did not meet her highest standards.
Not only was she upset that the oranges were not tasty, but she accused me of pulling a bait and switch on her.
I had offered her a total refund or exchange, but she wasn’t having it. She said, "What is this? You put out the good oranges, and then when someone tells all their friends to buy them, you put out the bad ones?!" I replied, "I'm sorry, ma'am, that you had a negative citrus experience, but I can assure you there was no intent to trick or deceive you." She didn’t believe me.
It was the weirdest, most wild encounter I have ever had with a customer at a grocery store.
3. Up In Smoke
I was looking out the window toward a shop area where two men were getting ready to set up for their annual summer picnic. I suddenly heard a deafening “Bang!” I saw one of the men swiping at his face while the other guy stood there. Then they both walked away, and I found out later that the propane exploded in his face. He went to the hospital with second-degree burns. Needless to say, they weren’t going to be using propane for the BBQ.
I can only imagine how the rest of their day went!
4. I Couldn’t Cut Him Loose
I was working in the sporting goods department of a large retail chain that sold munitions. A man and his significant other came to the counter and told me they wished to purchase a long barrel.
After inspecting it, he declared that he would like to purchase it. I filed the usual paperwork and called the FBI hotline, only to find out that he was a convict.
I informed him that there was an issue and I couldn’t sell it to him. I gave him the hotline number and the request code, which was “SOP” for this store chain. He told me that his wife would purchase it. I told him that, per the law, that was not an option because she was with him during his attempt to buy it. I just wanted him to leave, but his next question was even more deranged: He asked for two machetes out of the case.
He was VERY upset at that point, so I told him I needed my manager’s approval for the sale. I called the manager over, and the guy went ballistic on the manager because I wouldn't sell him the machetes without approval.
The manager sold them to him and wrote me up for "poor customer service."
