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Convenient store workers, what's a memorable customer you've had?


About eight years ago I worked a stint at 7-11 and had my share of weird customers, but one day a guy came in that has always stayed with me.

The guy came up to me to buy some coffee and when he went to pay, I noticed he was missing all four fingers on his right hand. I didn't say anything about it, but I guess he noticed because he held his hand up and said, "Oh, yeah. I have an ex wife." To which I was just like "Oh yeah? That sucks. I guess."

He then went into this huge story about his life, as if we were old buddies catching up on everything that had happened to him in the last decade. Other people would come in and buy things, and he'd just step off to the side, wait for them to pay for their items and then step back up to the counter to continue where he left off.

We talked for about a good 45 minutes, though I didn't really contribute a lot to the conversation short of nodding and a few agreeing responses here and there. It turned out he was collecting disability after the elevator accident and his wife left him for being "a cripple" after about thirty years of marriage. I felt for the guy and I didn't even know him.

Not really a comedic encounter but he left soon after that and never came back in, but I stood there just thinking "... well, damn." Definitely one of the most interesting customers I ever had.

Then there's the construction worker who didn't crap in the toilet, but right on top of the lid. But that's a different story altogether.

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I was working one day and this guy comes in walks up to me and says "Jeffrey Epstein didn't commit suicide"

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Guy comes in and looks at the scratch lottery options. I ask "what can I get for you", you know, as one does when working behind a counter. His hands drop, exasperated. He sighs. Shakes his head and says with much attitude "I'll TELL you when I'm ready".

Now I've dealt with plenty of attitude in my, oh, let's call it 15 years here. I have never once gotten it for literally no reason. This man was acting like... actually I don't even know what he was acting like. I can't even come up with a comparison because the way he was acting was so weird!

It's just a small thing, but if there's one thing on this job I'll never forget, it might be that one interaction.

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I never worked in a convenience store (Though I did apply to a Wawa once) but I worked in a supermarket in my mid-late 20s so I would get a taste of it. One time I'm baggin grocers and this pregnant lady was standing right there then she just passed out and fell to the floor, I froze and luckily someone else called 911.

Then I would get the comments about the paper that day from people who were still getting it (early 2010s), some headline about a football player who did some crime "I always say those footballs players are all dumbjocks, every one of them lugheads"

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