What's your MOST AWKWARD 'Sorry, but I don't work here' Experience? - Reddit Podcast

what's your most awkward sorry but I don't work here experience made the mistake of wearing an orange T-shirt to Home Depot I was approached four or five times walking back to the lumber section the funny thing is the expression of confusion and denial on people's faces I would say oh I don't work here I just wore the wrong shirt today and they would stare at me perplexed wondering if I was messing with them I was at a local thrift store looking at old typewriters with my sister they were very very very cheap and she's a writer so I was buying her one there was a fellow there who heard me ask out loud a question about how it works he was a nice old guy who came over and showed me the inner workings of the unit for a solid 50 to 60 minutes he was very passionate about typewriters and had expert level knowledge after an hour of him showing me everything you could imagine with a typewriter and how they work I asked a question about the price he responds with well I don't know about that because I don't work here I just like typewriters he was probably lonely there's an older gentleman who used to be a professional photographer but had to retire due to being constrained to a wheelchair he hangs around our camera displays a few hours every week and talks to people about cameras he's so knowledgeable and so enthusiastic that no one's complained since he started doing it over a year ago I was at a local computer and game store and this elderly gentleman asked me where they put the controllers for PS3 I told him sorry I don't work here so I don't really know he said seriously why would you even work here if you don't don't know where anything is dummy 10 out of 10 would go to that store again imagine the S9 people the folks who do work here have to put up with then Source I work at a video game store I was browsing movies at HMV when a lady came up to me and asked if I had Star Wars on Blu-ray I was like yeah of course they're my favorites then she asks where they are um at my house that's when I realized she thought I worked there and wasn't just wanting to talk about Star Wars I was in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul a very busy store I asked the shop owner something and he just said give me a plastic bag which I did I understand Turkish then I helped him for a couple of minutes putting things in bags I was just trying to help since he was really stressed out he apologized so many times when he realized I wasn't one of his employees and he gave me a discount I mean what was that guy's employee turnover that he didn't recognize whether someone in his shop was an employee or not or is this a one of those faces issue in 2004 I worked at a Petco that was right next to a Best Buy so the same blue shirt and car keys only different logos I went over to pick up a game right after work and got sucked into a chat with a guy about picking out a laptop after 10 minutes of going through the pros and cons of various Brands he decides he'd like to get one I was just like cool well good luck with that I used to work in a bar that was about a 5-minute walk from Tesco a grocery store every Saturday afternoon the bar would hit a lull between 4:00 and 5: so I'd get sent to Tesco to pick up fruit mint and juice for the night and seemingly every Saturday some customer in Tesco would come up to me and mistake me for staff there my work uniform didn't even look similar to the Tesco uniform I've never understood it the best case of mistaking me for someone who worked in Tesco was this a woman who came up to me while I had my hands full of cartons of juice she started complaining about the crappy service and unhelpful staff I tried telling her that I didn't work there but she kept cutting me off eventually she demanded to speak to my men manager I responded with oh you'll have to go to the bar around the corner to speak to the manager that's where she is the woman looked shocked for a second but then said oh well that explains why this place is run like a poor excuse for a circus your manager is off in a bar drinking on the job I should have guessed it to which I responded no I work in that bar and I was sent here for stock if you want to speak to my manager you can go to my workplace and talk to her she realized immediately the mistake she had made and became much nicer and very apologetic to me you know someone is a terrible person when you can see them transform so quickly from Monster to Angel then you just know that they abuse that ability and have the power to be a jerk to someone and convince everyone else that it's the other way around because they're always nice otherwise when I was done working and had gotten back to my apartment still in my mailman clothes I was stopped by a woman asking me whether or not I had her package I had to explain to her that I wasn't at work and that I'd been her neighbor the past 2 years I was at dinner in a decent resta restaurant in La I was wearing a suit but had taken my jacket off and wasn't wearing a tie so it was black shoes and pants and a white shirt I went to the bathroom and was passing this table and this guy grabbed my arm as I was walking past and said sorry could you find out where our wine is we asked you ages ago at this point I hadn't realized I resembled the staff in this place and was a bit Shell Shocked so I said sure and went for a tinkle on my way back I thought I'd be a dutiful human being and go and tell the barman as it was on my way that this guy hadn't had his wine the barman slapped his forehead and said hang on and gave me a glass of white to take to him which I did and apologized for the delay and the guy appreciated it too then I sat down and went on with my dinner you probably broke a licore by doing that you're nice though I was at Target right after work I had on a red Polo and car keys and it had my company name embroided on it that starts with a tea I was doing some Network stuff so I wasn't wearing my normal dress clothes I forget what I was buying but I had my cart full and my purse over my shoulder a woman asked me where the laundry detergent was I'm used to this so I just told her that I think it's down a few Isles the woman lost her ever loving mind on me saying that I was a horrible employee I should know where everything is in my store I'll never be paid above minimum wage because I'm so stupid she wanted my name my supervisor's name and the number to corporate it was after her rant that I politely informed her ma'am I don't work here I was just telling you where I saw it while shopping for my own stuff she didn't believe me and went to find a manager I went to the checkout I guess she found a manager and brought him to where I was checking out started demanding that he reprimand me he then informed her that I didn't in fact work there she was flabbergasted and just walked away no apology no nothing the manager however did apologize to me I told him no problem not his fault you can't fix stupid in conclusion I no longer wear red polos to Target once I was at Walmart pretty late at night around 11: I think I was looking for cold medicine or something like that anyway a woman who looks to be in her late 30s I'm 20 comes up to me and shows me her child's school supply list asking if I can help her find some portfolio folder or something I was about to tell her that I didn't work there when I saw her daughter who looked to be around 7 or8 in one of the aisles peeking out and looking tired and a little nervous I know how Walmart can be in terms of finding an employee to help you so I decided to just stick around and helped them find everything on the list I realized that neither of them spoke very much English which made some of the items on the lists confusing it took a good 20 minutes but they were both really Greatful and nice I guess it's not really an awkward story like you asked for but still a story in conclusion helped a non-english-speaking woman and her daughter find school supplies at Walmart even though I don't work there well that sounds like something quite a few people I know would do out of sheer social anxiety rather than inherent niceness still pretty great of you though a couple of weeks ago I was at my local PetSmart chatting with the one guy there who actually knows his stuff I have had a good deal of experience with aquariums but I like to run my ideas by other people before I try them out we were talking but a customer came up so he broke off to assist them as I was standing there looking at the fish an old woman walks up to me and asks about what kind of bowl and food she should get for her goldfish her grandson had bought home from the fair I started to tell her that I didn't work there but as I glanced around the guy I was talking to and the other employee were busy so went kind of like this oh uh I don't really you know the thing is goldfish actually need a fairly large aquarium so you should either get at least a 30-gallon setup with this filter and such or if you don't want to invest that much I'm sure the store would be more than happy to take it off your hands if you'd like a more manageable fish I'd recommend a better now here are some good setups for them yada yada yada I finished helping the old woman and immediately get another customer at this point I noticed there's a mini rush as it's around 5ish people are stopping by after work this other customer comes up to me and asks a question about what fish would work well in her son's guppy tank at this point I'm pretty much committed and I decide to help her too eventually after about 25 minutes and several more customers the crowd thins out and I go back to my conversation with the employee I ended up helping PetSmart sell several fish and one aquarium that day in conclusion PetSmart customer mistakes me for employee I assist customers for half an hour because I'm too awkward to correct her when I was as a teenager I worked in Virgin Records renamed to Virgin Mega stores in the UK now I'd finished my shift and I'd had a pretty terrible day I was browsing to buy a couple of CDs to cheer myself up a customer walked up to me and started asking questions I dealt with customers all day so I breezily responded sorry I don't work here so the customer responds but you're wearing a virgin uniform there was a super awkward pause during which I could have easily said I'm off duty and about to leave and recovered but in panic said I just like to wear it and I walked out of the store you know those moments when years later you recall an awkward encounter and just shudder that's my scumbag brains go-to moment I had a similar experience while working at HMV many years ago I just finished a shift in the run up to Christmas so I slapped a jumper over my HMV t-shirt and started walking toward the door when a customer decided that it would be okay to block my path and demand to know if I worked there I said yes but I was no longer on the clock and that I'd be more than happy to direct her to one of my colleagues who she' see were all wearing visible HMV shirts she insisted that I help her anyway and when I told her no she flipped her lid and told me she'd be speaking with the manager and that I should be fired I still can't get over the sense of entitlement some people have you can submit your own stories to be featured here on the channel the story submission link is in the description below and if you want to listen to some viby music in the background check out easy mode also linked below and subscribe around Christmas time I was on my lunch hour in my uniform picking up some Christmas stuff I was in a card shop and this man in his 60s hit me over the head with a wrapping paper roll as a joke before apologizing profusely on realizing I was a customer there having said that I don't know why that would ever be considered a thing to do to someone who you don't know whether they work there or not I never resolved it I was 16 and awkward I was at the PX trying to pick out a rotisserie chicken for dinner when a guy came up to me and began asking where a couple of items were located in the store knowing that new people were always incoming I told him what aisles some of the items were in but then I said I was sorry for not knowing where one or two of them were located he then got mad at me and said I should know the layout of where I work and he was about to walk away angrily when I stopped him I let him know that the people who work at the store wore a certain uniform and as I wasn't wearing one I obviously didn't work there he still seemed mad and said well if you didn't look like a stock worker you wouldn't have had to deal with me asking you questions and then he walked off my brother was at Best Buy and was mistaken for an employee because he was wearing a blue shirt the first time someone asked him where something was he politely told them he didn't work there but he did tell them where the product was the second time this happened he thought he'd have some fun and pretty much had this guy following him all around the store looking for something my brother had no clue where it was the guy eventually asked do you even work here my brother simply replied nope the guy stormed out of the store so fast my brother just went back to what he was doing doing one time my best friend and I were in Walmart digging in the $5 movie bin we're standing looking at all these crappy movies hoping to find a gem when this random lady walks up and asks if we work there I say sorry ma'am no we don't and we continue digging through the bin well this wasn't good enough for this lady she stands there and asks us something about finding volleyball equipment I forget exactly what it was she was looking for specifically I asked if she looked through the Sporting Goods which she was standing right in front of and she says well yes of course but I didn't see it I thought y'all would know where it would be at this point my friend and I are both a little frustrated with the situation so I tell her that we have no idea where else the volleyball equipment would be at the store I ask if she's gone to Dick's Sporting Goods that's when all heck broke loose she raised her voice and started yelling about how she wasn't going to spend that much money and rancing and raving about the cost difference and this and that my friend and I just looked at each other and walked away in conclusion lady wants to know where volleyball equipment is in Walmart and then yells at my friend and I neither of us work there for suggesting that she look at a dedicated Sporting Goods store the dress code for the company I worked for was this black pullover and the standard dress shoes and trousers I usually walk up to aser or Walmart for lunch and stood for about 5 minutes deciding which sweets or chocolate I should get as I'm looking I get a tap on the shoulder there's a woman standing there and she begins shouting at me I have been standing here asking you for help for 5 minutes I give a weird look and she realized I don't work at Asda and she gets embarrassed and walks away as I'm walking to the till I notice someone who actually worked at Asda in kind of the same attire except for that they have an Asda in big green letters on their jumper finally a place to share my stories when I was younger around 14 I used to go shopping with my mother as I'm sure lots of people do she told me to wait outside the store while she quickly went in and I coincidentally was wearing a similar outfit to the store clerks blue tarp gray pants an older woman walked towards me and practically yelled out that she had gone online and found a product she wanted and demanded that I take her to it I politely said that I didn't work there and that was the end of it right wrong she claimed that I had to work there I was wearing the uniform I tried to argue otherwise but she just insisted that I work there and she'll tell my manager eventually my mom returned and we both left but I still fill with rage at the thought of this woman ma'am I don't work here yes you do oh okay a reality defying level of will to be a Karen on display here magnificent and inspiring a feat of imagination we can all aspire to not awkward but helpful I noticed every helper in this store was ignoring this elderly lady I happened to be wearing the same color of shirt and she came up to me for help I happily helped her and even helped her go to the check out lane she tells me I'm a good employee and will write a nice letter to the company about me a little backstory first when I was about 11 years old I went with my family to Philadelphia Zoo it was about 80° out and little me decided to wear a hoodie for some reason of course I get too hot and need to take it off but I forgot to wear a shirt underneath so my parents brought me a shirt that said Philadelphia Zoo on it so my family and I are walking around the gift shop right before we were about to leave little me is checking out some sweet stuffed animal when a middle-aged woman comes up to me and Taps me on the shoulder excuse me she says where can I find sunscreen I was kind of confused when she asked me but I was happy to help since she asked politely I quickly looked around and saw some non- souvenirs behind the counter uh um I'm I'm guessing you can find it at the counter over there I said then this woman gave me a look like she wasn't sure if I was intelligent or not so you're just guessing she says the way she said it made me realize something was off but I didn't make the connection remember I'm 11 freaking years old yeah I mean there are batteries and stuff back there so there should be sunscreen she then gave me a quick smile and said okay thank you for your help I didn't have a clue what happened until I told my dad what was happening as we were leaving he started laughing and pointed out I was wearing the Philadelphia Zoo shirt and this broad thought I'd worked there my first day of class someone thought I was a professor I was only 20 and I didn't think I looked that old you've got to stop wearing the sweaters with the elbow pads dude I was on my break and decided to walk down the mall to the Bon which is now Macy's I was wandering around seeing what the sales were when I was approached by one of those high and mighty Rich witches she asked where something was and I told her I didn't work there she got all huffy and stormed away I went about my browsing a few minutes later here she comes again this time with an actual Store employee in toe saying that's her that's the one that won't help me the employee actually a department manager asked me why I was out of my department and that I knew better than to not help a customer while approached she then asked what department I was from finally a chance to speak I replied I sell shoes at where I was promptly interrupted and given another tongue lashing all while Rich Witch is sitting there with a smirk on her face manager told me to go to the office and wait for her I turned on my heel and walked my way towards the exit doors instead she catches up to me and loudly demands to know if I wanted to be fired or if I was going to go to the office I responded I'm going to my office she said there were no offices in that direction and demanded I turn in my name tag and gather my things I took my name badge off handed it to them while saying I don't think my district manager is going to like you firing this top selling store manager from Ken shoes she looked down at the name badge and back up at me white as a sheet manager hands my badge back mumbled an apology and scurried away with her embarrassment and this Rich Witch there's a lesson in this take your name badge off when you're on a break and go go to other stores while at my aunt's funeral I was wearing my black suit hair was looking presentable but my shoes were two different sizes and Brands apparently I looked like I worked at that funeral home probably because I was standing off to the side because I only knew three out of the 50 people there including my aunt anyway I was asked at least twice if I worked there or where this thing was by who else family members I'd never met they thought it was funny after I told them I still don't know who they are I was in Normandy France at one of the landing beaches and some American tourists thought I was a tour guide me being the kind of person I am went along with it and started teaching them about the Beach's history and telling them good places to visit I'd only been there for an hour but I did know the history rather well I continued talking to them through the landing and taking questions and then the tour guide turned up I just laughed and walked away and they thanked me in a confused manner I don't think it dawned on them at that precise moment I was a random guy and not a tour guide this has happened to me more than once when I was a paramedic I just finished my shift and popped into the grocery store to grab something quick for dinner breakfast apparently an older woman's eyesight was off that day because she thought I worked there grocery store employees don't dress at all like a paramedic but whatever I helped her load a few Frozen chickens into her cart she thanked me profusely and wanted to get my name so she could tell my manager what a great employee I am so I gave her the name and number of my supervisor the next Monday my supervisor calls me into his office and asked me to explain this voicemail hello my name is old woman I just wanted to say that you have one of the finest employees in the entire grocery store he helped me load all the chickens I needed for my potluck into my cart immediately and without hesitation he was so kind and generous with his time and blah blah blah his voicemail actually cut her off the message was so long so she called back and left a second voicemail just to finish her praise my supervisor just stared at me I stared back we never spoke of it again I think he was of the opinion that I was Moonlighting as some sort of grocery store chicken loading demigod when you subscribe make sure to hit the Bell to turn on notifications put the playlist on in the background to finish listening to all the stories or if you want some viby music to put on in the background check out easy mode if you like am I the genius give am I the jerk a shot everything Linked In the description

Channel: Am I the Genius?

Views: 10,701

Keywords:

Id: CXk3xgNiNd8

Length: 20min 27sec (1227 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 13 2024