I’m a male with a full head of super curly hair thanks to a strong Greek ancestry. It’s a family joke that our family genes are the reason why people think Medusa had snakes for hair. I also happen to work at a library.

A few years ago, while I was at work, a lady complimented me on my outfit, which I accepted graciously. (I was dressed in business attire and admitted that I looked dapper in it.) She then proceeded to stick her whole hand into my mass of hair. I froze for a moment, absolutely gobsmacked.

Lady: *Snootily* “Oh. You use [Product].”

Me: *Coldly* “You try getting a brush through this monster without detangler. Now get your d*** hands out of my hair.”

The lady went from zero to a hundred in the blink of an eye and screamed for a manager. As this was a library, her voice seemed extra loud in the quiet environment. Everyone nearby looked up to see what was going on. She tried to remove her hand, but the curls snagged, so of course, she came away with a few strands of my hair while I yelped in pain.

My manager came at a run just in time to see this woman rip her hands out of my hair and my head being yanked with it before she was free. He ignored the woman, who was still yelling.

Manager: “Oh, my God, [My Name], are you all right?”

Lady: *Yelling over him* “No, I am not all right! Your employee just swore at me!”

Manager: “I wasn’t asking you. And of course, he did. He’s perfectly allowed to, after what I just saw you do.”

The lady sputtered in shock at the sheer gall of a lowly employee being allowed to swear at the all-important patron.

Then, [Manager] did the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard: he gave her a glorious dressing-down. By the time he was done, the lady was absolutely red in the face and speechless as this quiet-voiced man told her in no uncertain words what a lowly person she was.

He finished up by informing her that she was now banned from the library.

She finally just spun on her heel and left without another word.

We wrote up an incident report. [Manager] was very familiar with his patron (for all the negative reasons), so her leaving wasn’t a problem since he could look her up via her library card information.

[Manager] explained that everything was on the security video, and he planned to call the police since what the lady had done qualified as assault and battery. He was explaining that I would be fully in the right to file a report with them over this and gently advising me that I should, considering how boldly she had done it, when two police officers came in.

The woman had called the police on US! I think my emotions were more tangled up than my hair because I just burst out laughing hysterically and couldn’t stop.

[Manager] showed them the security footage, and I went through with pressing charges once I could stop laughing long enough to do so.

When all was said and done, my manager told me that I could go home for the day if I wanted to which, after a moment of hesitation, I accepted. I promptly went home and washed my hair three times.

Not only is it violating to have someone’s hand shoved up to the wrist in your hair, but you don’t know where the hair or the hands have been. What if my hair had lice? What if she didn’t wash after doing heaven-knows-what in the bathroom?! I was just so grossed out.

A reminder to everyone: DO NOT TOUCH PEOPLE WITHOUT PERMISSION.

I live in a small town in Michigan in the middle of nowhere. Our police force is very small (currently ten active duty officers), and I only recently started my duty as a policewoman. I’m mostly stationed on the east side of the city, but I grew up on the west side. Not many people recognize me here, so I come across a lot of Entitled Jerks who don’t know I’m a cop when I’m off duty or undercover. We get a lot of them near the end of the month in and around our shopping mall, so even in my off hours, I spend some time down there just in case there’s an emergency.

One day, I was shopping for my friend’s birthday when I heard a commotion at the front of the store. It didn’t seem too major, but I decided I’d been shopping long enough, and I was curious anyway, so I made my way over to pay. At the registers, I saw a woman in a heated debate with one of the young employees working there. I set myself up in the checkout behind her and kept my hand near my phone in case I needed to text my on-duty friend.

Woman: “I DON’T UNDERSTAND! HOW STUPID CAN YOU BE?! DID YOU EVEN GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL? I HAVE THESE COUPONS THAT COVER THAT AND THAT, AND THIS IS 50% OFF! THEREFORE, MY TOTAL SHOULD BE THIS AND THAT!”

Employee: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but I told you that coupon is expired, and even with those coupons that aren’t expired, you can’t use two on the same purchase.”

Woman: “I DEMAND TO SEE YOUR MANAGER!”

Employee: “I’m sorry, she’s out at the moment. If you would like to wait for her, I can hold your items for you—”

Woman: “THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE! I HAVE PLACES TO BE! JUST GIVE ME THIS FOR FREE!”

Employee: “I’m sorry, I can’t do that—”

Woman: “THEN GET ME AN OLDER EMPLOYEE WHO CAN!”

At that point, the woman had gone from yelling to screaming and had thrown her coupons at the cashier.

Me: “Ma’am, please calm down. She’s just a teenager, and throwing things is just plain childish.”

Woman: “YOU DON’T TALK TO ME THAT WAY, MISSY! MIND YOUR OWN D*** BUSINESS!”

I shrugged and closed my mouth, but I told myself that if she did anything more aggressive, I’d pull out my badge. They kept at this back and forth for a while, the woman demanding the same things and the girl apologizing and repeating her answer.

Finally, when the woman realized she wasn’t getting what she wanted, she grabbed her bags and sprinted for the door. I waited for her to cross the security rails, and as they went off, I caught up to her in a few seconds (she was a very slow, portly woman) and tackled her to the ground. After reading the woman her rights, I called my buddy, and he came to arrest her, getting the camera footage from the store and even bringing me down to help him fill out paperwork. She was charged $500 for petty thievery and was banned from the store permanently.

Today was my three-year-old’s birthday party at a local park. I was really nervous about this because it was kind of last-minute (for me), and I was afraid of having a party at the public park with so many people being there and others not realizing you have to rent the pavilion on the city’s page. I was afraid there would be another birthday party there and I would have to tell another mother that I already had it rented. I was sick over the weekend just thinking how awful it would be to tell another mom this! 

Sure enough, we got there, and there was a man there. I walked up explaining, and he said:

Man: “Sorry, I have my receipt.”

I could tell right then by the tone of his voice that he wasn’t going to work with me.

Me: “Okay. I’ll call the police and let them handle it.”

When the police got there, I showed them my receipt, and then they walked up to the man and talked to him. The man never showed them his phone, a piece of paper, or a receipt — nothing! I was standing about ten feet back, and an officer called me closer.

Officer: “Listen. He says he has a receipt, and I believe him. He is going to work with you and allow you to use the pavilion, but you have to be gone by 3:30.” 

I’m sorry, but as a woman, I could tell that these two male officers and the other man really thought I was just some bimbo wearing Minnie Mouse ears and holding a Mickey Mouse cake. They thought I was about to just say, “Okay,” because they wanted to take his “word” for it while I was standing there with a receipt from the city that clearly showed that I had rented it. 

Man: “Ma’am, I’m on the City of [City] board, and I’m buddies with [Other Man]. I’ll call him up! We actually rented out this entire park for $50! I mean, we are doing a fundraiser here.” 

Me: “Okay, well, can you show me your receipt for it?

Man: “I don’t know how to look it up.”

I looked at the police officers.

Me: “So, I’m standing here with my City of [City] receipt, and you’re just going to take his word, and my three-year-old doesn’t get her party?”

Every pavilion was taken with parties.

Officer: “It’s a civil matter. I’m sorry.”

Me: “I can’t believe y’all are handling it like this.” *Turning to [Man]* “Okay, we’ll call [Other Man] up!”

He called [Other Man] and put him on speakerphone. [Other Man] then explained to [Man] that he had only rented out the golf disc area at the park for the day, no pavilions. 

I rest my case.

This may have just been some birthday party for a three-year-old who’s not gonna remember it, but my kids mean the world to me. Yes, the man was doing a fundraiser, but I organize and host fundraisers and would never use it as an excuse for anything, so it kind of annoyed me. 

We ended up having a great party!

My son and his wife go to a beach on the North Carolina coast for several days of vacation. This particular beach has lifeguards, and the guard chairs are tall and spaced along the beach. There are signs at all entrances to the beach telling people not to set up umbrellas or shade canopies in front of the guard stands. The reason is that the guards cannot adequately scan the ocean for people in trouble if their vision is blocked. There is actually a local ordinance stating this, and people can be fined.

[Son] and his wife get set up with a small beach shade thingy. It is like a half-tent that you set your chair in. It’s low to the ground, blocks the wind, and provides some shade.

Nearby, a family arrives and proceeds to set up one of those big shade canopies — think something used for craft shows or festivals. It is set up close to the ocean and between two guard stands. In fact, [Son] remarks that he can’t see the second stand because of the canopy and the chairs, etc.

Soon enough, one of the guards approaches the group.

Lifeguard: “You need to move your canopy back behind the guard stands. It’s too tall and blocks the line of sight for us to watch the ocean for people in trouble.”

They seem to agree, and the guard leaves.

When the guard leaves, the group stops looking like they are going to move. They actually get out food and drinks and sit in their chairs. [Son] remarks to his wife that the group is asking to be evicted from the beach.

About twenty or thirty minutes go by, and the guard comes back.

Lifeguard: “You need to move your canopy behind the guard stands for safety reasons.”

This time, a woman in the group decides to argue.

Woman: “We’re not moving! There are other people out here with shade canopies and stuff!”

She points out [Son] and his wife and then another group with a small beach umbrella.

Lifeguard: “Both of those groups meet the safety requirements.”

Woman: “Call the police if you have to, but my family and I aren’t moving!”

About fifteen minutes later, the police arrived on the scene. The woman and her entitled group got a ticket and were told that they needed to move their canopy or they would be told to leave.

The police left, and the woman and her family picked all their stuff up and moved back behind the guard stand — like they were told to the first time.

CONTENT WARNING: Assault (No permanent damage)

I just got home after dealing with a major issue at one of my stores. On Sunday afternoon, one of my store managers was attacked by a customer. I had to fly out from Mississippi to Bowling Green, Kentucky. I arrived, got statements, and reviewed the video.

Our company policy requires incidents of assault to be investigated immediately. As the store manager was involved I had to do this investigation. Had it been a non-management employee, the store manager would have handled it and reported to me. None of those involved in this incident were given any reprimands or marks on their employee file for this.

This is what the camera showed. [Customer] parked her SUV in front of a fire exit. Our store managers are required to do a safety walk-through weekly, and this includes opening the fire exit to ensure that the door is operating properly and will open with no effort. Unbeknownst to this poor manager, [Customer] was parked on the other side of the door. When he opened the door, it dinged the SUV.

[Customer] immediately jumped out of the car and began verbally abusing [Manager]. [Manager] was apologizing and explaining that we could get the damage repaired. (Yes, I know that it was totally her fault, but our default to vehicle damage is to make it right.) Well, she would not listen to reason and the offer to repair it; she was too busy screaming, cussing, and continuing to verbally abuse [Manager].

A couple of guys from the shop who heard this began to head that way. The whole time, [Customer] was screaming louder and more aggressively. Then, as two of the employees came around the corner, [Customer] grabbed a brick from her purse and swung it at [Manager], hitting him in the left side of his face. The guys from the shop immediately separated [Customer] from [Manager], and the police were called.

The police arrived and arrested [Customer], and her vehicle was towed.

After that, the assistant manager called me immediately. Of course, [Manager] was taken to the emergency room, which is where I first visited to check on him. Thankfully, no permanent damage was done, but [Manager] had a nasty bruise and a black eye. I let him know that he had the next few days off with pay, as per our company policy.

He understood, and he knew his job was not in danger because I received information about the situation inbound from the assistant manager. If the video matched their story, it would be a very cut-and-dry case. The other employees involved were given the next day off, and we called in help from other stores.

[Manager] and the shop employees were released from the investigation as no rules or policies were violated, and there would be no punishment or mark on their records.

Now, let’s discuss this piece of trash [Customer]. Of course, we had her served and pressed charges on behalf of [Manager]. Our legal team plays no games, and I have suggested that we sue her for every penny we lost plus damages to our manager. They told me they would get back with me next week.

I am not sure what exactly she was charged with as the police said they would let us know once all charges are filed.