I am teaching a class of ten-to-eleven-year-old children. We are doing an art activity, and I am letting them pick which medium they want to use for their art piece. One of the students is on the autism spectrum, and he doesn’t always understand non-literal interpretations of phrases.

He is going through the charcoal pencils, which are graded in terms of softness.

Student: “[My Name, My Name!] I got hard!”

Me: *Glaring at the students who have started giggling.* “I’m glad you found the pencil you wanted. Now let’s talk about how you might want to rephrase that in the future…”

I just boarded a busy peak-hour train from one of the busier stations, where masses of people are boarding to head home for the day.

For this train line, there are two levels in a carriage, and the seating arrangement has two seats to one side and three seats to the other.

There are few seats available, but I’m lucky to just get a seat. On these trains, you will end up sitting next to strangers as there is simply no space otherwise.

But in one of the three-seat rows nearby, there is a woman sitting in the aisle seat with no one in the two seats next to her by the window. She has no large items or bags, just a small purse on her lap.

Someone approaches her and asks to sit. She looks incredibly irritated and tries to ignore them, but eventually stands up, lets the person on to sit by the window, and she sits back down in the aisle seat.

We get to the next station, which is one of the biggest in Sydney. Even more people board, and there are now people standing in the aisles as there are no seats available, except for the middle seat next to the woman.

Someone else approaches and asks to sit there. She again tries to ignore them with an annoyed look on her face. They ask again, and she stands up, looking furious and muttering something unintelligible. She then pushes past the people to go up the steps to the boarding space, and hits the button to open the doors to change carriages.

Only then does she look around. She looks shocked as she sees that the next carriage is the same, full seats with people standing in aisles. She looks back and realises that other people have just sat in the seat she vacated, and now there are no seats left.

After a few moments, she storms into the next carriage, pushing past people to get through on her way.

CONTENT WARNING: Death

I’m a cashier in a small second-hand bookstore. I’m behind the register talking with a regular customer while an older gentleman is browsing an aisle nearby. I have the radio playing when “Man, I feel like a woman” by Shania Twain comes on.

Older Gentleman: *At the top of his voice.* “I’m goin’ out tonight, I feel alrigh’.”

He then sings the whole song word for word and even includes some pretty impressive dance moves that I, someone in her early thirties, would have trouble with while the regular and I watch with awe and admiration.

Older Gentleman: *After the song ends.* “Sorry about that. That was my wife’s favourite song. I haven’t heard it since she passed away almost a year ago.”

Me: “That was amazing! Please don’t be sorry.”

The regular and I ended up talking with the gentleman and finding out both his wife and he were music teachers and loved all types of music from classical artists up to One Direction and everything in between. He had recently moved into a nearby retirement home and was hoping to find somewhere nearby that could teach him the basics of computers so he could listen to music again.

I ended up having to assist another customer, but the gentleman and regular ended up sitting down together, helping him find a free class aimed at helping people with basic computer skills.

For the next two years, the gentleman would come in a couple of times a week and always knew the songs played on the radio, even the newer stuff, thanks to free classes.

Unfortunately, I just found out he passed away peacefully in his sleep last night. I hope he’s now singing and dancing with his wife again.

A guest comes into the hotel around midday and complains to us at the front desk.

Guest: “Why is everything closed today? I can’t find any of the nice cafés open!”

Me: “Well, today is ANZAC day, so many of the shops will be closed today.”

Guest: “What the h*** is ANZAC?”

Me: “ANZAC is ‘Australian and New Zealand Army Corps’. It’s a Remembrance Day for all Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in war and conflicts.”

Guest: “But that’s Memorial Day! That’s in May!”

Me: “Maybe in the USA, madam, but we have our own day here.”

Guest: “That’s stupid! Countries can’t just go around making up their own silly holidays!”

Me: “Madam, all holidays are made up.”

Guest: “Well, you shouldn’t! There’s already a Memorial Day for this s***! You’ve ruined my plans!”

Me: “Sorry, madam. We’ll try to schedule our national commemorations around your shopping needs next time.”

I had the opposite experience from this story. 

My then girlfriend and I were buying breakfast after a big night out, the total came to about $17, and she gave the cashier a $50. The cashier counted out $23 in change.

Before she could hand it over, I said:

Me: “She gave you a $50, you’ve shorted us by $10.”

Cashier: “No, you gave me $40.”

Girlfriend: “Why would I give you two $20’s for a $17 meal?”

The cashier ‘uhmed’ and ‘ahhed’ for a second, then gave us the extra $10. 

Twenty-something years later, I’m still not sure if she was trying to scam us or just more hungover than I was.