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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/RoseBlack2222 on 2024-09-13 20:20:08+00:00.

It’s September which means it’s nearly my favorite season, Fall. Yes, the scorching heat is at last cooling down to a nice middling temperature until the winter chills set in. All the back-to-school supplies have given way to autumn decor such as fake pumpkins, rubber masks, lawn inflatables, and monster animatronics. Speaking of back to school, a bonus is seeing fewer children during the week. Look, I don’t have anything against kids, provided they are a minimal distance of fifty feet from me, but when they are running around, screaming while their parents have this vacant look in their eyes, that’s when I have a problem.

If you happen to disagree, spend a few years working retail at Walmart like I have and see if you don’t change your tune. In fairness, that’s only scratching the surface of the problems going on in those stores. As bad as that can be, it’s harmless most of the time, only ever going into the “make me want to rip my hair out in frustration territory”. I can’t say the same about what happened today.

I work in customer service. Being Friday, things were busier than usual for us. Our manager, Dell, is the superstitious type and he was adamant that we keep our eyes peeled for trouble since it’s also the thirteenth. While hectic, nothing out of the ordinary happened. That is until we got one particular customer. 

 My coworker, Steve and I were holding down the fort, trying to help customers as best we could. I was currently having my ear talked off on the phone.

“I’ve been a loyal shopper at Walmart for over thirty years!”(He’s already mentioned this several times)

“I understand, sir.” 

“Things used to be great there until your generation decided to screw things up!”

“I’m sorry you feel that way. Is there anything we can do to make it up to you?”

He went on a tirade that I wasn’t paying much attention to since it had nothing to do with the conversation. From what I remember, it was about “those damn Democrats running this country into the ground”, several bigoted statements against minorities, how prayer should be back in schools, and that certain people need to go back where they came from. I should mention he was insistent about how “not racist” he was.  I think there may have also been something in there against how Communists have infiltrated the government. The call dropped, making me momentarily grateful upper management hadn’t sent anyone out to fix the phones.

“Thank Christ,” I breathed, putting the phone down.

“Tough call?” Steve asked, unwrapping a piece of gum.

“Yup.”

“I feel you on that. Any plans after work?”

“I’m going to be watching a horror movie.”

“Which one?”

“It’s called Teke Teke.”

“Is that Japanese?”

“Yeah, it’s an urban legend about a girl who became a ghost after her legs were cut off by a train and there are two movies about it.”

Steve popped the gum in his mouth.

“Sounds pretty cool,” he said while chewing.

“Do you want to come over and watch them?”

“Maybe.”

At that moment, Dell came over, a panicked look on his face.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

“Upper management is here,” he replied breathlessly.

“What?” we exclaimed in unison.

“Someone getting karts said he’s parked outside. I knew something bad was going to happen today. I just knew it!”

All things considered, Dell is decent at his job, but when he gets overwhelmed it’s like watching a caffeinated hamster running around its cage. He stopped and took a deep breath.

“Okay, we can do this. Be vigilant. Steve, spit out that gum.”

Dell went away to check on the other departments. Rolling his eyes, Steve pulled out one of the trash baskets we keep behind the counter, spitting his gum into it. There tends to be a disconnect between corporate and those who have to interact with people face to face. As such, inspections tend to go as follows. They tell us to jump and if we come back down without their permission, we get reprimanded.

Our strategy is to remain as scarce as possible. Usually, this works. Today was another story. Things were going steady, all things considered, then the horde came. Normally, these are seen further into the holiday season. However, it seems that Dell was right about how Friday The 13th would be affecting things. 

I was playing Pokémon Go on my phone when Steve nudged me with his elbow. I glanced up, seeing a herd of customers who weren’t too happy based on their expressions. They seemed ready to take their anger out on us hence why we refer to them as hordes. 

“Aw shit,” I murmured.

Then she came. Looks of surprise were coming over people’s faces. Someone was pushing their way to the front. We craned our next, trying to spot who was trying to cut their way to the front. To our confusion, a pointy black hat became visible among the crowd. 

Attached to it and emerging to the front was an old lady in a baggy black dress with a long hook nose. People tried to tell her off. She gave them such a fierce stink eye they backed away instantly and dispersed. Then she came up to the counter. 

“Hello, ma’am,” Steve said. “Is there something we can help-”

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled something out, slamming it down on the counter. It was a cat collar.  Then she threw a one hundred dollar gift card beside it.

A few seconds of silence passed, then Steve asked, “Do you want to make a return?”

“I want more than that for the trouble this store has given me!”

She explained that the adjuster was faulty and that the collar nearly choked her cat.

“I tried calling and it just kept ringing!”

“Apologies, ma’am, it’s been a hectic day. We’ll do what we can to make this up to you.”

“Is that so?”

A grin crept up her face, showing rows of deep yellow, misshapen blocky teeth.

“I think I deserve a little extra for all my trouble. Give me this gift card for free and we’ll call things even.”

The thing about the customer always being right is that it goes off a cliff if the store’s bottom line might be affected.

“Well, I need to check with my manager if I am allowed to do that.”

Steve went away to call Dell. Meanwhile, sending a growing tension, I attempted to diffuse it.

“Hey, great costume,” I told the old lady, “are you getting ready for Halloween early?”

She seemed confused.

“What costume?”

“The one you’re wearing. You’re dressed as a witch, right?”

Her eyes narrowed.

“I’m not dressed like I am a witch.”

“Oh, I see, my bad.”

She relaxed a little.

“I do have a lot of preparations to make for the upcoming holiday now that you mention it. Where’s your friend?”

“Sorry about that, our manager is busy.  I can’t reach him,” Steve said, returning from his call. “I’m normally not supposed to do this without permission, but I can help you out this one time.” 

The old lady seemed satisfied with that response. Steve was about to activate the gift card when we heard someone speaking with Dell.

“Everything is up to standard so far. Which way is customer service again?”

“This way, sir.”

With Dell was our distract manager, Edmund who looks a lot like Kevin O’Leary. He’s the kind of guy who thinks the company standard should be rigidly enforced. In short, doing the opposite of what he says would likely improve store experience. They saw what was happening and came over.

“Good afternoon, miss,” Dell smiled and told the old lady, “I hope your needs are being met.”

“Yes, I suppose they are. These two are taking care of something for me,” she replied, gesturing at us. “At least some people can do something right in this dump.”

“Well, it’s nice to hear from a customer that our employees are on top of things. Out of curiosity, what are they helping you with?”

Steve was tapping his fingers on the counter. He only did that when he was nervous. I could tell he was thinking, “Please, don’t mention the gift card”.

She did exactly that, prompting Steve to curse under his breath. At the mention of it, Edmund decided to get involved.

“Now, hold on,” he said to the woman. “How much did you pay for that collar?”

“Fifteen.”

“And how much is the gift card you want worth?”

“A hundred dollars.”

Edmund looked at Steve.

“You authorized this without permission?”

Steve may as well have been a deer in headlights.

“What were you thinking?” Edmund chastised him. 

“I was just trying to do the right thing-” Steve replied before being cut off.

“The right thing within reason. I thought you would have figured that out by now.”

The old lady interjected.

“Wait a moment. Are you saying I won’t get my gift card?”

“Yes, that’s what it means, sorry to say.”

Her eyes erupted with anger.

“I came out here and waited all this time!”

Not accustomed to dealing with other human beings, Edmund disregarded her, trying to pass her onto Dell. She didn’t take too kindly to that.

“You respect your elders when they are talking to you!”

Edmund ignored her and was about to walk away. The woman crossed her arms.

“If that’s what you want, we’ll play hardball. I will give you one chance to change your mind about the gift card or there will be hell to pay.”

His response conveyed he wasn’t the least bit intimidated.

“The answer is still no.”

She pointed a shaking finger at him.

“I warned you!”

Suddenly, her eyes rolled in the back of her head and she began chanting.

“I think she’s having an episode,” Edmund snorted.

That seemed to be the case until the lights started flickering. An uneasy feeling worked its way up my back. T…

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