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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/No-Trust2063 on 2025-09-17 18:20:28+00:00.

You know the one. That phrase someone says over the headset to warn the team that a challenging customer has entered the store or is causing trouble, all without tipping them off.

At my old job, we used Code Sunshine. It started because of a regular we nicknamed Sunshine behind her back. She would come in every Friday like clockwork, wearing a massive bright yellow sun hat, and would spend hours arguing over expired coupons, demanding price matches from competitors we had never heard of, and insisting on speaking to every manager on duty. The final straw was when she tried to return a half dead houseplant she had clearly bought months earlier, claiming it was not fresh. After that, someone jokingly said, Heads up, Sunshine is in the building, and it became our official code for drop whatever you are doing and proceed with extreme caution.

What is your store’s secret code or phrase for these situations, and what is the story behind it? Was there one specific customer who inspired it, or did it evolve over time? I am curious how universal this kind of thing is across different retail environments.