Working with the public

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I know some of you also work daily with the public. What are some of your best stories of how funny people can be.

Just today I got asked some real gems.

"What should a person take if they are really sick?" The fact "sick" isn't very descriptive didn't seem to matter.

"My wife has a bad sinus infection, what should she take?" Standard first question from me is to ask what she is taking. Nothing that helps was the response. Not very helpful.

Best ever was the guy who called and asked "You know those brown and serve sausages? How many of those does a guy have to eat?" Huh? I wasn't aware there was a minimum? Turns out that he had a microwave but no fridge and really wanted to know if he could safely leave some overnight in the microwave and eat them in the morning.

Never a slow day working with the public.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I'm in the people parts business. Just don't ask me to check under the hood please.....
 
F

freebullet

Guest
I go into their homes and businesses everyday, have for many years. You just wouldn't believe what I've seen and heard.

Imagine a sewer back up in a hoarders house.
Trauma clean up...eeew
Basements literally overflowing with water.
water damage from above...upstairs main floor and the basement. Structure and all
50,000 Sq ft warehouse with 3" of standing water
Multi floor floods in large office buildings
spilled gallons of paint on carpet.
cat problems....dog problems...kid problems....on every kind of textile
buildings so moldy you have to wear a respirator to enter
fire restoration


My phone is on 24/7 for those calls. It presents unique challenges.

Try getting paid from them, that can be fun at times.

It can be great. Today I met with a client I've known for over a decade. I take him to the range and he likes shooting/hunting ect. We get along splendid. He has used our service as the facilities manager at 3 places of employment. When he retires I will be sad.

There's the funny side. We got called to a fresh water loss in an executive types basement. He was frantically vacuuming water with a little machine that would've takin 4 year to finish the job with. It took me 5 minutes to convince him to get off the floor as we could have his home dry in short order. Seeing him on the floor in his nice suit made for a chuckle, but his willingness to do what he could was impressive.

There's the old guy that tried to run me off the road. Me in a loaded 3/4 ton van him in a small car. It didn't work. He was 67 and fled the seen and later caught.

The guy who told me he was going to get his rifle if we couldn't remove the large blood stains from his carpet. I left there quickly and sent Omaha's finest over to visit with him.

They are all out there.





I could post some pics that would unsettle your mind.
 

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
I was a school principal. One of my K teachers brought in a photo and placed it on my desk. I was signing some checks and glanced over to see the photo. No one in the photo had any clothes on . I asked " Where did you get this photo ? ". The teachers said " Billy is in the library showing it to all his friends." I took the photo and told the teacher I'd look into it. Went and got the child's card and found a work # for this father.

I called and the father answered the phone. I told him that Billy had a Kodak Insta matic color photo of what Billy said was his Mother with " SOMEONE " ?

The father asked me " Does the man in the photo have dark hair ? " I said YES, definitely dark, looks black.

He said " I have blonde hair ". I thought - - - " UUUmmmm, Houston we have a problem."

I asked if he wanted to come to the school and pick up the photo. He said " I don't want to see it ! ! " The father said " I want your promise that you'll burn the photo. " I promised that I would.

He indicated that he would take this up with his wife when he got home.
I bet that was interesting.
I burned the photo, he gave me a promise that Billy wouldn't be bringing anymore photos to school. Billy didn't .

I've wondered for years how their " conversation " went that night ?

Ben
 

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
That one may very well have ended up in " more than a dispute " according to what the father indicated to me.

Ben
 
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Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
We usually get involved via the "my baby daddy" picked up the kids ADHD drugs but he isn't giving them to her. He is selling them is the usual accusation.

Umm, call law enforcement? Please leave me out of this.
 
3

358156hp

Guest
On second thought, the auto parts business isn't that bad.
 
3

358156hp

Guest
The problem with working on trucks is that every one of them has a truck driver attached to it. The last crop of OTR drivers I worked with were mostly Russian and Eastern European. When they get near you, the stench is absolutely incredible! However, their English is much better than most of the undocumented workers and gangbangers.
 

Ian

Notorious member
I stand corrected, you nailed it. I see the same thing, plus the middle-eastern crowd that does a lot of coast-to-coast. We're ALWAYS too busy to take in any of the Derbi-da-blabidi's broken-down junk, there are plenty of shops an hour down the road that speak that lingo and function on their wavelength.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Pretty much. Had one driver that stopped by to drop off a junkyard 60 Series to put in one of their other trucks we had in the shop (CA-based bunch), and when we got the forklift around to the open back doors I noticed the cut FDA sealing tape...on the reefer unit's back doors...they were hauling boxes of frozen chicken...together with the nastiest wrecked pullout I've ever seen! Two birds with one stone, I guess, but they might have had a difficult time explaining to the dock inspector how all that black grease and antifreeze got soaked up by the boxes on the floor, or why the seal was broken. I was never so glad to see a job finally leave the shop, at least they payed and it was in cash.
 

Charles Graff

Moderator Emeritus
I have had three professions (Lawyer, Pastor and Professor) and all of them were "people intensive". It is a good thing that I like people, although their quirks can be troubling at times. The vast majority of them are good folks, but there are some that are mean and worthless. Stories? I could fill several books with them, many funny, some sad, and a few heroic.
 
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Ian

Notorious member
Growing up, we had a neighbor who was close to a grandfather to me. He observed once that "People are funnier than anybody". I tend to identify more with Linus when he said "I love Mankind, but I hate PEOPLE!" I tend to identify with Linus in a lot of respects.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Working with the public is the best part of my job in many ways. Frustrating as it can be at times it keeps each day a new experience. I always tell the new RPs that they need to always remember the positive experiences and quickly forget the negative. Dwelling on negative experiences in a job will only eat you up and make you unhappy.

I was told today I was the best RP at Walgreens, made me smile.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Darn tootin' you are, who else in the entire Walgreen's network knows more about Vaseline, castor oil, and Ivory soap than you do? ;)
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
the 90 y.o. customers
think about it...

I don't deal with the public I deal with corporations looking at the bottom line....profits, and right now profits.
 
3

358156hp

Guest
I had to deal with both. It's a surefire recipe for disaster. Bottom line, make the customers happy, but don't spend any money while doing it.