This is a big of a long one, kind of makes me wonder why I went back:

One time I had some difficulty with a customer that didn't speak much English.

It was a very bizarre encounter. I scanned their items, they paid me with a large bill (I think it was $20) but when I tried to give them back their change, they became furious and left the store. I kept the change on the counter so I could give it back to them when they returned. I had some difficulty in understanding what it was that had set them off, and I even re-counted the money to make sure I hadn't given them the wrong change or something. It was exact.

Thinking on it further, I got the impression they didn't realize how expensive the stuff they bought was. But what really confused me was when they came back demanding all of their money returned despite not having a receipt nor offering to return the items they took. That was the explanation provided by someone they had brought with them they spoke slightly more English than they did- I don't remember how the situation ended up being resolved.

The situation got hostile enough that it started holding up the line and I had some older guy (who obviously was not a regular because I had never seen him before this point) started saying I should give them the money back regardless; not even understanding the context of the situation and not being someone who was there at the time of the original transaction.

I did my best to stay calm. I was trying to explain to the non-English speaking customer that I was trying to give them back the change for their earlier purchase. They shook their head and said something to me in another language. The older guy kept yelling, and I mean yelling, at me to resolve the situation, and even though I had tried to page a coworker to help, I didn't get much of a response.

It had been a long day. I was frustrated enough with the entire situation that I remember reaching a breaking point, actively storming away from the cash register and leaving the store entirely. At that moment, I *thought* I was quitting. I spent most of the day frustrated, turned my phone off, just walking as far away from the store as I could. I had a lot of thoughts about how frustrated I was about the jobs in the area in general, wondering if I had picked one of the worst ones. (It's possible!)

I came back to my job because my manager pleaded with me to stay. They reminded me that the store was already short-staffed and that they appreciated my skills. In truth, sometimes I wondered if I should have thought on it more.

To this day, I never figured out why the customer had become so incredibly angry at me for accepting their money and giving them back their change. It was almost as if they had never been in a store in their lives. There was a total breakdown in communication that day, and it was probably one of the worst retail experiences of my life.