but god

[blas]

I know, it made my day when it happened. Unfortunately, I never waited on such nice people and great children ever again

That couple had to have had the biggest hearts I've ever seen. Those children looked so happy and got along so well..............

Why can't more people be like them? To send such a positive message and be so gracious?

[Sailornight6]

its the sweet customers i try to remember when i deal with sucky ones. for every five sucky ones all it takes is just one sweet one to turn your whole day around ^.^

[April]

I was once followed around a store for 10 minutes (until security got her) by a woman who was ranting about me being a daughter of satan, Satan's concubine (incest anyone? How can be I be the daughter of and the concubine of Satan at the same time?), how evil I was etc etc. All in front of her small daughter?

The problem? I was wearing a pentacle and a Goddess charm.

[ContraCorriente]

Yeah. There was this guy that came in with a T-shirt that said something like, "What has Jesus ever done for you?" and I took that in a kind of sarcastic way, you know. Being that I'm a Christian and my boss told me to make small talk with customers, I asked him about it.

And as soon as I said, "What does your shirt mean?" I regretted it. Because the tone in his voice changed, and he smiled a bit, and he said (like he was talking to a preschooler,) "Well, young lady, Jesus died for our sins and rose again so we could be saved!" Wooooooow....if I continue to listen to you preach to the choir, can I have an animal cracker and some juice?

Still don't know what the shirt meant. It doesn't make sense.

Editing to add another one I just thought of (and all names have been changed):

We have a mid-20's manager that...likes the teenage boys, put it that way. We'll call him James and no-one can stand him. Then we have a third shift manager who is holiness (I'm not sure of the other term for them, we just call them holiness down here.) We'll call him Bob. So Bob came up to me one night and asked where James was. I said something along the lines of, "Oh, he probably got David in the backroom. Yeah...they're probably stocking, wink, wink..." Everyone chuckled, but Bob's face got red and he said, "Mayberry, that is wrong. That is against God. That's just not nice. That's bad. That's so wrong. Mayberry, I can't believe you'd say that. I'll pray for you." *rolls eyes*

[Tithera]

The problem? I was wearing a pentacle and a Goddess charm.

I had that same problem when I was just looking for a job. I wear my pentacle wherever I go, even school (i go to a catholic school,which is actually kinda funny because whenever someone notices it, they kinda walk away very fast due to the fear of "satan"), so one day I had 3 interviews, one at McyD's, one at a diner, and one for the public library. The McyD's one went fine,(thankfully, I didn't get the job though), but the diner was a disater. It's owned by a local man oh is very religious.

OWwner
Me: duh

OW: so, How old are you?
Me: 16
OW: good good, and you go to ST.fill in saint name
Me:yes
OW: Good, good. And You're catholic then
Me: I don't know what that has to do with anything
OW: So you're saying you're not?
Me: Well, yeah, I guess.
OW:then what are you?
Me:*pulls out pentacle* I'm wiccan
Ow:I am sorry, but I can't hire satanists

Satanists? I really hate it when people say that it is satan worshipping. Its not! The library was about the same. Thankfully, the guy who owns the resturant I work at now is open minded and didn't really care what I believe in as long as I can carry food on a platter. But still, c'mon!

[Lyger]

Being that I travel around the campus often, I see all kinds of people who are preaching more than just Jesus. Had a few monks handing out copies of Buddhist literature a few times. Most often, those were guys in plain clothes who were awfully cool about it. But it seems like once a week, since my university a big open courtyard in the park blocks of my town (think "the land of ports" in the Pacific Northwest...), there's always someone ranting about Jesus. Not preaching, ranting. The things I've heard before...

"Jesus is my taxman!"
"You who root for (football team)! You should be rooting for the son of God! Shame for disrespecting the Lord's holy day of Sunday!"
"Hell's overcrowded!"

And on and on and on... the worst of these incidents was where a group of people were stopping folks trying to get to class, including a 5-year-old kid. Most of the people who were stopped (read: grabbed) often accosted them for using a kid to help them spread their religion. They were eventually led away by the cops after one of the people they grabbed called 911 and got the police to take 'em away for assault charges. Most of the students that I've met at my university are either agnostic or have a rather critical view of religion... I just wish that people would learn that it never works. Would save all parties involved a major headache...

[Tufty]

Oh where to start...

I once got told that i was going to "burn in the fiery pits of hell" for wearing a black t-shirt.

I later saw this guy walking down an empty high street shouting and mumbling:

andthsafamarFIERYPITSandthenhesaidJESUSSAVES"

I crossed the street at this point to escape.


Also, the other week, i was a little stressed out. I dropped something and muttered "Jesus christ" to myself. At which point out of nowhere a girl shouts at me from behind "DONT TAKE THE LORDS NAME IN VAIN!"

So I turned to her, gave her an incredulous look and said "Well, he's not MY lord" and wandered off.

She still glares daggers at me whenever she sees me.

[Captain Trips]

If I have the time to get into it with some of these proselytizers, I point out to them that I don't need to be "saved." I try to explain the concept of "alternate salvation" and, since I'm Jewish, I'm considered to be amongst those "never fallen" as Jews are God's Chosen People. Since I'm one of the chosen, they are wasting their breath, I don't need their attention.

As to "going to Hell," well, that's a purely Christian concept. Jews (at least officially) don't believe in any form of afterlife whatsoever. So, I agree with the concept of "you go there -- it's not MY hell!"

If I don't have the time, I just tell them I'm already born again -- a "Born Again Pagan." And give them the same reply as to my burning in hell -- how can I go somewhere that doesn't exist for me?

But the bottom line is this: preaching doesn't belong in the workplace. Ever.

[Sailornight6]

Tithera: what your potential employer did was highly illiegal. you are not suppose to make you decision on a new hire on anything but there creditals. you cannot. i repeat cannot choose not to hire someone base on there religous beliefs gender or race. that man i would have reported to legal athorities.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Soooo...I take it he DOES discriminate on basis of religion. Is that legal?

I had a lot of preachers....of ALL varieties...come into Kinko's. Who do you think is MAKING all those tracts and handouts?

[Spiffy McMoron]

My Dad looked at them and said "I've already been born once, don't you think thats enough?".

Apparently they didn't think that, but I'm pretty sure that once is enough for both me and Mom!

Anyways, another FABULOUS Crappy Tire story! YAAAAAY!

This was when I was working in sports/seasonal. This was the departement that handled sports bags and duffel bags, so luggage was grouped into the same pile. We'd occationally have them on sale, and when they were on sale, you could get the product for dirt cheap (Anywhere from 40 to 75% off).

Some backstory: I was raised Catholic in a small town. For those formative teenage years, the local priest was Fr. E. I'd moved away from home to go to school, and a couple of years after I left, Fr. E was transferred to the town I was going to school in. /backstory

Fr. E just happened to come into my Crappy Tire looking for a small bag that was on sale that he could use as a carry-on for his trip to see family in the Phillipines. We had one on sale that he was interested in. I ran into him, showed him where the product was, and had a brief chat. All good, right?

Kind of. When he was talking to me at work, I swear that he had the smell of pot on his clothes. Don't get me wrong, I've nothing against the stuff, but I was a little amused to smell it on his person. I thought that he was a pretty cool guy, and I knew he smoked tobacco, I just didn't think he smoked that.

[Ree]

If I have the time to get into it with some of these proselytizers, I point out to them that I don't need to be "saved." I try to explain the concept of "alternate salvation" and, since I'm Jewish, I'm considered to be amongst those "never fallen" as Jews are God's Chosen People. Since I'm one of the chosen, they are wasting their breath, I don't need their attention.

As to "going to Hell," well, that's a purely Christian concept. Jews (at least officially) don't believe in any form of afterlife whatsoever. So, I agree with the concept of "you go there -- it's not MY hell!"

If I don't have the time, I just tell them I'm already born again -- a "Born Again Pagan." And give them the same reply as to my burning in hell -- how can I go somewhere that doesn't exist for me?

Captain Trips, may I refresh your memory?

Just a reminder that, although this thread has remained very civil, and is exactly the way we like to see these types of threads go, they do often end up closed because some members have trouble making the distinction between simply relating an anecdote and passing judgment/bashing certain religious sects.

Let's all take our cue from what has been posted so far, and please try to keep that from happening here...again, .

Please keep your comments to the sucky customer aspect and omit your own personal assessment of the character of the person, removing any negative references to the same, or name calling.

What part of that was unclear?

That was not confined to an anecdote or example of sucky behaviour.

It was, however, a very clear discussion of the merits of another's religious beliefs vs. your own.

Any further posts along this line will receive infractions.

If anyone is unclear about a comment they wish to add, please feel free to PM a mod and ask if it crosses the line or fits the posting criteria for this thread.

[Rubystars]

OW: so, How old are you?
Me: 16

The only reason that they're allowed to ask this kind of question is to determine whether you're legally old enough to work without it being considered child labor. At your age, this question is probably ok, but if you were obviously an adult, it wouldn't be.

OW: Good, good. And You're catholic then
Me: I don't know what that has to do with anything
OW: So you're saying you're not?
Me: Well, yeah, I guess.
OW:then what are you?
Me:*pulls out pentacle* I'm wiccan
Ow:I am sorry, but I can't hire satanists

You have a good case to file a formal complaint against this person. What he did here was definitely illegal, and if nobody says anything he'll continue to discriminate based on religion. Complain both to the corporate office about him and any other legit channel you can.

[Rubystars]

I was thinking about this thread and the most annoying thing that's happened to me is that this woman handed me a tract that looked like a fifty dollar bill. That was the worst idea ever for a tract. I can just imagine some poor waitress thinking for a few moments that they were given a tip of that amount and then crying and possibly even cursing because they realized it was just a dumb tract.

[Amethyst Hunter]

There's a regular who comes in every now and then. A decent customer otherwise, just as you're about to send her on her way she whips out a lil' old pamphlet and hands it to you. Since she's not really an SC and hasn't (yet) tried to hawk religion beyond just littering with tracts, I let it pass, and just wait until she's gone before tossing the scrap into the garbage.

Also, there's another semi-regular who will go through the line and tell the cashiers "Jesus loves you." Again, not an SC either.

Being that I'm agnostic, distrust all organized religion and REALLY dislike prosetylizing (sp?) of any type, I found it a little off-kilter when I first moved south last year (not by choice, believe me) and got an earful of this stuff. But as long as they don't try to take it any further (i.e., discussions or insults) I'll let it pass.