Working in a grocery store... never a dull moment....

[Mermaid02]

My daughter called on her break... seems they are "selling" polar bear cutouts for Children's Cancer Center (think shamrocks for Muscular Dystrophy type thing) so she asked her customer if he would be willing to donate a dollar for xyz cancer charity... he said:

"It ain't for them Arabs is it"

It's for children with cancer sir...

"Yeah, them Arab kids who wrap their heads in towels and blow themselves up... I'd donate a dollar for a bullet and shoot em all [there apparently was a finger gun here and some gun noises] well I didnt' get nothing when I got back from Vietnam... Why should I give anything to them terrorist kids now"

Well you have a great night sir...

There are some really crazy people roaming the streets....

 

[Nickimouse]

scary the people who are out among us.

 

[a1tinkfans]

I think I'd rather think he is a sick person with traumatic stress disorder post war, who didn't get the help he needed, then think he is a plain crazy nut...but thats just me....
whatever he is, it is SAD
And scary too!

 

[ginna74]

I think I'd rather think he is a sick person with traumatic stress disorder post war, who didn't get the help he needed, then think he is a plain crazy nut...but thats just me....
whatever he is, it is SAD
And scary too!

Yeh I agree with this for sure, there are a lot of vietnam vets who were too "proud" to get help.

 

[pezheadmeg]

Yeah I feel her.

Then again I'm a retail lifer. I could probably do a psychology dissertation soley on how people react while shopping.

 

[Argent]

Yeh I agree with this for sure, there are a lot of vietnam vets who were too "proud" to get help.

Most of the time it had nothing to do with being too proud. They just didn't get help when they first needed it. Times were different in the 60's and 70's. If you want to think about something scary, think about what those soldiers faced and went through in Vietnam. Then they came back to the US to face crowds of protesters that called them killers. That is sad. People who have not lived it or have been close to someone who has will never understand. Their lives were changed forever and it was not for the good.

 

[DisGirlAllie]

Well, I'm not gonna lie, he sounds like a whack a doodle.

Yeh I agree with this for sure, there are a lot of vietnam vets who were too "proud" to get help.

And there were also some who were criticized and disrespected for fighting in a war and they weren't able to get the help they needed.

 

[tasha99]

And there were also some who were criticized and disrespected for fighting in a war and they weren't able to get the help they needed.

They were also often drafted into that war, unlike today's vets who are volunteers.

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

Most of the time it had nothing to do with being too proud. They just didn't get help when they first needed it. Times were different in the 60's and 70's. If you want to think about something scary, think about what those soldiers faced and went through in Vietnam. Then they came back to the US to face crowds of protesters that called them killers. That is sad. People who have not lived it or have been close to someone who has will never understand. Their lives were changed forever and it was not for the good.

We have a great friend that served in Vietnam and he will not discuss it PERIOD. My DS15 is a WWII buff and has tried several times to get Bob's perspective on things from his experiences in Vietnam. Nada

 

[Mermaid02]

I think I'd rather think he is a sick person with traumatic stress disorder post war, who didn't get the help he needed, then think he is a plain crazy nut...but thats just me....
whatever he is, it is SAD
And scary too!

The fact that he couldn't seperate kids with cancer from terrorists is well... terrifying. And then to bring the subject of kids with cancer to the Vietnam war shows he wasn't entirely lucid.

.... regardless for the reason for his nuttiness.... He's a nut.

 

[Mermaid02]

Most of the time it had nothing to do with being too proud. They just didn't get help when they first needed it. Times were different in the 60's and 70's. If you want to think about something scary, think about what those soldiers faced and went through in Vietnam. Then they came back to the US to face crowds of protesters that called them killers. That is sad. People who have not lived it or have been close to someone who has will never understand. Their lives were changed forever and it was not for the good.

That is DISGUSTING.

It was a horrible chapter in our country's history...

 

[taylor1293]

The fact that he couldn't seperate kids with cancer from terrorists is well... terrifying. And then to bring the subject of kids with cancer to the Vietnam war shows he wasn't entirely lucid.

.... regardless for the reason for his nuttiness.... He's a nut.

My thoughts exactly.

Personally, I don't care WHY he is a nut, he just talked about wanting to kill children. He is crazy and probably dangerous if put in the wrong situation.

 

[eliza61]

My daughter called on her break... seems they are "selling" polar bear cutouts for Children's Cancer Center (think shamrocks for Muscular Dystrophy type thing) so she asked her customer if he would be willing to donate a dollar for xyz cancer charity... he said:

"It ain't for them Arabs is it"

It's for children with cancer sir...

"Yeah, them Arab kids who wrap their heads in towels and blow themselves up... I'd donate a dollar for a bullet and shoot em all [there apparently was a finger gun here and some gun noises] well I didnt' get nothing when I got back from Vietnam... Why should I give anything to them terrorist kids now"

Well you have a great night sir...

There are some really crazy people roaming the streets....

LOL. Try working at Walmart! I had a young lady flash me her double D's. She had just had breast implants and wanted an honest opinion to whether or not they looked real. So she just pulled up her shirt and said

Girl: Can I ask you a question? Do these look fake.
Me: Well, they look pretty real to me but I pretty much to look at my own, so I may not be the best person to ask.
Girl: Oh, thanks. I just needed another womens opinion. I didn't want to walk around looking drawing attention to my breast.

Me in my head: And throwing up your shirt in public definitely won't bring attention.

Gotta love working with the public.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

Usually, I'm very annoyed when someone posts about how offended they are about something. I think they should keep it to themselves....but I'm going to break my own rule for this one. Making excuses for this creep and giving him a pass because he said he was in Vietnam is ridiculous. It's more than likely that he's a closed minded creep who was that way his whole life.

My Dad is a Vietnam veteran who actually suffered from very severe post traumatic stress. He had horrible flashbacks where he would run around our house screaming in Vietnamese. I won't even go into some of the more scary episodes. Even through that he wouldn't go around being a jerk to a grocery clerk......it didn't change who he was. It just made it hard for him to process his experience. Thankfully he was finally offered help when I was a teenager and no longer experiences these things.

From my experiences and my Dad's friends who also suffered from this, they would never say something like that. They suffer because they can't reconsile the horrors with the real world. It's because of their compassion for the people being hurt that they had problems coming back. This person HAS NO COMPASSION....he just an everyday nutjob whose using Vietnam as an excuse to be a monster.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I think I'd rather think he is a sick person with traumatic stress disorder post war, who didn't get the help he needed, then think he is a plain crazy nut...but thats just me....
whatever he is, it is SAD
And scary too!

What's really sad is when I read it (even before the Vietnam bit), I didn't doubt it in the least. I've heard such sentiments plenty of times before.

 

[wenrob]

LOL. Try working at Walmart! I had a young lady flash me her double D's. She had just had breast implants and wanted an honest opinion to whether or not they looked real. So she just pulled up her shirt and said

Girl: Can I ask you a question? Do these look fake.
Me: Well, they look pretty real to me but I pretty much to look at my own, so I may not be the best person to ask.
Girl: Oh, thanks. I just needed another womens opinion. I didn't want to walk around looking drawing attention to my breast.

Me in my head: And throwing up your shirt in public definitely won't bring attention.

Gotta love working with the public.

I worked in a book store and we had an adult section right up front near the counter. The dancers would come in and go through the magazines looking at all the different breast sizes and ask me to help pick out their new ta ta size.

I've worked a lot of places but I never came across more loonies than I did working in that book store. I've had a ton of encounters just like the ones mentioned by the OP including follow up phone calls that were kinda scary. Working with the general population is a bizarre experience to put it mildly!

As to the Vietnam declaration it's been my personal experience that people who claim Vietnam for the way they act the way they do (meaning rudeness not ptsd) have never actually been. Any Vietnam Vets I have ever known emphatically refuse to discuss it let alone use it as an excuse to be rude and out of line.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I worked in a book store and we had an adult section right up front near the counter. The dancers would come in and go through the magazines looking at all the different breast sizes and ask me to help pick out their new ta ta size.

I've worked a lot of places but I never came across more loonies than I did working in that book store. I've had a ton of encounters just like the ones mentioned by the OP including follow up phone calls that were kinda scary. Working with the general population is a bizarre experience to put it mildly!

As to the Vietnam declaration it's been my personal experience that people who claim Vietnam for the way they act the way they do (meaning rudeness not ptsd) have never actually been. Any Vietnam Vets I have ever known emphatically refuse to discuss it let alone use it as an excuse to be rude and out of line.

In college I worked as a cashier for Rite Aid and an assistant manager for a clothing shop. Met some bizarre people (and a boyfriend!). At Rite Aid we had one poor old guy who would come in, buy a pack of cigarettes, and walk around the store ripping the filters off and throwing them on the floor. Finally our manager would bring him a little paper bag, so he could throw them in there. Then he'd leave the bag sitting somewhere in the store. He only ever said one thing, "Yeah, there's one thing about the weather..." We never did find out what that one thing was.

At the clothing store I had one lady tell me she wanted to slap me. All I could think was, "You go right ahead, lady." People could be brutal in that place. Then again, I do remember one woman who gave an employee a tylenol because her head hurt. It seems like the customers were either extra mean or extra nice.

 

[marcyinPA]

I've done my time in retail, and you just kind of learn to shake your head and move on! I've seen some doozies...but that's what you get when you work with the public!

I always say that every person should have to work a retail job at least once in their lifetime!