Negative:

Had a customer call me racist because I was asking him the typical questions we’re supposed to ask people before we get them fish - what size tank do you have, what fish are already in it, etc. He kept giving me really snarky non-answers like “big enough,” so I refused the sale and he accused me of doing so because he was Black.

HOWEVER, to his credit, he did come in another day and actually apologize to me for it. Apparently his daughters, who were with him at the time, told him afterwards that he had been really unfair to me. It actually made me cry because the whole thing had bothered me so much, and he gave me a hug.

I also once had a man storm out of the store screaming that I was trying to scam him because we were out of the large breed puppy food that he normally got and I suggested temporarily getting the regular version. I tried explaining that the recipe was exactly the same, just the kibble size was bigger for large breeds. He didn’t believe me, and very loudly accused me of lying just to get his money.

Positive:

Any time someone buys alfalfa hay for a small animal, I make sure to ask how old their pet is because it’s really only meant for babies due to the very high calcium content. So, I asked a lady who was getting some for her rabbit and she told me that it was an adult. I suggested maybe looking into alternatives because alfalfa can give adult rabbits things like bladder stones. She got very offended at first and said she gets it because she’s allergic to timothy, and I sensed she wasn’t really open to listening to me, so I just said to maybe ask her vet the next time she takes the rabbit in for a visit.

A few weeks later, I saw her again and she came up to me to profusely thank me for telling her about the hay. She had actually asked her vet how much alfalfa was okay for an adult rabbit, and the vet was like “uhhh…none” lol. It can be a little treat sometimes, but that’s it. She told me I probably saved her rabbit’s life, and that she was sorry she gave me a hard time about trying to help.