Think your job is bad???

Margaret gripped the arms of her chair, stress etched across her forehead. "I either need a new job or a bottle of Valium," she'd insisted. Since I knew she worked in Customer Service at an expensive department store in town, I couldn't imagine how that could be so difficult. Then she told me about two of the customers she'd had to deal with this week.

The first had purchased an exquisite dress several days earlier for her mother's funeral. Now that the funeral was over, she wanted to return the dress and get her money back. Only problem was, the dress reeked of formaldehyde! Turns out, the woman had purchased the dress not for herself, but for her dead mother--she wanted her mother to look elegant in her casket! Once the funeral was over, the daughter removed the expensive dress from her mother's corpse and now insisted Dillards should take it back! Never mind that it smelled of embalming fluids and had been worn by a dead person! When my patient said they couldn't take it back, the customer pitched a hissy fit--"Why not? Mama was dead and a dead person can't hurt that dress."

The next customer attempted to return a white blouse. When my patient pointed out a huge mustard stain on the front, the customer replied, "That's why I want to return it." When my patient told her Dillards did not take back stained, used clothes, the customer snapped, "It must have been cheaply made to stain so easily. I want my money back."

About this point, my patient decided she needed a new job or a bottle of Valium. And you thought your job was challenging?