You shall not pass!!!

[Racket_Man]

People at the job I am at now are just as bad, you know they finished their meal an hour ago and there still chatting there, the kitchen has shut down, the restaurant is fully reset except for their table and now the bar is shut down and yet they still sit and talk and are oblivious to the fact that we have shut down and want to go home. The worst part is that upper management has stated that we are not allowed to tell them that we are closed and are simply to wait until they are ready to leave.

/scarcasm on
then I will be betting that upper management DOES NOT complain when the cost of labor is sooooooo HIGH because the extended time you all have to stay

[Samaliel]

After close one day a customer came up to the locked doors and tried to open them, with his keys, he broke TWO keys before he realized one was his car key.

Wow. Just wow. What could have been going through this very peculiar mind, we shall never know.

[Alpha Strike]

A few years ago I worked at the local Electronics Boutique/Game Stop- video game store for you non-gamer types.

Like most everyone else who has posted, I had the same sort of encounters with the local assclown population: people wanting to walk in with 2 minutes to close, idiots who rattled the metal cage that covers the entrance or the schmucks so desperate to get in that they played limbo with that same cage door. We also had the perpetual browsers who want to look at "just one more item" and the eternally indecisive who take an extra 20-30 minutes to decide that they just can't decide.

The nice thing about our management staff was that they were okay with us being more... proactive about helping people finish their shopping experiences, especially if there were two of us doing the closing shift.

So the way it would work is that one of us would do the normal close duties: shutting down the 2nd register, get the bank drop ready, do inventory counts, etc. The other person would have the enviable job of "assisting" our customers out the door. That would include shutting off the game machines (especially fun if it was a kid who used us a free arcade - the look of shock on their faces were priceless), going around and gently nudging people towards the doors or standing in front of the metal cage door and keeping people from getting in.

And while we were willing to stay over for legitimate customers, we weren't shy about making it known that we were shutting down. We had instances were we would announce close several times - from the 15 minute mark on down - and we'd make a show of closing out the registers the whole time. If someone was still in the store during that time and still wanted to buy something after all that, we'd give them a sad look and point to the non-functional registers.

[EmilyRose1982]

Oh I have a couple stories about this lovely topic, as every time I work, I close.

My favorite is the day before Easter. We closed that night at our usual time, 10pm. I was standing at the bar, cleaning the machines, when I hear a tapping on the glass door. I look up, and there's an older man, waving his hands, obviously signaling he wants in. I look over at the clock (if it had been one or two minutes past, I MIGHT have considered letting him in, as he most likely needed a gift card for Easter). It was 10:30, a full half hour after close!! I looked back at the SC and shook my head, mouthing "WE'RE CLOSED!" He continued waving his hands, but I just looked back down to what I was doing and ignored him. Sorry, but with all the coffee shop robberies of late in my area, I'm not opening the door for anyone that late after close.

The best part is, two days later, he came back and had the nerve to complain! I wasn't there, but my CW told me about it. Apparently he was mad I didn't let him in, etc, etc, blah blah blah. CW politely told him we are not allowed to let people into the store after close. And of course, he went off on the "I'm different and special" argument. CW just rolled her eyes and brushed him off.

Seriously, the store was open that day for 16 HOURS! If you can't make it over in that time, then it's your own damn fault, not ours!!!


My other story is nonspecific, as this has happened to me several times now. We moved to a new store a couple months ago, the new one having a Drive Thru. A bunch of times, I'll be cleaning the bar, which means my back is to the pickup window, and when I turn around, there's a car at the window, and the driver is staring daggers at me. God it scares me every time! How creepy can you get?? One driver even honked his goddamn horn.

I REALLY hate people sometimes....

[Mr. Security]

It can be quite interesting at closing time where I work at the library. We have 3 announcements stating we're closing . one at 20min, 10min and finally at closing but there will still be people sitting there reading at 5mins past and when ever I walk up to them to tell them were closed they always say "oh I didn't know your closed" What the 3 loud announcements or the fact that everybody seem to have left and there's no one around didn't give it away? It's also frustrating when we go up to clear the floors 10mins before close and tell people we're closing soon and that library staff leave right at close and then those people finally get down to the main floor 2 mins after we're closed and then bitch and moan no ones around to check out there stuff.

Although this one takes the cake. The building we're in has a indoor walkway system that connects several buildings and has to say open until 12:30am so there has to be a guard there till then. Also this is when the night cleaners come to clean. Anyway the library has a giant 15ft high, 40ft wide metal gate closing off the library from the lobby and walkway system and the cleaners have to get in and out to clean the lobby so the gate is sometimes slightly open and it's amazing how many people try and walk in threw maybe a 3 foot wide opening and when I tell them were closed(usually with a "What the fuck are you doing" look on my face) They go "oh I didn't know I thought your open". I mean seriously what made you think were open. What the giant gate and the fact there is only a security guard and few people with mops to be seen didn't give it away and also the fact that's 11:30pm! Yes I will have people walk-in when it's 30mins-3 hours after were closed thinking we're open. My god the stupidity of some people

[AnaKhouri]

My favorite of the closing stories comes from a couple years ago, near Christmas time. During the week we are open until 10pm, but this year our brilliant owner decided we needed 'extended hours' around the holidays so we closed at 11 this particular Tuesday night (it was always, ALWAYS dead between 10 and 11, seriously, we're open 9-10 and if you can't get here by 10 you won't get here by 11...).

Well one night we closed and were leaving at about 10 until midnight. Closing shift employees always wait and walk out together to avoid being raped and murdered. This night we were standing in the store, the lights were all off except the emergency lights, wearing coats and purses and backpacks etc, waiting on a late co-worker.

This couple comes up, ducks UNDER the half-lowered metal door, and proceeds inside. The woman was yapping like a Chiuahua, blah-blah-blah and the man looked tired of her. They walked PAST us, inside the dark store. At this point the an stopped, turned around and looked at us. The woman continued on a few more paces, realized the man wasn't with her, and also turned around. She was confronted with 6 employees all dressed to leave, all staring at her like she was stupid.

Man: Are you...closed?

Me: Yes. We closed at 11.

Woman: I thought you have extended hours!

Co-Worker: Those are the extended hours.

Man: I thought something was funny since the lights were off...

Holy crap, people. Why are you shopping at midnight on a weeknight anyway? How oblivious can you be? I think we should release large predators into the bookstore at random times just to keep customers on their toes. Our modern society is too safe; it allows people to drift through life without ever paying attention.

[crazylegs]

Mine is also on a Christmas Eve.

It was gone 17:00, the high street was shut, noone was open, all the doors had been locked, the streets were deserted save for some dejected souls and some retail workers rushing for the final buses.

It was so late I had finished, got my stuff, walked back down the (5 flights of) stairs and exited the building. As I get to the front (the staff entrance was at the side) I see someone frantically pulling on the door handle, I gently break the news that the store was indeed shut (rather than having a faulty door) however she promptly ignored me and tried every other single door, waved her hands at the automatic door sensor than gave up.

Seriously, the lights were out, the tills were off, there were no staff on the shop floor, the escalators were static and to top it all all off someone had said it was shut, what else does she need!

[bloodrose]

A coworker of mine had a sign he had made with a wooden dowel and two sheets of paper. He'd hold it up with the first side showing "I don't care." Flip it over to the second sign "No, really, I don't care." Need one for closing time "Closed." Turn over: "No, really we're closed."

[Lady Legira]

This happened today to my co-worker whilst I was busy closing down the salad bar.

L - co-worker
SC - guess

L - I'm afraid we closed 5 minutes ago
SC - Oh but you haven't covered yet can I get something?
L - ok but I shouldn't really
SC - can I have 6 slices of cheap meat please
L looks at plate and there is only two left and she isn't going to cut more since the slicer has been cleaned and would need cleaning again which is a 15 minute job and we go home in 25 minute and have a load more to do.
L - I'm sorry but that is what we have for today.
SC - Starts a rant about not being able to get what she came for and stalks off.

Now she comes up to our counter and expects to be sliced meat and get whatever her little heart desires with a happy smile. No way lady we want to get home, we don't get paid enough to take that sort of rubbish.

Did she not think to come in earlier if she needed it so badly, the stupid just hurts.

[Dark Psion]

We have had many late visitors. Part of our problem is that we have so much crap on palates that we have to forklift it out and in every day. And if the warehouse guys are slow with the forklift, you have people trying to enter while dodging the forklift.

Some of the most memorable SCs;

As some of us are leaving, a guy flies right by us and disappears into the store. From the darkness we hear; "Something wrong with your lights?"


Just as we close the patio door a car drives into the parking lot. A moment later, there is a lady at the North door banging on it like crazy and yelling "You saw me enter your parking lot! How dare you close your door on me?"
Oh, what did she want? A blanket for her hot water tank.......in July.


We were shutting off the lights when we notice a guy up in Lawn & Garden reading the Ortho Book of Bugs and I mean reading. One page at a time like it was a novel. This is a big book so I had to ruin it for him.....The Cricket did it!


Easter is one of the few holidays we still have off, but I have to come up and water the plants. The first year I made the mistake of going in at the normal opening time. I must have had 30 customers stop, see we were closed, see me and check again if we were closed. A few even had to ask me if we were closed and one got angry; "If you are going to be closed on Easter Sunday, you should advertise you will be closed on Easter Sunday!!"

[aniwahya]

Argh, I worked closing at The Bell for almost two years. People could not get the concept that the lobby closes, but drive thru is still open. The same people every week would be the ones to try and get in too.
Hilarity would ensue when there would be us workers on the inside and the morons on the outside, and with the two sets of doors we wouldn't be able to hear each other. Charades anyone? After awhile I gave up on trying to communicate with them via simple, easily understood gestures and after the first "go around to the drive thru" gesture I would just make up complex strings of gestures for fun. Sadly, it didn't make an difference whether my gestures were helpful or random. ><

Oh! A few years before Taco Bell i worked in a Fashion Bug in a high crime (drugs suck) area of town. So when we closed, we made sure to lock up and tried to keep an eye on people loitering outside the store, and when we did leave we moved in defensive formations to our cars.
The associates would finish closing duties before the managers were done counting down registers, so we (associates) would go hang out by the front of the store, doing last minute straightening and making sure no one was waiting for us to leave. Even though there are some of us visible form the outside, it is very clear we are closed.
We aren't surprised when a slightly older lady approaches the door and tries to open it. What followed shorted out brain cells I really needed.

SA= store Associates (been so long i don't remember who said what)
CL= confused lady, also slurring heavily and not "with it"
MN- our tired and crabby manager

CL- *walks up and tries the door* It won't open!
SA- We're closed, it's locked for the night.
CL- I have to return these! *frantic bag waggling in our direction*
Sa- We open at 10am tomorrow, come back then if you have a return. Don't forget the receipt.
Cl-Are you closed?
SA- *what the bisquick?* Yesss, we are closed.
CL-But how am I going to return this?
SA-You can return it tomorrow, when we are open.
CL- You're open? Let me in!
SA *Gah!* No! Not open, closed! Come back tomorrow.

*By now the manager is done and joins us. This exchange is hard to express because the lady was slurring heavily, would start saying something then stop, then finish it, or start over. I have condensed things to just one sentence when in reality the lady would repeat it 4 or 5 times, followed by us responding with the same answers 4 or 5 times. The manager is at this point Not a Happy Kitty. But we don't want to leave because the lady is relatively calm now, but showing signs of substance abuse and we are all aware how erratic people's behavior can be. There is also an equally messed up looking guy occasionally yelling things we couldn't hear from a vehicle on the curb who was with the woman. His vehicle is directly between us and our cars.*

CL-Let me in ! *rattles doors violently*
MN- Ma'am, I understand you have a return, but we are closed for the night. You can come back tomorrow at 10am, I will be here and will help you then.
CL- I need to return this now! *Shakes the door again*
MN- Ma'am, we have already explained that you need to come back tomorrow. You need to leave, there is nothing we can do for you tonight.
CL- Let me in! I have a return! * Bag waggle, door shake*

*At this point the consensus among us is this woman (and the guy in the car) are either up to no good, or so messed up that they could be dangerous. The manager needs to open tomorrow so she is getting seriously crabby*

CL- Are you going to let me in? Let me in!
MN- No! Ma'am you need to leave!
CL- But I have a return!
MN- Since you're not leaving, I will call the cops and have them ask you to leave...
* Manager starts walking back to the counter*
CL-Fine! You don't have to be such a bitch. *Hits door then gets in car and they leave*

All in all the whole thing took 40 minutes of our lives we'll never get back. I shudder to imagine what that lady would have been like if we had actually let her in when she first came up to the doors.
Is there some reality that these people are in, that I am just not aware of?

[Samaliel]

No, that wouldn't be another reality. They would just happen to have build themselves a happy bubble where they feel safe and won't let much of the outside world come through...

[cinema guy]

We were shutting off the lights when we notice a guy up in Lawn & Garden reading the Ortho Book of Bugs and I mean reading. One page at a time like it was a novel. This is a big book so I had to ruin it for him.....The Cricket did it!

No! Now you spoiled it for me. I could have sworn it was the Ladybird with the bug spray in the spider's parlour.

[Horsetuna]

One thing I miss being at Sears is the fact that they play the closing music BLARINGLY LOUD. We're talking 'shout over to be heard'.

The music was ALWAYS too loud there though. The girls in the office always claimed they 'couldnt adjust the volume' that it was set by corporate (Bull, I think. I've heard them adjust it before. Just a few certain girls wont).

Course, we still get shoppers ignoring the painfully loud closing.

[hopie144]

I used to work in a Cust Serv office, where we didn't have to deal with customers at ALL in person, thank gosh. We didn't even give out our location, because we all know how crazy CS'ers are. Anyway, we dealt with them over the phone, so when irate customers wanted to talk to me, I was the manager, and loved telling them so. I had ALOT of customers demanding to know who paid my salary or who signed my checks when I wouldn't give them what they wanted....I always told them "the payroll company." And of course they didn't like that one bit. But it was true. Also, we always kept our doors locked, because we're not a regular office, no one was allowed in unless you worked there. We'd always have people looking for a nearby office banging on the door to come in, asking if we're the insurance company, or give them directions. There's a BIG sign with our office name on the building, as well as on our door, I'd never open the door, but I'd tell them through the glass, Do we look like Nationwide? And point to our name. They'd never get it.....