Special Snowflake Stories

[Glaceon]

I have a SS story, but it's not quite as good as the rest of yours..

I was shopping at Marshalls' (discount department store) last weekend. When you go into the fitting room there, you are only allowed to bring 8 items in at a time. The rest you can leave in your cart outside the fitting room & can swap out as you try things on.
The typical method is:
     Bring your 8 items to the attendant. She counts the items & gives a number. You try them on, come back out, turn the number & whatever items you don't want in to the attendant. You then go to your cart & start the process over again.

While I was out exchanging items, waiting for the attendant to count my items, I watched a girl walking in without waiting.
When the attendant stopped her, she got very exasperated, saying she was just exchanging. She got upset at being told she still had to go through the process, because, why should she wait when she was just exchanging. She finally went back into the line when I pointed out that I was just exchanging also... sigh...

Oh, do not get me started on this.  The store I work at has a similar policy and as the fitting room attendant I have to enforce it.  You wouldn't believe the things people say and do in this situation, as though it were the worst, most offensive thing possible. 

I'm also glad to hear some other store does this, as I am frequently told that we are the onnnnnnllllllyyyy store in the whole world that holds people to a limit.

This has got to be the oldest shoplifting ploy in the entire universe. I never worked clothing retail and I know about it....don't tell me that about half of them aren't on the take.

"I'm not gonna steal anything!"

"What, I look like a thief or something?!?"

"We won't steal.  We're good Canadians!"

"O.M.G, like I'm going to try to steal some stupid shirts!"

All things I've heard recently.

[Miss Misery]

This happened half an hour ago.

I was at the grocery store and get in line behind a Snowflake who is finishing up with a rather large order that required two carts (the total was over $300). No problem, she's almost done and I don't mind a little wait so I set my stuff and on the belt and take my place in line.  And wait. And wait. And wait some more as Snowflake proceeds to go through all her grocery bags and find stuff for the cashier to take off. This went on for a good 15 minutes as Snowflake dug through her groceries like she was the only customer in the place and had all the time in the world. The cashier apologized to me. Snowflake only offered the half-hearted excuse of having a family for why she took so freakin' long.

So just because I'm single I have to wait for people who don't know how make a grocery list or do simple addition and subtraction? 

Aarrrghhhh!!! *tears hair out*

[wonderfullyanonymous]

This happened half an hour ago.

I was at the grocery store and get in line behind a Snowflake who is finishing up with a rather large order that required two carts (the total was over $300). No problem, she's almost done and I don't mind a little wait so I set my stuff and on the belt and take my place in line.  And wait. And wait. And wait some more as Snowflake proceeds to go through all her grocery bags and find stuff for the cashier to take off. This went on for a good 15 minutes as Snowflake dug through her groceries like she was the only customer in the place and had all the time in the world. The cashier apologized to me. Snowflake only offered the half-hearted excuse of having a family for why she took so freakin' long.

So just because I'm single I have to wait for people who don't know how make a grocery list or do simple addition and subtraction? 

Aarrrghhhh!!! *tears hair out*

This one reminded me of my Special Snowflake...

When I was a cashier, I had a customer come through my register with 5 or 6 family packages of meat and about a half a cart of other groceries. She starts dropping the packages of meat on the counter, and I'm ringing her stuff up.

She says "Oh, can you tell me when I hit $100, that's all I have.

By that time, I was at nearly $150. I think I spent 30 minutes with her alone taking off and adding merchandise.

[CuriousParty]

We were all at Sally's place, having a nice little get together to congratulate her on her new house. Sally was serving coffee in white mugs. Apparantly Martha never drank from white mugs, they had to be the glass see-through kind.

Okay, Martha's behavior was bad, and this is not an excuse, but rather a PSA that there is actually a legitimate reason for requiring a glass as opposed to a ceramic mug.  An acquaintance of mine keeps kosher, and I noticed when we go out to restaurants that he specifically requests a glass mug for his drink (and rarely orders food).  In a discussion I asked why, and he told me that in a non-kosher environment a ceramic utensil may be 'contaminated' for lack of a better word (I'm sure he used the correct one but I can't remember) but that a glass container, which is non porous, can be cleaned sufficiently to be considered 'safe' from a kosher perspective.

However, I believe it's also a tenet of the faith that one does not humiliate or embarrass others in order to comply with religious beliefs, so even if this was the basis of Martha's preference she should have simply declined coffee altogether.

Which reminds me, I should go get some glass mugs....

I know that there is, that is the same reason my MIL only ever drinks her coffee in take-away cups when out in public. MIL, Martha and Sally all keep kosher. Infact all the people in that circle of women do. (Most of them are overseas brides who don't know english, so they keep company with eachother). So she knew she wasn't in any danger of drinking from a contaminated mug, she just wanted a glass mug.

Okay, well, now that's just weird, then.

[Azrail]

We were all at Sally's place, having a nice little get together to congratulate her on her new house. Sally was serving coffee in white mugs. Apparantly Martha never drank from white mugs, they had to be the glass see-through kind.

Okay, Martha's behavior was bad, and this is not an excuse, but rather a PSA that there is actually a legitimate reason for requiring a glass as opposed to a ceramic mug.  An acquaintance of mine keeps kosher, and I noticed when we go out to restaurants that he specifically requests a glass mug for his drink (and rarely orders food).  In a discussion I asked why, and he told me that in a non-kosher environment a ceramic utensil may be 'contaminated' for lack of a better word (I'm sure he used the correct one but I can't remember) but that a glass container, which is non porous, can be cleaned sufficiently to be considered 'safe' from a kosher perspective.

However, I believe it's also a tenet of the faith that one does not humiliate or embarrass others in order to comply with religious beliefs, so even if this was the basis of Martha's preference she should have simply declined coffee altogether.

Which reminds me, I should go get some glass mugs....

I know that there is, that is the same reason my MIL only ever drinks her coffee in take-away cups when out in public. MIL, Martha and Sally all keep kosher. Infact all the people in that circle of women do. (Most of them are overseas brides who don't know english, so they keep company with eachother). So she knew she wasn't in any danger of drinking from a contaminated mug, she just wanted a glass mug.

Okay, well, now that's just weird, then.

Yes. Almost as weird as my mother's other friend (Sam) who has a phobia of patterned crockery. I'm not dismissing that she has a phobia, phobias are very serious. She has a panick attack if anything is served on patterned plates or cups, especially if it's floral. I didn't know this when she came for a visit... my ears are still ringing.

[gibsongirl]

*giggles at the image of a herd of special snowflakes*

Oh no.  Please say they don't all travel together at some point.  One or two at a time is one thing, but en masse?!  YIKES!

I wonder what happens when two Special Snowflakes meet?  I bet it's not pretty.

An itty bitty black hole appears...

and the one with the biggest stomp wins   

*slow clap*

petal just won teh interweb.

Snorted coffee at "An itty bitty black hole appears..."

[RubySlippers]

Gambitgirl's story reminded me of another collegiate special snowflake (not as special as hers, of course). While I was in college I worked for the director of student housing. One of the residents had been caught keeping a cat in her dorm room, and was required to write a 300-word essay explaining why cats were not allowed in student housing. Her essay was 300 words of whining why this was so unfair, why her cat was so special, why she should be allowed to keep it because one cat never hurt anybody, etc. And it was exactly 300 words, because she numbered each word, and stopped mid-sentence at word #300.

"Peter Rabbit is a stupid book about a stupid rabbit who stole vegetables from other people's gardens.  One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen!  Ha!"

"The very, very, very, very end. . .94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99 . . . A-men!"

We did that show in high school.  I was music director, but would have killed to play Lucy! (still would - but only a Snowflakus specialus Canadensis would expect such casting in middle age)

[accio_books]

This is a fascinating thread ... in a grim kind of way ...

I was idly thinking I had nothing to contribute when I remembered the Incident at the Dinner for the Poor and Unemployed. I was volunteering at this church-based buffet-style dinner and was helping arrange food and dishes and generally helping out where needed.

Mr. Pwecious Snowflake (youngish guy with girlfriend/wife/Significant Other in tow) is one of the first ones up to the dessert table.

"I'll just take two so I don't have to come back," he says.

Watch the steam erupt from my ears while my eyes turn blood-red.

"No, you will not," I said. "You will take ONE until everybody else has had a chance to get one."

"Well, then I guess I won't take any," and off he goes in a sulk. Girlfriend/wife/Significant Other gives me a glare that mixes hostility with reproach. I glare back with absolutely no sympathy at all.

To paraphrase Terry Pratchett's Sam Vimes, just because someone's a member of the downtrodden and poor doesn't mean they're not also a nasty self-centred little jerk ...

[Trisha]

I was inspired today, so I'm going to post a few Special Olympic Snowflakes. ALL are from parents. Parents who are fine mentally and physically. So please don't think I'm picking on "my" kids. 98% are WONDERFUL people, but the other 2% are well... You'll see.

BG: Bowling HAS to be over at 7. There is a league that starts at 8, and the alley has to clean/wax each alley before they come. They very generously "donate" the time for us to use 12 lanes every week. Each child pays $1 per game, and that includes shoes and balls. The way it works is the family purchases a game card at the Special Olympic's office and they come to the alley. I punch their card, assign lanes, enter them in the score keeper, and do management on making sure the "right" kids are paired together so that everyone gets 2 games in before the 7:00 deadline. (meaning, if there's 1 slow bowler, I try not to pair them with another slow bowlers or make sure there are no more than 2 on that lane.)


SS number 1:
This actually happened today, and something very similar last week from the same person. She's the hired staff for the 2 athletes, 2 athletes that are almost catatonic and one of them is in a wheel chair. This means a couple of things. 1, they need to be near the wheelchair lane, if not IN the wheel chair lane. 2, because they are so low functioning, they take a LOT of time to bowl because the caregiver (CG) has to wheel (or walk) them to the lane and back to their seat.

Last week CG walked in at 6:45. When I told her she was too late, she barked (and I DO mean barked) that there was PLENTY of time, and she was putting them in a lane herself if I didn't. I don't really have any "power" so to speak, so all I could really do is put her on a lane of my choosing instead of hers, at least that way if she ran late and she was on one of the ends, maybe that would buy her some time.

Well, THIS week we were PACKED. I do mean PACKED. I usually show up at 5:15ish (bowling is supposed to start at 5:45) and allow any early kids start (alley is fine with that as long as they don't have other customers.) Usually there are 3 or 4 kids until 5:45. Today, I had EVERY lane filled by 5:45. I had a waiting list for anyone that arrived later than that.

In walks CG at 6:15 and demands a lane. I have none. I had SEVEN kids ahead of her, I told her that I wasn't going to punch her card until I had her on a lane, and I couldn't promise she'd even get one.

CG gets ticked. LEAVES her 2 clients in the middle of the through-way and DEMANDS the alley give us more lanes. The alley can't, the high school practices every week on the other 12 lanes. They couldn't give them to us if they wanted to! (Which, they kindly do when I'm in a bind as long as they're not being used.) She threatens to sue for discrimination. Alley tells her to go ahead. (In so many words.) Getting no satisfaction, she comes back and says her kids should go ahead of the other 7. I tell her it's not going to happen.

6:30 was the earliest I could get her a lane. I tell her that it doesn't look like it's going to work. She shoves her cards in my face and starts wheeling over the chair bound athlete. I went ahead and punched it. Again, cause I have no REAL power. Especially over the parents. I punch it, and tell her that 10 frames or not, they WILL be done at 7, it's not my rule. At 7, they were on the 6th frame. I turned it off. She huffs off. I sent an email to the activity coordinator, she's the only one that has any real power. Hopefully she can reign her in.


SS 2
You wouldn't BELIEVE the parents who stake out lanes. I have to be very mindful of the physical ability of the athletes. If they're using walkers or leg braces for example, they need a floor level lane (half are on lane level, half are on up 1 step.) There are 2 grandparents who are the worst. They have grandchildren who are perfectly able bodied. Their disability is mental, their body is fine as far as the ability to step and walk. Every week they march right to a floor level lane and sit.

One week, I had 2 lanes left. 1 upper, one floor level. I asked the girl on the floor level to move up one lane so that the 3 bowlers who couldn't move well could be on the floor level. Grandma says, "No, we were here first." I tell her that it won't be possible. She refuses to move. I ended up just putting the athletes who needed the floor level in that computer. I stood there and waited until the floor level team had bowled through 2 frames (to make sure grandma wouldn't add granddaughter) THEN I entered the granddaughter on the other computer and told her if she was going to bowl, she needed to go to her lane.


Now, these are all kids with special needs. I understand the need to "fight" for your kid, especially when they have needs. But, in this case ALL the kids have needs. ALL the kids are special. Sorry, but in this situation, they're not any more special than anyone else.

[Kimblee]

*giggles at the image of a herd of special snowflakes*

Oh no.  Please say they don't all travel together at some point.  One or two at a time is one thing, but en masse?!  YIKES!

I wonder what happens when two Special Snowflakes meet?  I bet it's not pretty.

An itty bitty black hole appears...

and the one with the biggest stomp wins   

*slow clap*

petal just won teh interweb.

Snorted coffee at "An itty bitty black hole appears..."

Ditto... 'cept I snorted coke. owies!

[mikeylou]

We did that show in high school.  I was music director, but would have killed to play Lucy! (still would - but only a Snowflakus specialus Canadensis would expect such casting in middle age)

We did it in High School too!  I had the part of Patty (not peppermint, just plain patty).

[poundcake]

Occasionally, I require a cane.  While attending an exhibit at an art museum, which wasn't at all crowded, a woman came running up to the piece I was viewing, slammed in to me, and sent me sprawling to the floor.  I landed on my cane, and it took some time to disengage myself, untangle my skirt, get my shoe back on, and right myself.  I was sore, shaken, embarrassed, and quite angry.  She simply stood there, bellowing to her friends, about how the work wasn't "that special," and made no apologies or attempts to assist me.  None of her friends offered.  The museum guard simply stopped her when she started touching the work (she set off an alarm), but made no mention of how she'd knocked me over (perhaps he didn't see?).  I've noticed that people seem attracted to the cane, in that sense -- I frequently get knocked into and over while using it.  This has made me increasingly aware of other cane/walker users, even when my legs are steady and I'm not in need.  I've noticed that these other cane/walker users seem to attract the same attention.  I guess disabled people don't have the same rights to view artwork?  To make purchases?  To use a hallway? 

I swear ... next time this happens, I'm going to "accidentally" whack the offender with the cane, and say, "Oh, my apologies . . . when you slammed into me, you set me off balance."

I've got a similar story, except that it wasn't so much "special snowflake" as it was "little boy who needed a refresher in manners around people with canes."  An Air Force officer walked in with his father just as a little boy of about 3 and his mother were leaving at the clinic where I used to work.  The little boy bumped into the old man and knocked the old man's cane it out of his hand.  The little boy's mother was mortified and apologized, and made the little boy apologize.  The old man was very gracious; he later told me that he had just turned 100 years old, so I'm glad the little boy hadn't knocked the old man down.

I got one of those, but while the kid was just a hyperactive brat who needed reigning in, Mummy was still a Special Snowflake and made no bones about the fact that her child was, too. I was up at the market getting a couple things, moving slower than usual (frustrating for me; I'm a fast walker usually). She and her little darling were in a hurry, and the four seconds I took looking at the cans of soup were apparently too long. Lil' Snowflake pushed past me to grab the can of Dino-Dogs n' Noodles or whatever it was, plowing into my side.

I inadvertently let out a loud cry and ended up bent double.

Lil' Snowflake looked shocked. Mummy Snowflake huffed, very offended. "Oh, for God' sake, it wasn't that hard!" she snapped.

"Actually, it was," I said, and held on to a shelf to right myself, then lifted my shirt to show my heavily bandaged abdomen, a week post major surgery.

She dragged Lil' away, muttering something about "drama queen."

[granny weatherwax]

I got one of those, but while the kid was just a hyperactive brat who needed reigning in, Mummy was still a Special Snowflake and made no bones about the fact that her child was, too. I was up at the market getting a couple things, moving slower than usual (frustrating for me; I'm a fast walker usually). She and her little darling were in a hurry, and the four seconds I took looking at the cans of soup were apparently too long. Lil' Snowflake pushed past me to grab the can of Dino-Dogs n' Noodles or whatever it was, plowing into my side.

I inadvertently let out a loud cry and ended up bent double.

Lil' Snowflake looked shocked. Mummy Snowflake huffed, very offended. "Oh, for God' sake, it wasn't that hard!" she snapped.

"Actually, it was," I said, and held on to a shelf to right myself, then lifted my shirt to show my heavily bandaged abdomen, a week post major surgery.

She dragged Lil' away, muttering something about "drama queen."

Wow. The drama queen was the mom. I'm quite sure that if Mummy Snowflake or Lil Snowflake ever have an operation the world will need to revolve around them. Oh wait-the world already has to...

[Winterlight]

*giggles at the image of a herd of special snowflakes*

Oh no.  Please say they don't all travel together at some point.  One or two at a time is one thing, but en masse?!  YIKES!

I wonder what happens when two Special Snowflakes meet?  I bet it's not pretty.

An itty bitty black hole appears...

and the one with the biggest stomp wins   

*slow clap*

petal just won teh interweb.

Snorted coffee at "An itty bitty black hole appears..."

Ditto... 'cept I snorted coke. owies!

My first ever liquid out the nose, and I got two for one line! I'm so happy!!!!

[arnadelecour]

Ooooh I have one!!!! I posted this a few years ago before I actually started posting here regularily.
This was a friend of mine, who is no longer a friend. We shall call SS "Amy".

Amy is a very very SS. The world MUST revolve around here. At the time she was 25 years old, and still living at home with her parents with no job. She was still in college trying to get her bachelors...since she was 18, AND she was a fulltime student. She kept changing her major so just when she had the requirements to graduate, she'd freak out that she was almost out of the college scene and change her major and pretty much have to start all over again because she'd pick something with completely opposite requirements. So you get the general picture....doesn't work, refuses to grow up...yeah. /bg

I was having my gallbladder out. My son had just turned 1 and my dh worked fulltime. So I was alone 3/4 of the time. I was working too, but once I found out what was wrong with me I was put onto bedrest. Amy had her gallbladder out several years before in highschool, so she said she knew how I was feeling and offered to come help me out for a few days and watch ds while I went to the hospital to preregister for my surgery. YAY!!! Right? Well she showed up, but it was NOT what we had discussed. First off, she monopolized the TV. It was constantly on MTV or VH1....my son obviously wanted to watch Doodlebops or Little Einsteins. She wouldn't let him. I told her at one point that ds really did have a right to watch at least one of his favorite shows. Her response "I'm a guest Poptart. Plus I don't have cable TV at my parents.". Then she tried to take over our only computer. NOT going to happen, sorry. Dh took her up on that one since it was HIS computer anyways. Then the phone issues. She didn't have any reception for her cellphone in our apartment. So she decided that this was our fault and therefore gave her the right to use our phone for long distance calls to NY that would last for over an hour to some guy she'd never really met I do believe. Not to mention she had her ex still stringing along and was trying to get him to admit he still loved her while she was pretty much have phone scrabble with the guy in NY  I REALLY flipped out when I saw she put our phone number on her facebook as to where she could be reached....her friends list was like over 100 people long....so all these people I don't know now have my phone number. I almost ripped her eyes out when the phone rang at 1am after she had told the guy in NY to call her at OUR number whenever he wanted to while she was there. NO!

Did I mention she didn't help me at all? I ended up doing her laundry, cooking for her like she was a little kid, doing the dishes, cleaning, you name it. She even had the gall to tell my son was annoying her because all he wanted to do was watch his show and she wouldn't let him....so he kept trying to change the channel on the TV because he had seen us do that I don't know how many times. AND she would.not.leave. We even had an argument about when dinner was ready and she refused to get off our phone. The rule in our home is that dinner time is phone free time. We either don't answer it, or we tell whomever is calling that we are having dinner and will call them back when we are done. I think dh actually unplugged the phone after that.

So yes...she was a very very very SS indeed.