Not every customer comes in ready to be helped. In fact, some arrive actively ready for a fight.

One employee recognized that from the moment he saw a cantankerous man fumbling with his trailer in a fury.

It set the stage for a clash that was bound to escalate.

Read on for the full story.

But that’s not how the other guy did it!

Apparently, I’ve developed a reputation around here as the guy you hand a customer off to when you’re sick of them.

He attributes this resilience to his overall worldview.

I’m comfortable with awkward situations, mostly because I get bruised and scraped around here so often the idea of being punched doesn’t faze me.

Plus, I really don’t care what people think of me. That’s less about healthy self-esteem than it is about a basic contempt for all mankind.

So soon his managers shoves a difficult customer onto him.

So yesterday, the manager comes out back where I’m receiving in stock:

“Hey, can you hook up this guy’s trailer for me?”

“Ya, sure.”

“Just so you know, he was super nice until I got to the part about getting an emergency phone number for someone who wouldn’t be with him.

All of a sudden he flipped, going: ‘Why didn’t they ask me for that last week’ and ‘This is an invasion of privacy’ blah blah blah.”

The employee braces himself then goes off to meet the customer.

“Oh great. Thanks for that, I’m sure this will be lovely.”

I walked out to find a white-bearded gentleman in khaki shorts and a safari hat halfway through hooking up the trailer.

He was doing it wrong, but with great angry enthusiasm.

So the employee tries to take over, and that’s when this customer makes it clear he’s not one to be reasoned with.

Since he’s clearly hot under the collar, I decide to get real cold.

“Hi. Those chains are on the wrong side. Let me handle it for you.”

I start hooking him up and, as expected, he launches into a tirade:

“Why is it that last week they just used my office number for the emergency contact, but today the lady says it has to be for someone who isn’t with me?”

I don’t even look up.

“She’s right. It does.”

“But why did the young man let me…”

This employee isn’t taking any of this guy’s nonsense.

I cut him off: “First of all, never ask why. People who ask ‘why’ aren’t looking for a solution or even to actually understand, so let’s just not do that. It’s pointless. And second, sounds like you got one of the new guys.”

This is all said while I continue with my hookup. I don’t look up, so I couldn’t tell you how he reacted.

He’s quiet until I stand up.

“Are we done? Can I go?”

“No, I need a picture of the hookup to show I did it right, and then we need to check your lights.”

The customer continues to try and argue.

“But the young man last week didn’t do that!”

“Guess I was right then; new guy,” I say, tapping at my phone.

We stand there in silence for a bit while I wait for the network to catch up with us. It’s obviously killing him to wait, which makes me smile a bit.

Finally, I’m ready to tap on his name in the list and take the picture.

“What name is it under?”

“O’Whateveritwas! It says that name on the contract!”

Oh, we’re raising our voices now, are we?

So the employee has one last one-liner to leave the customer with.

I freeze, look at him with raised eyebrows, and quietly say: “Do I look like I’m carrying a copy of your contract?”

I wait, unmoving. The tension mounts until he retreats into his truck.

He’s on the road about 60 seconds later, and I head in to let my manager know what happened so she can deal with the eventual customer complaint I’ll be ignoring.

I think it’s the heat.

This employee didn’t even raise his voice and he still managed to leave the guy fuming.

What did Reddit think?

This retail worker is taking some major notes.

This retail worker really seems to have customers figured out.

Managers are usually supposed to handle the hardest customers — that’s why they get paid more than regular employees.

This commenter also can’t help but be inspired.

What was supposed to be a quick task soon turned into a standoff between two very strong-willed people.

Sometimes, to get through to a customer, you just have to match their energy.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.