Ask Lemmy

Was asked about making a key for a private plane. It was a high security blank we couldn't get so I told the guy we couldn't do it. The guy wasn't happy with that answer so he then hit me with "this is Dr Phils plane". Told him that still doesn't change the fact that we can't get the blank therefore we can't make a key that will actually work. I have no way to verify if he was telling the truth.

Yes, I did get hit with a "Do you know who I am?". It's not an exciting story and it took place about 20 years ago so my memory is faded. However, it was a bit weird.

This was a 50 or maybe 60 year old white man and he was neurotic about everything but also felt as though the policies that cover every other customer did not apply to him. For example, he was a habitual "I'm going to park right in front of the entrance to the store in the no parking zone" customer. But at the same time, our company policy is that we were supposed to greet customers a specific way (ex: like the chickfila people who are supposed to always say "my pleasure" instead of "you're welcome"), and if we didn't greet him that specific way, he'd ask to speak to the manager and tattle on us.

He was mean, nasty, rude and super arrogant. Apparently, he was also a lawyer, so management would basically concede to this guy's every whim and request, no matter how absurd.

This guy was a regular customer at the main store that I worked at in a town about 25 miles from where I lived. When I switched store locations to be closer to home, I noticed that he shopped there, too. This guy lived in the same town as me. Yuck.

His "Do you know who I am?" spiel came about when I was calling customers about bounced checks, which was part of my job at the time. I had no idea what the guy's name was at the time (and I've forgotten it now all these years later). But when I called him about the bounced check, he insisted it didn't bounce and yes, pulled the "Do you know who I am?" line on me. This is also how I learned that he lived in the same town as me, since his address was on the check.

The weird part of this story is that I was telling my dad about this guy because he was such an ornery cuss, and my dad knew who he was because this guy also shopped at a store my dad was working in at the time. my dad lived in a town and worked at a store that was over an hour away from either location I'd worked at.

It honestly sounds like the "Do you know who I am?" guy spent his days driving around and shopping at different stores all over the state simply being an irritating and infuriating asshole of a customer. Like whether or not he actually was a lawyer, I could see him being the type of person who intentionally tries to cause trouble in order to give himself opportunities to sue people/companies and that's how he makes all his money. I don't know that for sure, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Not that I can remember, but once, I was working as a server in a restaurant, and I guess one of the guests that got sat in my section had stared in a TV series that I was only vaguely aware of, but my coworkers loved. My coworkers we're all excited and whispering the entire time, but otherwise they were just another average, unmemorable guest.

State senators are pretty easy to overlook. I know one and he's not super recognizable, he just looks like a well-dressed guy.

"Sure! You're Jim Pingston, delivery truck driver from Tahoma! What's up man!"

...but no I haven't. Except when I talk to my boss sometimes he has to remind me.

Not quite but I got, " eats dinner at my house!" I don't know why they didn't just talk to the owner over dinner

My grandpa had an interesting twist. He was working bartender for a community charity event (this probably would be illegal today, but in the 1950s), and the other guy starting taking off his apron "I can't work here, those kids coming this way will tell my parents to not buy from my business if I refuse to serve them" (remember, 1950s, it was illegal to serve alcohol to kids, but odds are half the community only cared about that law if they thought the state police would find out, which in this type of event there was reasonable odds of).

My grandpa responded "oh don't worry, if you don't want to serve someone just send them to me"

"oh, is that why you were sending all those kids to me with a 'he's the boss'?"

"Yes. That is also why they put two people who don't know each other on this job - odds are we don't worry about the same kids"

Not exactly what was asked, but I once worked as a personal banker at a bank branch that served multiple of the Washington Redskins (at the time), including many of their most valuable players. But I don't care about sports, so I never knew who any of them were until I'd have to ask them occupation questions by regulation. A ton of them kept coming to me and told me that they loved that I didn't know or care who they were and that I would never ask them a single football question.

Closer to the topic at hand, I also had another unrelated customer who had a doctorate, not a medical degree, and I accidentally called him "Mister" one day instead of "Doctor," after which dude literally spent an hour of his day waiting to talk to my boss to ream him out for being "disrespected" by not using his title. Any time after that when he came in I made sure to include "doctor" in literally every sentence when speaking with him. 😁

No, but I did get asked if I knew who someone was after by a coworker. Some actor who has played a side character in a film I saw a decade ago. Along with a lot of other films I haven't seen. I don't watch many films.

No. Though I have helped multiple celebrities like scary spice and Helen Hunt.

Always were respectful to us.

yup, I knew exactly who she was, problem was, she didn't know who I was. Crazy bitch was my next door neighbor. I exited the situation just before she began throwing wine bottles, knowing that things would devolve quickly. Sorry Alan, I left you with a real shit sandwich but you didn't pay me enough to deal with that kind of mental health crisis and it was time for my break.

Yes. Running sound for a concert in THE shittiest sounding room (concrete cube). I warned them how bad the sound is and I'll do everything I can but in the end the room is awful and there is no way around it, we will do the best we can without getting screaming feedback.

Singer of this band was a real cock. Literally said (not jokingly) "I'm famous you know". Wanted a monitor pointed directly at him blasting obscenely loud (louder than the mains) while he played acoustic guitar and did vocals. If any of you have dealt with a stage monitor pointing directly into a guitar sound hole, you know how bad this is. And he wanted it louder.

Walked right past me at the end of the show , totally ignored me. At least the rest of the band was decent. But that guy was really full of himself.

I'm not a pro mixer. But ive heard pros in that space and it sounded just as horrible. You can't fix a bad room with tech.

I worked at a now closed greasy spoon directly across from University of Kentucky in Lexington about 25 years ago. We would put your name on your ticket, so that we could call your name when your order was ready. Apparently I thoroughly insulted several of the basketball team because I had no freaking clue who they were. I went to Transy. I don't know your sportsball teams.

I think it's happened about twice for me and not once did I recognize them... but I have issues recognizing faces as is

My favorite uncle quagmire tells a story. This is from the early '80s.

He's working near the counter of the coastal airline he's working, another pilot dealing with check-in. Just then, a beautiful blonde starlet comes up, quite over-confident, and needs to get on the next flight. It's booked. But she needs to, you know, and she drops that famous line "don't you know who I am?"

Uncle's peer shoots back at her: "lady, if you don't know who you are, I'm not sure you're in a state to be flying anywhere!". He got in trouble after; and my uncle too for some Alan Alda style guffaws from the next room.

Do you know who I think I am?

I've avoided that that by knowing, in advance, who they were. But I worked a desk where I called them.