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.