It wouldn't be a day in modern America if there weren't some bully saying, "But I'm a paying customer."

Ahem. Paying for goods or services doesn't give you carte blanche to bully staff members at a business; the owners of the business have the right to throw you out if you're disrupting their operation. That doesn't mean you can't complain; however, you should do that in an appropriate manner (which is not harassing employees).

But there's that famous saying, "The customer is always right." Doesn't that mean that even the most outrageous behavior by customers should be excused?

Chicago retailer Marshall Field is credited with the phrase, published in September 1905, according to Quote Investigator, but it's not known if he coined it or heard it elsewhere. Swiss Hotelier Cesar Ritz was reported in 1908 to use a similar maxim, "The customer is never wrong."

Harry Selfridge, who worked for Field before moving to London to open his own department store, is also often credited with the phrase. When I posted a question about it on Threads, one of the replies I got, from a small-business owner who goes by khaosandkismet, was, "It's actually a very commonly shortened quote; it's supposed to say 'the customer is always right in matters of taste.' Very different vibes. I have worked in hospitality and........

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