For some reason, people treat those that work in retail and food establishments pretty horribly. I'm fortunate to have never worked in either of these industries, not because they're "lower" jobs (they're not) but because customers treat both employees and their workplace like massive garbage cans for no good reason. Since I don't know their pain, the best way to express my support is to give them a platform to speak about the inhumane way customers treat food service and retail workers. So the next time you think you can act entitled and obnoxious, look into a mirror and realize how ridiculous you're being. Because the customer is *not* always right. If you actually think this is an appropriate way to behave, you deserve to be laughed at on the posts from Reddit or 4Chan...or maybe even this article:
1) A Case of the Hangry
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"An older gentlemen yelled at me and told my manager I should be fired from Bojangles for getting his order wrong. We accidentally gave him an extra piece of chicken and that pissed him off."
-Anonymous, Bojangles
2) Adult Swim
"When I worked at a bookstore, we were told that if we found unwrapped "adult" magazines, to just throw them out. For obvious reasons."
-Alicia, Former Bookstore Employee
3) Not Exactly Flowers and a Box of Chocolates
"I was a freshman [in college] and got a part-time job at a flower market. Worked a few hours with the manager training and was then set up to close for a week. All went well until she scheduled me to open on a Sunday. She never gave me her phone number and never gave me a key to open up. I assumed she was going to come down and open and leave, as she made a point of not issuing me keys. I could hear the phone ringing off the hook for the hour and a half I waited. She showed up looking trashed and hung over. Unlocked, I then set everything out and up and then she proceeds to tell me this is not going to work and she let me go. This was after a phone call from the owner...I got thrown under the bus. Horror story for me then, but great lesson in life."
-Berni, Brief Florist
4) Happy Unbirthday
"A man complained to a cashier that I didn't wish him a happy birthday. But he did not tell me it was his birthday."-Kyle, Waiter
5) Anger Management
"I had two angry customers back to back. So this one lady use to always come in to complain about something we don't carry or anything she didn't enjoy about coming in. So she comes to the wrong register and I tell her that I'm using the other one and she snaps at me, "Well I'm at this one and I don't want to move!"
At the same time another gentleman shows up at the register I am at so I politely say, "Sorry sir she was here first so I'm gonna have to take her on that register." And then he snaps at me "I [bleeping] know I wasn't here first!"
At this point I have two people yelling at me and then the guy yells out in the store, "Where is the manager? I don't even think this guy knows how to speak English!" That's what the manager heard and immediately came up to the cash registers saying, "Is all that really necessary sir?" That's when she told me to wait in the break room because she could tell I was about to explode.
-Danny, Retail
6) Drinks are on the House (and the Floor and Walls)
"So one time had this table of 3 girls come in to the restaurant. It was like 12 am and no one wanted to take them, but I decided I would do it. I went over and greeted them. Two of them got a soda and one got a margarita. I checked her ID and put in her drink. The two sodas got sent back 3 times and they made me make then new drinks. They just give up once I had given them 6 different versions of their drinks that they didn't like. The margarita had too much ice and not enough alcohol apparently, though the order was made to the restaurant's specifications. Basically, she just wanted more free alcohol. So I explained that she could order shots to make it stronger if she would like. She said yes."I got her the 2 shots she asked for. I get their food and they make the most complicated orders they can. I read everything back to them at the table and make sure I have it exactly how they want it. The whole time they are ordering they are mumbling and talking to each other and completely ignoring me. I get the food in and it comes out fast and it all looks amazing. No surprise, they say it's all wrong and that they want to speak with a manager. At this point it is past closing time. My manager comes out and talks with them, but they hate every option he has offered. Finally, they order completely different food than what they asked for in the first place. One girl asked for pasta and then said she ordered a steak. Then one of the girls looks at me and tells me her ID is fake and I served her anyway. I apologized and took the drink away. As I am walking to the bar I hear them yelling, '[Expletive], why did you take my [expletive] drink?!'"I went back and explained that I was sorry that I gave her the drink in the first place, but that we can't serve underage people. Apparently the ID was not fake, the other girl just wanted to get me in trouble. At this point, their new food comes out and they eat. I am over the edge and just want them to leave so I can finish and go home. I hear them yell that we messed up again and go back to the table and the one girl starts yelling, 'Don't let that [expletive] racist [expletive] back at my table!' (She meant me.) At this point, I am done and refuse to go back to the table. The manager is no where to be found and then I hear something crash. They had chucked a cup at the wall. I had to get the bartender to go to the table and take care of it. I finally found my manager and he went to the table and brought them their check and said they needed to pay and leave. They them explain that they are not going to pay for the food because we "[Messed] up all their food". Basically my manager called the cops and then had to force them to pay.They threw a cup at me when they left and she got arrested."-Rebecca, Waitress
7) When the Carder Becomes the Cardee
"I was working as a cashier and a man in his mid twenties with full face tattoos came in to buy cigarettes. I asked for his ID as was policy for the store. He flipped out and started saying he was going to call the police on me and came back into the store and got in a long ass line again just to come yell in my face a second time. He claimed there was NO way I could possibly be over 18 so he'd call the police on ME because I'm clearly not old enough to work there either.... I was 21."
-Alaina, Writer
8) Not Amused
"I was working in a toy shop at an amusement park. A four year old girl grabbed a toy and ran out of the shop. The girl's mom caught her and demanded she return the toy. The girl, furious as hell, threw the toy back where it was found, then started hitting her mom, punching her mom's thighs. The mom carried the girl out of the store. The mom then plopped her in the stroller, but the girl threw her legs down so the mom couldn't push her. The mom then had to kick it back so she could push her away."
-Alex, Happy to Not be Working at Theme Parks Anymore
9) Green with Envy
"I had a woman throw a fit because her spinach and strawberry smoothie wasn't green."
-Gabe, No Longer a Smoothie Maker
10) A Slice of Anger
"I'm currently working at Panera. I work at a very high traffic store. So of course, we were busy during lunch, per usual. Before we had someone else interact with customers to hand them their food to decrease confusion, it was the person who was putting the orders together and whatnot putting out the orders on the counter when they were done.
"During lunch one day, we were a bit behind with orders and whatnot. I had placed a bag on the counter and called out the name and moved on to the next order. Cue 15 minutes later, a lady storms up to the counter and asks about her order. I point to the bag that had been cast aside to make room for the other bags. She proceeds to take a different bag and when I told her that her bag was the one I had pointed out to, she threw it back at me so hard the bag ripped.
"Like I said, it was a busy and stressful day. A few orders later I had to have someone take over for me because I broke down and was crying so hard I couldn't be up there anymore."
-Elizabeth, Panera
11) "Pee"ved
"While I was working at a grocery store chain, we had this bizarre old woman go around the store spouting things like the government was going to arrest us because she had Obama's phone number and we needed to have mosquito sprayers that would spray people as they walked in and out.
"This one time, because I am a nice person and I maybe enjoyed her insanity (I regret my life now because of this) I offered to help her out with her groceries. So we get to the car and I'm unloading her stuff and the bags feel a little wet. Not unusual, plastic bags tend to get a little moist if they have something cold inside of them like gallons of milk that have condensation or whatever. So I am midway putting this wet bag in her horrible battered and dirty trunk when she goes...
'I peed.'
And I stop for a moment and just wait, wondering if I heard it wrong.
'Oh?'
'I couldn't hold it in so I used the bags.'
"I nearly died on the inside. Still in shock, I finished loading her up and made my way back inside. I walk up to my manager and explain before going into the bathroom to wash my hands... SHE PEED ON THE FLOOR! It smelled horrible, like a few customers had complained apparently but no one knew what it was until I brought it up."
-Anonymous, Free from the Pee
