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Serving fajitas hot is not a walk in the park. It’s rather like walking on eggshells, ‘cause an encounter with a customer can go sour anytime. And forget the mantra “The Customer Is Always Right.” Reality is a teeny tiny bit different.

The truth is, some customers are just too much. From ordering something that’s virtually non-existent and coming up with their own takes on the menu to plain yelling and calling corporate, this is the daily bread of food industry workers.

Thus, fed up with entitled customers, people on Twitter got together for this viral thread and shared their stories of working as food servers. Nobody said that accommodating serial a-holes for a living was meant to be easy, but nobody warned them it’s that damn hard, either.

#2

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Is it me or has anyone else noticed that common courtesy isn't common anymore?

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Bored Panda reached out to a college student named Palmer, better known by his Twitter handle Decent Pigeon, whose tweet on delivering Grubhub to a problematic customer went viral with 374.2K likes as well as 58.7K retweets and comments. In addition to creating content for Twitter, Palmer has also worked for DoorDash and Grubhub for the past three years and he agreed to share what it was like.

“The funniest part of the industry is that when a customer is mad, they have (a couple of times) tried to degrade me based on my job title, the ‘service industry worker,’” Palmer told us. “It’s almost like I only do it on the side while I study in college to get another job.”

Palmer can’t wrap his head around the customers that degrade the industry they rely so heavily on. “I’ve encountered tons of amazing people in the industry, so why chalk it down to just their job title?” he continued. “Cliche, but people just need to learn to respect one another.”

This viral thread has shown Palmer that he is not alone, “and that I am not cursed with all the psychos of the industry.” He also said that none of the stories truly surprised him because “many customers in the service industry are extremely entitled and rude.”

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#5

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DietSoDuhx Report

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Oskar vanZandt
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just nod your head and give them what you were going to give them... no sense talking to some people.

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Kiss Army
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And make sure to charge them for the chocolate latte... being that it is a "special" order it was probably more!! ;-)

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Tabitha L
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I know the saying "you can't fight stupid", but sometimes it is hard to stop yourself.

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Stille20
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So you came over to someone else order to tell a woman she was being stupid in front of a line of people... so then she was embarrassed and angry. Justification for being rude? No, but people often double down when you embarrass them.

ed_25 avatar
Electric Ed
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Elitism sucks. Especially when its thrown at you unsurprisingly like that. I'm with the customer on this one. Well, at least until the "See, was that so hard comment" :)

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Damon Gates
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We don't need a war on evil. We need a war on stupid: it's much more common and does at least as much damage.

lsoo avatar
Raine Soo
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I feel bad for the Karens who are genuinely nice. But, a b***h by any other name would still be the same.

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Fred and George Weasley
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

cant you just deny these kind of awful shits what they want, dont take their money and get them escorted out?

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Amanda Sherland
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Technically, a latte and a mocha aren't the same. It's the way the milk is prepared. Let me speak to your manager. Oh god...

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Henry Cheves
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Should have said it was a mocha. She would have spit it out and demanded to speak to the manager.

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Holvnn Olive Ntivuguruzwa
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For some people you don't have to explain a lot, just give them what they ask with no other explanation.

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Peter Chee
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If I met this women, I would squirt sanitiser into her mouth.

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Laura Crawley
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And KARENs are apparently instinctively to coffee establishments. I’m so sorry baristas

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Bender Bending Rodríguez
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can't agree or disagree since my knowledge of Coffee is limited to regular black. I could not tell a difference between mocha and latte if it hit me in the face.

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Nathan Neustaedter
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

the people who think they're in charge but have no idea what they're doing

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Lynn Morello
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Have you not got a sign saying Aggressive persons will not be served,

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Karen Lyon
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes, they are. I think I speak those anti-Karen women named Karen who know how treat all people decently -- we despise their behavior as much as you do.

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Jesse
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is actually the kind of situation where "the customer is always right" spawned. People think that's a customer empowerment thing, but it's actually a comment about their stupidity.

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Eulalie Grace
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I used to tell everyone I trained, if it's possible and legal, to give the a-holes what they want and get them the hell outta here. With stupid people it's not worth the anger.

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Michael Dworkin-Robertson
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

...and may i add to Oskar's comment: ..and then in your head, imaging blowing the offending person(s) up...

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CatM
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hate these kind of people!!! After she had a sip I would have said "and it's made with the best quality rat milk enjoy your drink" B***H

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Hollie Newton
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Unfortunately even if you are right there is no sense in trying to prove that to the customer just accept they are a moron whose in the wrong and make what you know is a mocha

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Wendy Warner
Community Member
3 years ago

Technically latte and mocha have different ratios when it comes to the ingredients and a mocha latte (chocolate latte) will be different from a cafe Mocha in term of milk proportion and forth, mocha latte is also containing hot chocolate and not syrup.

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Wendy Warner
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Although, I used to be a barista for a few years and Latte and Mocha do not have the same type of froth on top. a mocha will have a cappuccino type froth, very fluffy, the latte doesn t have as much fluffiness to it. But maybe it is different in the US idk

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Laura McGuirk-Wright
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would have just said bye bye I'm not serving you today. In fact you are no longer welcome here you are barred!

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Dorothy Cloud
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm so glad my name isn't "Karen". Why is the name now derogatory?

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Mia
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Stupid people should not breed. Its pretty amazing the number of ppl who have made it this far inlife

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Perfumista Perfumista
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Maybe she was thinking of Mocha Java, which is a type of coffee blend and does not include chocolate

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Oma Dudley
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Using the meme Karen is racist and sexist. It refers to women without color in negative terms and so is racist. It refers to one gender in negative terms, and so is sexist. It has also caused strangers to actually spit in the face of women named Karen when they heard someone call them by their name. It has caused discrimination and awful treatment of people for a name given them at birth that they had no choice over. Stop this racist, sexist, mean spirited and ugly meme. Shame on people who do this and cause people named Karen to be mistreated by strangers for the color she was born with, the name she was given at birth and her gender.

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It’s not the first, and let’s be real—probably not the last time we hear about entitled customers. Just take a look at our previous post on people sharing ridiculous demands from customers from hell or this post on customers acting like total jerks and getting shamed for it online. Such incidents are all too common, but there may be an underlying reason for it.

In fact, American consumer culture focuses a lot on making people feel special and people come to expect it. This article suggests that “They feel like they have a right to act however they want towards others until they’re appeased—which winds up isolating the consumer and shaping their view of the world as 'me against them.'”

This type of rude behavior is related to the entitlement mentality which basically screams “Me!” in most daily-life scenarios. Psychiatrists say it is manifested in an over-exaggerated sense of self-importance, lack of understanding of others, and unwillingness to compromise.

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#7

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Never argue with stupid. Just humor them and let them pay champagne prizes if they want Sprite in a champagne glass.

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#9

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Foxxy (The Original)
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have heard similar variations of this so many times, it is really concerning how many people do not grasp the concept.

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When it comes to the food service industry, bad customer behavior is usually associated with attitude problems and plain rudeness. But this research showed it’s much more sinister than that: “behaviors of entitled customers negatively impacted waitstaff employees.”

Moreover, “the participants in the study have reported 'physiological arousal, negative affect, burnout, and feelings of dehumanization as a result of dealing with these patrons.'” In these cases, sticking to the age-old mantra “the customer is always right” may make matters even worse.

#10

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Kevin Wayne
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Quote by Albert Einstein: "two things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity and i'm not sure about the universe"

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#11

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Pseudo Puppy
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

laughing at stupid customers, while out back, is the ONLY thing that keeps customer-service staff sane. Retail, hospitality, corporate..... we all laugh at stupid customers while out the back. Only way to survive.

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#12

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Mama Panda
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

These are the a******s that make those of us with real food allergies look bad

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#13

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Mama Panda
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Must have been the same dipshit that didn't want cheese on his cheeseburger!

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#15

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Bill Taylor
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Should have called it a "special order" and charged him triple for the one pound container...

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#17

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Tabitha L
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I really really don't understand the cheeseburger, no cheese thing. What do they think a hamburger is? Do they think hamburgers are made of ham?

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#19

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Troux
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

With all the cameras at fast food places, I would think you could catch who this was by their license plate, and yes it's absolutely worth it to press charges against harassment of any sort.

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#20

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MoodyBoolicious Report

#21

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Caramalameet Report

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Foxxy (The Original)
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can kinda understand this coz cold hot chocolate tastes different to chocolate milk.

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#22

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Mama Panda
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Actually, I have never had them charge my credit card either when checking in. They give me the option at check out to pay with the card, with another card, or with cash. When I am checking in, there shouldn't be a charge at all since I just got to the hotel and haven't even walked into the room yet let alone stay in it.

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#24

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#25

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Andris Valdmanis
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There is cheese with lactose and there is cheese nearly without lactose - depends on the manufacturing process. You cannot know, you have to read the product analysis if you are lucky enough, that there is one. I know it, because I am lactose intolerant and had to learn it. And then there are people that are lactose-intolerant, and there are people with an milk allergy, also two seperated issues. So it is not allways a dumb question, even if it feels like it for someone who has no idea, because he has not to deal with it.

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#26

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Foxxy (The Original)
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Without any other context I am presuming the customer didn’t really speak english, had an intellectual disability, had a stroke or a neurological disorder etc.

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#27

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97_ibraheem Report

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BluEyedSeoulite
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love to torture my Italian friends with our fake Italian foods! So yummy but so wrong

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#29

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Mama Panda
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Because her kid would have had a full blown temper tantrum right there in the restaurant so she tried to make the best of it by ordering what the kid wanted and expected Jay to understand. sheesh!

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#30

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Ksenia M
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It seems like Subways work differently here because you can definitely get all the vegetables without paying extra. Is that different in the US, you only get like tomatoes and onions but you pay more for pickles?

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#31

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KiIIersound Report

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Amanda Sherland
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

God, I have a friend who does this and it drives me bonkers to listen to him talk on the phone, ordering something or getting customer service. He always talks over the person and misses all their questions and then gets mad at them.

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#32

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Should have rung it up as a cheese pretzel wo cheese. That's one dollar extra...

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#33

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Queen Jackson.
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's stealing tell her to get the f**k out. I feel like I'd be fired the first time this happened to me, cause I don't like entertaining b******t.

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