Quote Originally Posted by Lainey View Post
First rant of 2019, but, I finally saw up close a fast food worker get hollered at by a customer. Customer is male, 50ish, and having a fit because he said they got his order wrong. Worker apologized and said the sandwich he wanted would be x amount extra since he was charged for a cheaper sandwich. He complained loudly that since it was their fault he should have gotten the sandwich for free. She explained again she'd have to charge the difference, and this is where he blew up and leaned far over the counter and pointed a finger in her face that he knew the owner and would make a personal complaint to him, etc. Then he stormed out keeping the food they'd given him.
At this point the worker went to the back and when she came up front a few minutes later I heard the shift lead tell her that she handled that very well (meaning she tolerated having this clown go nuts on her).

Another data point: it was during a very busy lunch rush, but all of the counter staff I saw were very polite and most importantly, were reading back the orders to each person. So it's possible the order was given wrong, the order was misunderstood, or the workers mixed it up.

Despite that, my rant is: When did it become okay to go berserk over a sandwich mistake??

I've been reading online about how fast food workers say that baby boomers are the ones most likely to do this. I've never personally done anything like this, but I'm ashamed for being in that cohort that is likely to have these blow-ups. No wonder no one wants to be a service worker if this is just a typical day at a minimum wage job.
As someone that has been on both sides of this sort of problem, I can relate. As a line cook and server, I have read back many orders precisely and then the customer says that it isn't what they wanted or had ordered something completely different. Then the tirade begins. More than likely, they are stressed about something else and usually call or come back later to apologize. I have also gave my order several times, only to have the person screw it up. That sort of thing drives me nuts because there really isn't a reason why a properly trained employee would do such a thing unless they are overwhelmed or just don't care about their job. It is possible that what you saw was the fifth time that guy came for lunch and had his order made wrong. I have stopped using our local McD's drive thu because I can't count how many times they have read the order back to me and it wasn't what I said at all. Or he could have just been trying to con them out of $1 by ordering a cheaper sandwich and then having them remake it. I would believe anything at this point.

My rant for the day is our local hawk. I still haven't figured out what type of hawk it is, but it tears birds apart in my back yard and leaves feathers everywhere, and has a nasty habit of flying into our windows. I'm starting to think that it does this on purpose to scare the daylights out of me. I know it needs to eat, but NIMBY! And it tried grabbing my favorite squirrel out of my front yard today and I went running out there with no shoes, no coat, no bra, and my hair not brushed yet waving my arms around and yelling to scare it away. In the ice and snow, no less. I hope my neighbors didn't see me.