There's an excellent Litmus Test for determining how noble a human being you are, and it starts and stops with any nearby fast food drive-thru. If you can pull up, order your food, pay, and leave without treating the employees like garbage, you're a relatively decent human being. If you, or someone you know, can't do that, odds are you probably associate with the terrible people on this list.
Reddit user, u/YangWenli1, wanted to hear about:
Fast food workers, what is your "Sir, this is a Wendy's" moment?
Let's Start Off Strong!
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I worked at a Wendy's!
Had one guy try to order McNuggets over the speaker. When I asked what size they wanted, they got all defensive that I wouldn't call them MCnuggets.
"Fine, fine, fine, I'll take a whopper"
"...uhhh, a Dave's Double? Or Baconator?"
Needless to say, they screamed at me and zoomed off into the smogset. Worst year of my life.
What Did You Think It Was?
Worked at Burgerking around the time free WIFI was becoming a thing. My store even advertised it on the sign outside. One night some guy comes through the driver through and starts to make his order.
Customer: "...Whopper jr with a Coke, and I'll take one weefee" Manager: "Ummm sir do you mean WIFI??" C: "Yeah" M: "Sir that's wireles internet" C: (obviously confused af) "oh" drives away
Another occasion some lady wanted her meal for free. When asked why she said she was a McDonald's assistant manager. Again this was at Burgerking
Almost Got It...c
This was many years ago when I worked at a Pizza Hut. I can't recall the exact exchange now.
Police came in guns drawn yelling "Where is he?!".
"Where is who?" "The guy, the guy!!" "What guy!?" ...
"F-CK"
Turns out the alarm was going off at Dominoes about 1/8 mile down the road.
We All Got Problems
I work at an airport in a pizza shop. We tell every guest it's going to be a 6 minute wait for the pizza, and 2 minutes later they come back and demand we rush there food because there plane is boarding. The amount of times I've been told, "Can you hurry I have a flight to catch!" Is utterly bizzare. Everyone has a flight to catch you just suck at timing out sh-t!
Look At The Sign.
I work at Dunkin Donuts and it is a real sh-tshow. My favorites:
- Once our order taking system got out of order. The cashier handed a bag with a sandwich to a girl who had ordered a box of a dozen donuts, and she took it, paid, drove away. Came back confused an hour later saying "I ordered a dozen donuts and got a sandwich instead?" So why did you take the sandwich???
- People love to order in Starbucks sizes or ask for Starbucks drinks. Whenever they say "grande" or whatever I just ask "what size?" Over and over until they get the hint. Same thing with Frappucinos, "So a frozen coffee?" Some people love to argue that we have things like Frappucinos, or nitro cold brew. Please read the menu folks.
Ma'am, Look At The Sign
I work at a chilis and when I was hosting old people would constantly come in and talk about how weird it was that we redecorated so suddenly and where did the salad bar go??
They thought we were Sizzlers which was two buildings away from us. Happened at least four times.
Seriously, Ma'am, Look At The Sign
Work at Panera.
Guest calls in from car, several people in background, all giving orders for a pick up. First order is something simple, next order is an item we don't carry. A salmon dish of some kind. I know there are some regional Paneras that have or have had salmon. We are not one of them.
So I let them know, "Hey, I'm sorry but we don't carry salmon. Maybe-" and the person on the other end of the phone cuts me off and starts getting really aggressive. "Yes you do! YOU DO!" they scream.
But I don't. We don't.
So then I'm like, "Hey, maybe you're thinking of another chain. We are very similar to-" and I start to list off some other places, and they cut me off again screaming, "I KNOW YOU HAVE F-CKING SALMON! WHAT THE F-CK! I ATE IT JUST THE OTHER DAY!"
And at this point I'm just being honest with them and say, "Hey man, I don't really need this attitude. We don't have salmon. I can't make the dish for you. You have us confused with someone else."
There's a long silence and finally someone (not the person who's been yelling) says, "Wait, this isn't *insert some totally not Panera sounding place that I don't remember here*?"
"No."
And then everyone in the car starts yelling at each other, and I hang up.
Customer service is the worst.
This Isn't The High Quality Restaurant You Think It Is
Now, working at McDonald's, every single day at the same time, 16:00 this old guy would come in and order his food, most people knew that he wanted a special order, over cook the sh-t out of the patty. Started up right when he walked in.
Anyway that's not the problem, that was easy, the problem is this dude was forgetful as all hell, and would demand a ceramic plate to eat on every time. So that's when we would explain it to him. Dude this is McDonald's, we don't have plates. And he'd usually be like oh right, right. But, Sometimes he would just rant about how we SHOULD have plates. I saw him absolutely flip the f-ck out, because a girl stepped outside the breakroom with a plate of food she brought from home. I KNEW YOU BASTARDS HAD PLATES and could not convince him otherwise ever there after.
Keep it in the breakroom is the moral of the story
...Yeahbuwha?
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Dude came to drive thru. I open the window, "sir, how can I help you."
"I'm outa checks." He replies calmly.
"Not sure I follow you." I say.
"I'm outa checks." He says again more impatiently.
"Right, I heard you but I don't know what you want me to do about it. You can pay with cash or card too."
Dude gives me a weird look then says, "Oh this ain't the bank." And peels out away from the window.
I'm a pharmacist.
Pay Me Back For All These Pizzas I Didn't Buy
I am late to the party but anyway.
As teenager I was working at a supermarket weekends.
An older lady comes to me and shows me a frozen pizza and explains me that all the pizzas have reached the best before date and was really mad. She was demanding that I remove all the pizzas and a compensation (for what?) and so on. The date on the pizza was the production date
Sir, We Only Serve Photos Here.
I worked in a photo lab inside a Walmart, that also had a McDonalds. Everything in the photo lab was yellow. The cupboards and the walls and what not.
One day some guy walks in and orders a quarter pounder with cheese. We were like umm sorry this is a photo lab. He says oh for f sakes, I saw all the yellow and just thought you were Mcdonalds lol
We Can Only Tell You So Many Times
I worked at Panera for 6 years and I about lost it with this one.
Guy orders his food and I ask ,"do you want the apple, baguette or chips?"
He goes. "Umm, I'll take a nugget", with the most serious look ever on his face.
I still laugh about it to this day.
SERIOUSLY. Did You Look At The Sign?
Legit had an old man walk up into the Pizza Hut I worked at and ask the manager for a cheeseburger. She told him we didn't serve burgers and he goes "Well what do you have?" She looked at him dumbfounded and replied "Pizza..." His response? "Oh I don't like that I'll just take a cheeseburger."
And the cycle repeated...
We Don't Do That Here
I worked at McDonald's and I was getting yelled at by a lady that was a splitting image of Tina from Bob's Burgers. She was upset because I couldn't replicate that stupid f-cking pink drink from Starbucks. I wouldn't even know how. After a few minutes of my manager and I explaining that she's not at a f-cking Starbucks, she settled for a vanilla iced coffee. I made the drink and handed it to her personally.
She then removed an old dirty Starbucks cup from her purse, poured her fresh made drink in there and threw the McDonald's cup at me.
Who Needs The Hassle?
It wasn't me involved but I witnessed it.
I worked at Burger King when I was a teenager. We are short staffed one day, and the girl on the drive thru was on break so our manager stepped in to cover her.
He was pretty old and didn't have the best hearing, so most customers were pulling around to the window to talk to him as he was struggling to hear through the headset. Anyway this one guy rolls up to the window and shouts "I want a large big mac meal with a coke PLEASE! Is that so damn hard?!"
My manager very calmy says "my apologies sir, that won't be difficult." he leans out of the window and points down the road "there's a McDonald's about 3 miles in that direction. They'll be able to help. Have a nice day sir." Then he just closes the window and walks around the corner out of sight. I laughed so hard!!
What Else Would A Dairy Queen Serve?
Worked at a Dairy Queen. Had a lady saunter in all frustrated, bag in hand. Whipped out her receipt and without giving me much context said, "there's supped to be a Baja Blast." I told her "m'am this is for Taco Bell." She quickly said "my bad" and sped out of the restaurant. I think she was making up a story and did it in the wrong store.
Also the number of people who asked "do you serve ice cream" is way too f-ckin high
Sir, You're In A Mall...
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Was a shift manager at a McDonald's in the middle of a mall. A guy walks up to the counter with several McDonald's bags of food.
Guy: My wife came through your drive-thru and you messed up the order!
Me: Are you sure she came through our drive-thru?
Guy: Yes! She told me she came through the drive-thru, and when she got home she realized the order was wrong. Y'all need to give us our money back and give us the right food.
Me: confused while looking around the mall
Me: Did she drive through Sears or JC Penny to get here?
Guy: Looks around and finally realizes he's in the middle of a mall. Grabs the bags and huffs away.
That was the single greatest amount of human stupidity I had experienced...until I joined Reddit.
...Wow.
This happened at an actual Wendy's. Its a bit long but trust me, its worth it to read.
I once had a woman come through the drive through and try to order Macaroni and cheese. I politely informed her we did not have that. She insisted we did. I told her we definitely didnt. She got angry and yelled that yes we did. I told her "ma'am Ive been working here 3 years. We have NEVER had macaroni and cheese. Its not something we serve. Would you like to order something else?" Shes says "yes you f-cking do! I can see it on the menu board! Its RIGHT there right in front of me on the menu!" I tell her Im really not sure what shes looking at, but we dont have mac and cheese, and if it really does say mac and cheese on our menu board then that means someone vandalized it. She says no, its definitely part of the menu board and its real and we do have it, and she isnt leaving until she gets her mac and cheese.
Cue quite literally 10 minutes of this back and forth, all while she's holding up the drive through line. I finally got the manager to come over and deal with it after asking him for the 15th time because they dont pay me NEARLY enough to deal with that for that long.
The woman absolutely REFUSES to accept that we dont have mac n cheese. She also refuses to order anything else, and wont move her car until we give her the mac and cheese that we dont have. We have a line of cars wrapped around the building now and everyone is pissed. Its been half an hour and the line has not moved.
The manager tells her if she doesnt leave, he's gonna have to call the cops. She screams she cant understand why we're doing all this, and why we wont just serve her mac and cheese when she can CLEARLY see it on our menu board right in front of her so we DO have it and why are we lying to her?
I decided enough is enough, I exit the building, walk along the outside to the drive through order screen where this woman's car is.
I tell her to please show me on the menu where it says the words "macaroni and cheese" anywhere.
She points and confidently says "Right there!" With all the conviction of someone who is absolutely sure they just proved some big dumb idiot wrong and that they will be hailed as a hero.
I look where shes pointing.
I see it.
I sigh heavily as a bit more of my soul dies.
I compose myself and say, as politely as I possibly can:
"Ma'am"
"That is a picture of the orange slices that come with the kids meal. We do not serve mac and cheese. Please drive away before the police get here."
She looks confused, looks at the menu board again, the realization dawns on her, and she drives off without a word. I go back inside and scream in the walk-in freezer for 10 minutes.
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When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
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Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
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See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
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Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
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Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
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The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.