Some people strongly believe that everyone should be forced to work at least a year in the service industry to teach them patience, self-awareness, and how to properly deal with rude customers.
Think of it like an entitlement-diversion program.
Reddit user ilostmygender_ asked:
"What’s the most ridiculous complaint you’ve ever heard in the service industry?"
Because if there is anything that will ensure we have fewer entitled people being ridiculous, it's making sure everyone gets to deal with those types of people face-to-face.
Check out the ridiculousness Reddit has had to put up with.
Deserve To Party
"Every year, couple of weeks before Christmas, my restaurant closes a couple of hours early (7 instead of 10, and it's usually on a Wednesday, so it's not nearly as busy) so all the employees can get together and have a small holiday party."
"We had a sign up on our door two weeks before the party, letting everyone know we were closing early. As this was the year after covid, and we didn't get to have a party the previous year, we were really excited and ready for it."
"At about 8'oclock, a woman comes to the door, sees it's locked, and goes ballistic. She man-handles the door and starts slamming her fist against it. She ignored all my co-workers who were shaking their heads."
"Finally I go over and unlock the door to talk to her. She just starts screaming about how we're not supposed to be closed, etc, etc and I'm just shaking my head pointing at the sign."
"She finishes with 'you people don't even deserve to have a party'. And with that I just smiled and said 'well now we're definitely not helping you, goodnight.' And closed the door."
"2 days later I get a call from the owner of the restaurant, saying she actually filed a real complaint about it. We had a great laugh"
- Hellvillain
Resturant Manager Or Traffic Officer
"I worked with a manager at a fast food place that got a complaint filed against him with corporate. Lady said she was second in line in the drive thru, the car in front of her gets their food, and goes to drive away, but accidentally put his car in reverse. He stops quickly, goes into the correct gear and leaves."
"Lady comes up and complains that the other customer ALMOST hit her car. Then she later complains that the manager was 'very unhelpful.' Still have no idea what either she or corporate expected him to do."
"Then, we had a customer drive his car up over a curb onto the grass, drive for another 6-8 feet, and hit a large rock in the grass, breaking his radiator."
"Dude wasnt under the influence, absolutely no clue how he didnt see a 3 foot tall rock in front of him, or why he was suddenly compelled to do some offroading in a Lincoln Towncar."
"He immediately comes in and starts yelling about how he's gonna sue the company for damages to his car. Despite the fact that he drove straight into it, over a curb, in broad daylight."
"Like, his car went to that rock like a soldier returning from war runs to the arms of his lover. Without missing a beat, my shift lead tells him that corporate will have much better lawyers than he does, and they'll 'counter sue you for damages to our rock'."
- DisabledBiscuit
"damages to our rock lol"
- rdummy_soup
"Your manager should have offered to ALMOST give her some money to compensate for him ALMOST hitting her car."
- magpac
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Didn't Ask The Exact Question
"I was serving a couple their meal. I had stopped by after their first few bites and asked them how they were doing. They said great and I moved on to the next table. At the end of the meal, they asked for the manager and complained about my service, that I didn’t check in. When I told my manager that I had checked in on them, she said they said 'Well, they came and asked how WE were doing, but not how the food was. WE were doing fine, but we didn’t like the food…'."
- Matchmaker4180
"Seems a little petty. To be honest, I've only had waiters ask me some variant of "so how are you enjoying your food? Good?" And then I tell them it's good and they move on to the next table."
"If you don't like the food...you can just tell the waiter. You don't need a prompt."
- geico_fire
Hand-ing Some Drinks
"I was using my hands to hand people their drinks"
"I quit that same day"
- goldenbrushes
"Your bad man. You’re supposed to use your feet like that alien pod racer guy in Star Wars the phantom menace"
- nhbd
"Not even using your mind powers, how lazy smh"
- Yab0iFiddlesticks
"I would get mittens, spill half of every drink, charge full price and then tell any angry manager...I just fulfill customers' wishes...."
"Some people should get LITERALY what they wanted....after a short time, they would be cured of their entitlement...."
- applesandoranges990
Changed The Building Layout
"A woman swore up and down that we had an upstairs (we didn't) and then, after twenty minutes of searching, accused us of hiding it from her."
"A whole second story."
- PickanickBasket
"We actually had a similar moment!"
"Customer paid for their washing machine in the till, and was told to go around the corner (of the wall, still in the same building, pointed with the whole hand) to pickup the machine."
"Customer came back 10 minutes later fuming that they couldn't find the second floor to pick up said washing machine."
"Entire building is on ground level. Opening from the tills to the room where they were supposed to pick up the product is as big as the broadside of an elephant. But it's our fault and we scammed him off his money because we didn't want to give him that washing machine."
- Brevlada-00
Severely Allergic
"Someone came back with a breakfast sandwich I made for them saying they wanted to get whoever made it fired because it has bacon instead of sausage."
"They said they're severely allergic to bacon and would end up in the hospital and that the person who made it (me) shouldn't work here if they can't read screens (for what the order says). A trainee was on speaker and punched in a BELT (which is made with bacon) instead of the sausage version which admittedly isn't an easy thing to punch in for a new person on our POS system. So I read the screen correctly."
"HOW can someone be severely allergic to bacon and not sausage which is the same animal and everything ?!? We also use the same tongs for bacon and sausage too, there is definitely tons of cross contamination between them anyways"
"My manager spoke to me privately about it and I said I was prepared for her to fake fire me to humor him lol"
- koopkop
"Reminds me when I worked in a Chinese place and people would be deathly allergic to MSG. When I explained it came in the fried rice we'd make in advance they'd reply 'oh a little won't hurt'."
- Matookie
Season 8 Nbc GIF by The Office
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The People Want Adult Films
"I worked at Blockbuster and some guy got angry at me because we 'no longer' carried adult films. I explained that we had never carried porn but he said 'You have Red Shoes Diaries!' - which isn't porn."
"Then he threw the Rugrats movie on the counter and opened his wallet to get his membership card. After he paid, he shook the Rugrats movie at me and said 'People want PORN! Goddamn you.'"
- BarracudaImpossible4
"I worked at a Blockbuster and we had an older guy throw a tantrum because I wouldn't let him in the 'backroom' to look at the 'adult films' which we 100% didn't have. The manager ended up finding out he was confusing us with Family Video."
- Albino_Wendigo
Stephen Colbert Blockbuster GIF by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
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Cold Cuts Too Cold
"I worked at Arbys as a teen. At the time we had a new angus cold cut sandwich. This woman came in and ordered it. It was like a $12 meal."
"Gave her her drink cup, a min later she comes back and throws the cup at me because we didnt have any drinks she liked. We had like 10 different sodas, coffee, iced tea, lemonade, water, fruit punch, etc. Not sure what exactly she wanted."
"Anyways, I give her her sandwich and fries, she takes them to the table, takes one bite, comes back and slams the tray on the counter complaining that the sandwich was cold. I informed her that its supposed to be made that way. "Where? Where does it say that its a cold sandwich?" I pointed to the menu and said "in the name. COLD CUT sandwich""
"I ask her if she wants me to heat up her sandwich for her. No she doesnt. Does she want me to make her another one that is hot? No. Does she want something else to eat? Nope. Does she wanted a refund then? No! She just walks out! She spent $12 to take 1 bite of a sandwich and didnt even take the refund."
- stitchmidda2
"Sounds like she got buyer’s remorse and expressed it in the most childish way possible. Many such cases"
- akaTim
No Plastic, No Logic
"I worked at a Target at a town in CA that independently enacted a plastic bag ban a year or so before it was a statewide thing, so I got the joy of explaining that new rule to everyone. No plastic bags, paper bags are 10 cents, you can bring your own reusables or buy them for a buck."
"I could sometimes turn the mood by suggesting that they save the dime and carry out their stuff in whatever laundry hamper/bucket/storage tub they also happened to be buying."
"So a lady comes through and buys a cat litter box and a bunch of grocery items, gets in a snit about the bag thing, and when I point to the litter box (basically just a plastic bin) and say she can just take her stuff out in that, she gives me the most DISGUSTED look and declares 'I will NOT put my FOOD in a LITTERBOX'."
"Then she stomped off carrying a wobbly loose pile of groceries in one arm and the box that has never yet seen a cat dangling in her other hand. Good luck in life, girl"
- WankSpanksoff
"Oh god I worked at Macy's in Seattle for two holidays in a row, and Seattle had the plastic bag ban before the rest of the state, so I completely understand what you went through with people just being b**ch about the bag tax. Ours was 5 cents, though. And it has already been a thing for a while before my first season working there, and obviously by the second season working there... I excused the few customers who weren't from the state - in a few cases, they weren't even from the country - from being stupid, but SHEESH."
"Also to be honest when it got busy I'd just give people bags for free. Not worth explaining the whole thing and people going "Well that's OUTRAGEOUS" to me like I have any control over bag-related mandates."
"It was especially stupid when people would be OUTRAGED over the bag thing when they had already come from another store in the mall. Like, okay, even if they didn't charge you for the bag THERE the fact is that you have a bag with you right now from that store that you can just put your purchase in."
- OneGoodRib
Should Smile more
"I was a server at a local Italian/pizza place. I was a waitress and this was a busy Saturday. One table (that seemingly had no issues) asked to talk to my manager. I ask if anything was wrong, they say no, they just want to talk to him. After they leave, i ask what was going on with them. He said they complained that I wasnt friendly enough/smiled enough."
"He asked if the service was poor. No, they said I was very attentive and always had full drinks and everything they needed."
"Was their order messed up? Nope. Food was amazing!"
"What was wrong? She didnt seem happy/friendly/didnt smile"
"Manager tells them that my dad had just died a week ago. Guests suggest that maybe I should take time off of work if I cant smile for customers."
"What. The. F*ck!? Cause like, server dont get paid time off, i HAD to work or I would have lost my apartment etc"
- yosarianmarx
Sarcastic Yeah Right GIF by Bounce
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We're betting pretty much every one of those people is, at the very least, a polite dining guest and solid tipper when they're at restaurants, not going to tell people they don't deserve celebrations, and doesn't tell servers they shouldn't be allowed to work if they can't smile and be chipper right after their dad died.
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
Money Burn GIF by nog
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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
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
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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.