"I want to talk to the manager" is not a phrase any customer service worker likes to hear, and it's definitely not fun for the children of those demanding customers to hear either.
Today's burning question came from Redditor Em367, who asked: "Children of 'I want to talk to your manager' parents, what has been your most embarassing experience?"
40. "I was 13 when this happened."
I was 13 when this happened. My mom had made a reservation at a hotel for a trip, but when she got there the lady said there was some error with the reservation and that my mom's payment didn't go through, so the lady offered us a double bed room for a discount.
Rather than just taking the room, thanking the lady, and leaving, my mom decided the best course of action would be to scream, in the middle of a hotel lobby, "NOBODY IS GOING ANYWHERE TIL I GET MY F*CKING ROOM!"
She then proceeded to pester the lady, who clearly couldn't do anything about it, until eventually she called the police on my mom for public disturbance. Mortifying.
39. "Nope."
Not my parent but grandparent. When I was around 10 years old my grandmother went out and got us (her, my brother, and me) McDonald's.
We got home and we didn't have napkins in the bags. No big deal, right? We have paper towels and napkins in the house, also me and my brother are pretty good with not making any messes while we eat.
Nope. Grandmother got us in the car, drove back to McDonald's, demanded a manager, and screeched about how upset she was that we didn't get any napkins. I wanted to just melt into the floor and disappear. It's just napkins, Nanny...
38. "My Mum demanded..."
My Mum demanded to see a café's hygiene certificate when she saw an employee go from cutting cake in the kitchen to handling money at the till, even though the real problem is going the other way.
37. "When I was a young child on a long distance flight..."
When I was a young child on a long distance flight my mother let me and my brother sleep on the floor. For safety reasons the flight attendants told my mother that we were not allowed to sleep on the floor.
She started to argue with the flight attendants who then turned to the pilots. The pilots threatened to turn the plane around unless we get up from the floor but she continued to argue.
The pilots anounced they were about to turn around because of my mother, so all the passengers got pissed. Eventually she caved in when she had all passengers and flight crew on a Boeing 747 against her.
36. "I was with my parents on vacation..."
I was with my parents on vacation and the hotel put charges on the bill by accident. My mom marched to the front desk and demanded to see the manager.
There was a long line, but she cut right in front of it. The manager wasn't very helpful, probably because she was rude.
So my mom, went to all the other customers in line and told them that the hotel was a scam and they were ripping us off with fake charges.
She made a scene. The hotel called the police and we were escorted off the premises by actual cops. I died inside.
35. "I worked at Best Buy..."
GiphyI worked at Best Buy. I stopped in with my mom one day because she wanted to buy me the Star Wars DVD box set for my birthday.
I had a huge, HUGE crush on the girl that was working the customer service counter. Well, the DVD set rang up $10 more than it was priced, and my mom deliberately didn't say anything until after the transaction so she could claim the effing $5 Michigan Scan Law bounty.
My crush didn't know how to process it and the manager was busy, so my mom tore into her about how it was her job and how she should understand how to do things.
34. "One time we went to Burger king..."
Ugh, my dad. He can be such a prick if you get his order wrong, it could be fast food or a nice sit down restaurant. He often yells at wait staff if they "undercook" his steak. It has to be well done or he claims to have lost his appetite.
One time we went to Burger King when I was younger and we sat down to eat. He took one bite of his burger, spit it out and immediately started bitching about it being under cooked.
He cut in front of everyone in line to yell at the cashier, then he asked who was the cook. when the cook appeared, he launched his burger hitting the poor kid directly in the face with a lidless burger. He's now banned for life from Burger King.
33. "Scene: ..."
Scene: Any fast food drive-thru
Worker: Ma'am, can you please drive forward a little bit while your food finishes up?
Mom: No. *folds arms*
32. "My dad just loved to argue..."
My dad just loved to argue, and he loved a deal.
We were shopping in a department store, and I found a pair of pants I was mildly interested in. The pants were tagged at (let's say) $40, and the sign on the rack was "All pants $25".
I was mildly interested, I asked the salesclerk if they had them in my size, the clerk said "those aren't supposed to be on that rack".
My dad lost it and insisted on getting the pants for $25, and started asking for a courtesy discount on top of that. Escalated to the floor manager and the store manager.
Meanwhile, I didn't want the pants. They were ok pants I guess, nothing awesome, I just didn't care very much about them. I was more than happy to move on.
I told my dad I didn't want the pants, by then he didn't care about what I wanted, he wanted the pants at the better price.
Eventually after like an hour of arguing the store manager said "we're not giving you the pants at that price. Take them or leave them at $40". So we left them. Which suited me just fine, because I didn't want the pants.
31. "Grocery store had this sign up..."
Grocery store had this sign up that said if an item rang up higher than an advertised price it was free. It was the 80s and stores did stupid sh!t like this that I never see in stores today.
Mom was buying a box of Little Debbie cakes and they rang up for $2.85 instead of the advertised $2.50. So now mom wants her free cakes.
Cashier doesn't know what to do, summons a manager. Manager tells her to ring up the sale otherwise and he'll be right back.
Comes back and hands my mother 35 cents cheerfully and says "There you go!" My mother points out the sign behind him and he says "Oh, the last manager put that up, it doesn't make any sense. I'm the new manager and I just haven't had the sign removed yet" (it was a printed plastic sign that was screwed into the wall).
Mom insists they honor their sign, he says nah. Now, up to this point, I as an adult looking back am totally on board with mom's actions.
Mom gathers her things, decides against taking the Little Debbies on principle, and we get in the car. Mom wordlessly drives downtown to the main store of this 3-5 store chain, knowing the office is next door.
We walk into this perfectly 80's wood paneled office where my mother asks the secretary to speak to the owner of the store and is permitted to do so since this is a family owned business and their "corporate office" is smaller than the row of cubicles my staff occupy at work.
Here my mother unleashes a tirade about how she has lost faith in his brand and how his word is meaningless since they will not honor the sign etc.
This guy stands up, profusely apologizes, validates her anger and then pulls out his wallet and hands her a $5 bill along with a promise that he will speak to the manager and the sign will either be honored or removed.
We get home and find that the ice cream we bought melted in the trunk because summer and ruined the cereal and the bread.
30. "My father consistently returns food to grocery stores..."
My father consistently returns food to grocery stores when he is unsatisfied with the quality. The worst is when he returns the 2 lb bricks of cheddar cheese because they went moldy "before they should have."
29. "He continues to scream at the guy..."
GiphyNot me, but my sister in law. Her step dad and mom took the family out to eat at a Red Lobster. They get there and it is super busy. So the step dad walks up to the host and says "Yes, we have a reservation".
The problem is, Red Lobster (or at least that one) doesnt take reservations. The host explains this and says it is going to be 20 min wait for seating.
Her step dad FLIPPED out and started screaming that he had called 3 hours before hand and made a reservation. The host politely told him this was not possible as they do not take reservations (again).
He continues to scream at the guy, and says he wants to talk to a manager. So the manager comes out and she tells him the same thing.
They dont take reservations, so its not possible that he had made one. He continues to cause a scene and people started leaving just to get away from this toxic guy.
Finally, the manager says, "Fine, we will put you ahead of everyone else that has been patiently waiting their turn". He says "Thank you". They get seated.
Once they get to the table and the waitress walks away, he slyly winks and says to my brother and the rest of the family "THAT is how you get things done. I wasnt going to wait 20 min".
My brother refused to eat or order for fear of getting food that had been spit on.
28. "About my once a month..."
About once a month my dad gets drunk and calls various customer service centers demanding stuff.
Once he finally gets off the phone (frequently 45+ minutes later) he spends the next few days telling us all about how he slew the customer service dragon and boy people sure don't appreciate their customers nowadays blah blah blah. (No duh, dad, you're being an asshole, no one appreciates that.)
If you've worked for DirecTV customer service any time since 1996, I apologize on behalf of my dad
edit Another story for y'all: I also remembered one time McD's was having some kind of 2-for-1 breakfast sandwich deal going on where the total was about $3.
He gets his breakfast, drives ~25 mins to work, realizes he's missing one of the sandwiches...and proceeds to call McD's customer support every evening after work for a week to complain about his wasted $1.50.
They gave him apologies. They gave him coupons. But he just wanted to yell.
27. "When I was 6..."
When I was 6 my mom took my brothers and I out to Golden Corral for dinner. She went up to the buffet, got a steak, and came back to the table. She's an avid A1 steak sauce fan and cannot, i repeat, cannot eat steak without it.
She poured out the A1 onto her plate, tasted it, and was instantly horrified. She proceeded to pour out the Golden Corral Steak Sauce right next to the A1 and it matched perfectly.
Outraged, she called over a waitress and eventually the manager showing them her little experiment and how she exposed the Great Steak Sauce Fraud of 06.
My brothers and I were scarred for the rest of our lives. I still have nightmares about it.
26. "I think they shorted her a couple of bucks..."
My grandmother wasn't only a "let me talk to your manager" type she was a racist and advancing dementia completely turned off her filter for that.
I've blocked out all the context behind it other than I took her to buy yarn and somethingwent wrong. I think maybe they shorted her a couple bucks or wouldn't honor a coupon or something.
Whatever it was ended in a "let me talk to your manager" followed by a tirade to the manager about how they shouldn't be hiring Mexicans.
I just remember having to talk over her and say, "Oh my god you can't talk to her like that. Nothing you just said is ok" followed by me trying to push her wheelchair out of the store as fast as possible with her digging her feet into the ground trying to get me to stop so she could go back to trying to ruin someone's day and me wondering if I'd go to jail for elder abuse if her ankles snapped in the process because nothing was going to stop me getting her out of that store.
I got her into the car and then went back in and apologized till I was blue in the face. I wish I could say it was an isolated incident but it definitely wasn't.
If by any cosmic chance any sales clerks or phone reps that had to deal with my grandmother read this thread I am so so incredibly sorry, I apologize on behalf of my whole family and I'd give you a hug if I could.
As an interesting side effect of caring for her, I have a tendency to wander off and pretend to look at things when we get to the register if I'm with someone and I'm not the one paying. I think she gave me an honest to god phobia.
25. "I found a fly in my soup."
I found a fly in my soup. Just a tiny little fruit fly that I easily could have eaten and have been none the wiser. Since I spotted it, I stupidly dabbed it out of my wonton soup with the tip of my finger, which immediately brought it to my mother's attention.
After she found out that it was a fly she was up and yelling to the owner about how unacceptable it was, making a scene, demanding a fresh bowl for me.
The owner was having none of it, dumped out my soup, and told my mom she 'had none left'. We all left, and she made us all promise we'd never eat there again. Not that I would, since I live in a small town and the whole thing was mortifying.
It wasn't the only occasion she has done this, even now that I'm an adult she feels the need to fight for me when she thinks someone has slighted me.
She's a lovely woman most of the time, don't get me wrong, but she takes the term 'mother bear' a bit too seriously.
.... it was really good soup and I still regret not being able to finish that bowl...
24. "My dad was at a dentist..."
My dad was at a dentist (for me) and they didn't take our insurance and he had a pissy fit and broke their coffee maker.
23. "I was young out at a restaurant..."
I was young out at a restaurant with my dad. He ordered a steak for dinner. After about 10 minutes he starts complaining a steak should only have taken 5 minutes, 2 minutes on each side, and there's no reason it shouldn't be done.
He then asked to speak with the manager... went on a tirade about how it's inconvenient for his family to wait. He ends it with "We've been coming to this restaurant for over 5 years" to which the manager replies, "Sir, I've only been open for 1 year".
Come to find out dude was the owner and the manager, said a few lines in response about my father "being oblivious on how kitchens work" when he demands instant food and we should go to McDonalds if we wanted fast food.
So much embarrassment.... we never went back to that restaurant again
22. "I married into a coupon family."
I married into a coupon family.
Sometimes it is pretty amazing the kind of stuff they can get for free or almost-free, but it also instills a certain amount of entitlement that rubs me the wrong way.
Being frugal and watching out for good deals is one thing, but believing that you deserve to pay less than anyone else for a product has always been hard for me to wrap my head around.
Especially when it doesn't scan, and they have to get a manager involved. I've witnessed an in-law who has hardcopies of their favorite store's coupon policies in their purse, so they can quote it directly to anyone who gives them trouble.
21. "When I was around 17..."
When I was around 17, I went out with my father looking for a new laptop since my old one wasn't really doing it anymore.
I was just walking around the store trying to figure out what I was looking for in a laptop since I'm not actually good with tech stuff, so my father decided to ask one of the shop assistants for advice.
Now, my father is one of those people who thinks it's only natural to demand a discount when you buy at a shop fairly often, since it's the shop's obligation to offer those to what he would call "loyal customers".
So that guy walks up to us, explaining the equipment of one of the laptops I had been looking at and ends with telling me that it had key illumination - and that's where sh!t was starting to hit the fan.
My father snapped and made fun of the shop assistant for claiming that the key illumination would be a crucial factor for buying the laptop (which he never did actually say) and demanded said discount since he was a loyal customer.
The guy got angry and told him that if he didn't want professional advice he should go and order a laptop from Amazon instead.
That's where my father got really mad and started to get really loud, stating how disrespectful he was being treated and ended up demanding to see the manager.
The manager showed up, my father continued his overly dramatic tirade and ended up demanding said discount AGAIN. She told him no and made him storm out of the store fuming and complaining loudly and stating that he wouldn't buy anything from that shop ever again. I was beyond embarrassed and ended up apologizing to the manager on his behalf before I left.
20. Friggin' Karen.
My MIL is truly a Karen. Going out to eat with her is always a nightmare. Her orders have 14 special requests, but she's not at all kind about it, she is defensive from the get go like you're an idiot who's already screwed the order up. "Nooo dressing. Not on the side. Nothing. Completely dry. Do you understand? I will send it back!"
The one I will never forget though was dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. In case you've never been it's one of those places that every so often plays a song that the entire staff is required to drop everything & do a little synchronized dance to.
It's quick, everyone gets a little kick out of it, it's part of the fun. Now my MIL Karen knew this, it's not like she'd never been here. But apparently she was not willing to wait 2 extra minutes for her dry salad, so she starts going off as soon as the dancing starts.
She gets a manager, who clearly knows Karen well & offers a quick apology (for doing their job), a discount & her dry @ss salad. But Karen's not completely satisfied.
She tells us that even though dinner for our party of 8 is on her, she's not tipping the waitress 1 penny. She proceeds to b!tch.....loudly...the rest of the meal & antagonize our waitress over petty sh*t.
I worked too many years in customer service & ya know, I'm a decent human being. I made sure to get my bill separate so I could tip for the entire table.
I wrote a quick note on the receipt, something along the lines of "Way to stay positive even when the customer's a jerk". I was a little afraid of the wrath of Karen, it was one of my first interactions with her too, but when the waitress came & hugged me, Karen & I locked eyes. She knew. I didn't care. Don't be a Karen.
19. Keep the change.
One time I was in a record store with my dad. He bought a record that was 19,99 euros. He paid using a 20 euro bill. The clerk took the money and put it in the register and gave my dad the cd in a plastic bag.
I started walking off when I noticed my dad wasn't moving. As I turn around I hear him say to the record store clerk "You still have to give me my cent back."
The clerk replies that they don't return one or two cents because they don't accept them and as such don't have them in the store.
My dad replies by saying that is "Judicially impossible" and asks for the manager. To make a long story short; one of the clerks gave my dad a cent from his own wallet.
18. This was the *second*-worst?
I had this awful annoying af terrible neighbor who, because I'm a giant sucker, I was kind to.
She asked me to come with her to dinner because it was her birthday, and I knew I was the only person on the planet who would go with her and goshdarnit it's her birthday how could I say no?
So she and I went and we brought our kids (all girls, one mine, two hers). She makes her oldest do her math homework right there at the table.
When the child asks her for help (mind you this is like third grade math) the mom says it's too hard. I end up helping.
The waiter is just fine. He comes by and takes our orders. She is already acting weird but she always acted weird so I didn't think much of it.
Waiter comes by again and asks if we need anything. She dismisses him and waves him off and tells him no. Then like 30 seconds later turns to me and is like "Can you believe how awful the waiter is? He won't even refill my drink!" and just goes on about all these "issues" that literally don't exist.
I'm like "He just asked if you needed anything..." she cuts me off "I'm going to talk to the manager"
Oh God....
She talks to the manager like this is the worst experience she's ever had in the history of her miserable existence. I'm in shock, her kids have their heads down. Mine is oblivious, lol.
The manager gives her like half off the meal. Oh and the kicker? "That's my half so you only need to pay the rest!" OH GEE THANKS!!
I left a big tip and a note on my receipt telling them the waiter was great and apologizing for the complaints that were totally not warranted. It was the second-most embarrassing restaurant experience of my life.
17. At least mom raised you right.
I don't like going to restaurants with her, she thinks that because she worked as a waitress for a year 35 years ago, it gives her the right to act like a complete assh*le to them.
She also thinks not tipping them will encourage them to "get their act together". Jokes on you mom, I always find our server after seated, give them a $20.00 and apologize in advanced for your poor behavior.
Edit: Yes, she knows what I think of it. She doesn't care. She believes she's sticking to her principles, and that tipping poor service (read: never had "good service", something will always be wrong), will encourage thier laziness. It's not going to stop. If you wait on her, I am very sorry.
Edit 2: She waited tables at a pizza hut when she was 20. She looks back at her time through rose colored glasses. "I worked hard, went above and beyond to get my tips" then she yells at the waitress for trying to refill her drinks "Excuse me! Did I ask for a refill?". Obviously logic and empathy are not her strong points.
16. Dad was a good boss.
Not exactly the question, but my Dad was great with those customers. We had a small family business selling and installing fireplaces (for context).
He, on more than one occasion, when getting the customer call or come in, after the installers had finished up and left the job site, to b!tch about one of the men being rude or something, he could get this look of grave concern on his face.
He would then go into a backstory, saying things like "oh no, not again" or do the open mouth, closed teeth inhale thing and just 'tsk tsk tsk' and then start on with some nonsense about having told the guy before that it was his last warning and go on about how he was going to 'have to let them go'.
The blood draining from people's faces or the dead silence on the other end of the phone line was magical - followed by the customer frantically explaining that 'maybe it wasn't that bad' or blaming themselves.
He was never going to fire anyone, but he'd find out real quick who was just complaining for fun. Many of those customers have no qualms about getting the employee in trouble, but in general folks don't want to jeopardize people's livelihoods.
15. She was correct.
Not me, but one that I witnessed:
I was at a cell phone store a few years ago. This was when phones first started to become water resistant.
A kid had apparently gone swimming with his phone all day, and the phone had some discoloration to the screen and the touch screen wasn't working correctly.
The kid obviously knew he screwed up, and he kept asking the mom if they could just leave. That the phone still worked, and he would survive.
The mom didn't even try to be civil. She came in, and immediately started to be an abusive customer. I remember she laughed as she said 'Oh, you're gonna hate me. you should just get your manager now.'
14. You're taking this to go, ma'am.
I was young and my mom and step dad took us to McDonalds. Somehow a nail or something got stuck in the tire which caused a flat.
I'm not sure if it happened in the lot or not, but they were convinced it was. They went to talk to the manager. I don't remember exactly what their demands were, but they didn't get them.
They literally went into the street waving people away saying that they were closed because they were mad. It just seemed like a ridiculously excessive thing to do.
13. I just don't understand.
My mom needed to return some shirts at the mall because they didn't fit right. It was past the allotted time that she had to return them, so the employee said that there wasn't anything she could do.
My mom started SCREAMING at this girl who was probably about 16 or 17 calling her names and demanding to speak to the manager.
When the manager told my mom that they couldn't do anything and that the return policy was on the receipt, my mom threw a fit and knocked over a display that was next to the register and stormed out of the store.
I was probably 6 or 7 at the time and I was mortified. I apologized for her behavior and picked up what I could before she started calling for me to follow her.
The manager was super sweet to me though and told me that I was a good kid and to stick up to my mom when I could get away with it.
12. How about staying home?
My father-in-law and step mother-in-law are the culprits in my case. They are absolute monsters at restaurants towards the wait staff.
They seem to enjoy the game of how many annoying little hoops they can make servers jump through. It's too cold in here. It's too hot in here. the music is too loud.
The salsa is too hot. They've made them do three or four things by the time we even order our food. Then my mother-in-law loves to order something spicy off the menu, but then tell them them to make it not spicy.
And these are not four-star restaurants, just simple diners and so forth. One time my father-in-law was particularly rude over a Coke machine being out of order.
He complained to the manager, and stiffed the waitress. When I realized that he didn't tip, I called back to the restaurant, let them know some of us at the table were happy with the service, and asked them to run my credit card for her tip.
And that was the last time I let him pay for our meal.
11. How much is just enough?
I wasn't there for this (THANK GOD) but my mum once had a LENGTHY email argument of complaints to a hotel's restaurant because their smothered chicken wasn't "smothered enough."
One such email included the dictionary definition of smothered.
10. Shame! Shame! Shame!
I was out to breakfast with my mom, and our waitress straight up disappeared. We sat for a good 30 minutes, after having ordered nothing but eggs.
It was an off time, so the diner was pretty quiet. It was as if our waitress had just evaporated. Naturally, my mom asked someone if we could speak with the manager.
She stops by, my mom lets her know what's happened, and asks if she can check on our waitress, our food, etc. Ten minutes later the manager shows up with our food, and the waitress in tow.
She put our food down, then proceeded to rip in to the waitress. This poor woman broke down in tears, apologizing profusely. We felt awful, didn't even bother finishing our food.
Once the manager was out of sight, my mom found the waitress, gave her a hug, and a larger tip than usual. It was rough, leaving us both sufficiently embarrassed.
9. Well done.
My mom has been this person regularly throughout my life but I do have one positive story with it.
She and I went to eat at Portillo's when I was a teenager and we sat in the back of the restaurant where it was more private so we can eat in peace.
About 10 minutes into our meal two people come into the empty area and sit down two tables away from us. Turns out it was a manager and an employee that was getting written up.
The manager was being a complete @sshat towards the employee criticizing and belittling them. My mom put down her food and walked over and started yelling at the manager for being such an assh*le.
She went on a rant about how rude and wrong it was of him to do this in front of the public two tables away from customers and really let him have it.
She demanded the phone number of the manager above him and we left after she received it. I was pretty embarrassed at the time but as I got older I realized that she was standing up for that employee and how wrong that manager really was.
I'm not a hundred percent sure what she did with that phone number because I lived with my dad and I had to go home after that meal.
8. Build-A-Nightmare.
Okay, so we were going to a theme park in the capitol of the country. I must have been around 19, which makes my one sister 16, and the youngest around 9. My dad had been planning this for a year, and we were psyched to go.
After you go into this place, you see a huge lake, and on each side there are several shops. A restaurant there, a souvenir shop there. And also, there is a Build-A-Bear shop. This shop is NOT a part of the park itself, but it does have an entrance from the park.
Anyway, my dad didn't have custody of my sister at the time, and only saw her very sporadically. This was by his own choice, since his anxiety meant he couldn't care for her properly. She lived with a foster family. This was one of maybe three times a year he got to actually take her somewhere, so this trip was a BIG deal.
He told her she could have ONE thing from the park, whatever she wanted he would pay for it. And, being a 9-year old girl, she said she wanted a Build-A-Bear.
My dad was unfamiliar with the concept of Build-A-Bear, so he didn't know that the price of the bear isn't the total price. On top of it comes the clothes, the shoes etc.
So the shop person takes my sister through the whole thing. You know, stuffing, putting the heart in etc, and rings up the total.
My dad totally lost it. Like, red in the head, screaming at this poor girl in the shop lost it. And I felt SO embarassed. Firstly, this girl didn't make the prices.
Secondly, this was THE trip of the year, it was all four of us for the first time in forever. And thirdly, you don't yell at people like that.
I get that he was angry, since he didn't know the process, and felt cheated. And also, he felt backed into a corner, since he had promised my sister that she could have anything. But you don't do that. Ever.
Luckily, the rest of the trip went by without a hitch, and my youngest sister doesn't remember this happening. She has two Build-A-Bears now, and she named each of them after one of her sisters.
7. Where does the entitlement come from?
I think every memory I have of my mom is her yelling at a customer service employee either on the phone or in their face. I always felt bad for the employees.
I remember at least one instance in which I felt really embarrassed. I did an online program that was geared towards new drivers.
It was all about driving safety and took forever to do. At the end of the course, the young driver had the opportunity to get lower insurance rates.
So I had to call a customer service representative and confirm personal information as well as answer some things from the course in order to get the rates.
My mom kept insisting I put the phone on speaker. Every time I did, the rep would tell me to take it off of speaker. My mom would then try to follow me around the house trying to listen in and the rep could hear her and said she needed to stop.
My mom got mad at the rep and I ended up not getting the lower rates on my insurance because the rep was fed up.
6. What did he do, nothing?
My dad would sometimes do this at restaurants if the server was too slow or the food was wrong (especially multiple times in the same meal). He was totally right in being frustrated, because sometimes this was extreme, but we all hated it.
The worst time was when we were in our favorite restaurant. My mom literally said, "I'm not doing this." And gathered up us 3 kids and we went to the car.
EDIT: You guys seem to have gotten the wrong impression. My dad was NOT a d!ck to anyone and he did this a few times a year at worst.
The incidents I remember warranted him speaking with the manager and he was never rude or insulting. The rest of us just didn't care enough about bad service to say anything to anyone.
5. Don't mess with Domino's.
My mom once called Domino's regional corporate office or some sh!t because a pizza I ordered for her, THAT I PAID FOR, was "too expensive".
She did get 4 free pizza vouchers out of it but I'm so glad I was not around for the embarrassment of it all (I ordered it online from my job in the next state. Why? Because she wanted pizza 😂)
4. Not gonna work.
We travelled a lot when we were younger and would skip lines at the airport since we were kids.
But now we were all in our early teens and my mom faked having a heart condition to skip the long line to get on the airplane.
Flight attendant would have none of it and told us to go back to the end of the line. I still remember the smiles and looks of everyone there.
3. Relatable.
About the only thing my dad and I have in common is we like to go thrifting. Garage sales, estate sales, antique stores, and charity thrift shops.
Thing is, we do it for different reasons. I do it for the fun of finding something unusual and offbeat. Dad does it because he likes to find bargains, to be one-up on the suckers who didn't know what they had.
So I was mortified when dad went to the charity shop checkout and b!tched for 10 minutes about being overcharged 50 cents. Left him in the store alone. When he finally came out, I went in and dropped 5 bucks in the donation jar and apologized for my assh*le father.
2. Going to a restaurant to eat together... groundbreaking.
Not my parents, but I was once out to dinner with my brother in law and his family. Our meals all came out at almost random times instead of all together.
My brother in law demanded to talk to the manager because it was "unacceptable" that food come out at different times and he said something about how he hopes they don't expect us to pay for the meal.
He gave a big speech about how we came out so we could eat together, and he knows this is unacceptable because he used to be a waiter, etc. I was mortified because I didn't think it was that big of a deal.
1. Some people aren't that bright.
My mom constantly does this, but one time really sticks out.
We went to a local Mexican restaurant and as we were paying for the food she tried to use a coupon.
The cashier said they wouldn't accept the coupon and my mom was furious. She demanded that the manager come out and accept the coupon.
She caused a massive scene in the restaurant and it lasted at least five minutes. As the cashier was getting the manager, I decided to look at the coupon...it was for a totally different Mexican restaurant in the area and my mom wasn't wearing her glasses.
The cashier and manager both came back, my mom apologized, and they ended up accepting the coupon.
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.