"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..."
Giphy
I 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..."
Giphy
Not 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.
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.