During social distancing and stay-at-home orders in place in response to the pandemic, food service workers reported that rude customer behavior appeared to persist long after the pandemic subsided. One restaurant even closed for “Be Kind to the Day” to help people understand how its employees were treated badly at the hands of unruly customers.
The “customer is always right” philosophy was embraced by corporate America at the start of the Industrial Revolution, and appears to have turned some American shoppers into a “nightmare” for businesses and their employees long before the pandemic; the pandemic seems to have only exacerbated it. Perhaps the advent of smartphones and the prevalence of public eccentricities became fodder for social media opinions that help reveal more of these human behaviors.
TikToker @chalie_kincade documented one such incident at the Subway location. In the video, a woman asks a worker to “finish” her sandwich. The woman was ultimately ignored until she had no choice but to leave the store.
@charlie_kincade I feel bad for the server. She was doing her job when the woman started yelling at her. #KarenGoneWild #SheWasHangry #RespectYourServers #TheAudacityOfThisWoman #ThisIsSadAF ♬ Soundtrack – Charlie
“Eat my sandwich!” the woman screams at the worker as the video begins.
The subway worker interrupted her, “No, I didn’t finish, because you need to respect me.”
“Well, you need to respect your customers. I’ll tell them you don’t respect your customers. Can you finish my sandwich?” she screamed again.
It was at this point that the woman started looking around because she was not receiving any services. Workers continued to make sandwiches for two other customers. “Cold cut trio,” one other client requested.
“Hello, can I help you?” the worker asked another question as the angry customer tried to get her attention.
“Can I have a 6-inch, uh, white bread?” said another customer.
The angry customer took a few steps nervously, then pressed her finger to the glass and demanded: “Finish my sandwich!” No one responded, and she finally walked away, mumbling: “Well, you’re sure to be reported.”
She walked to the front door, opened it to leave, and returned to the worker. “Call you — call your supervisor now. Please call her right away,” she demanded. “You wanted to call her just now, call her now. …I want to talk to her.” No one acknowledged her.
“Toasted, no cheese. Toasted,” another customer continued.
Angry customers then left the store.
@chalie_kincad’s video has been viewed 2 million times. Reviewers praised the way staff and customers treated women who were “disrespectful”. Many believe that the man who was in the subway that day discovered an effective way to deal with “Karen” in the wild.
“The way everyone ignores her and she has to question her own existence I love it!!!!!!” said one.
“They just ghosted her and she didn’t know what to do so she left and it was the best thing she could do,” another said.
“She ended up being embarrassed,” a third claimed.
Daily Dot has reached out to @charlie_kincade via TikTok comments.
Jack Alban
Jack Alban is a freelance reporter for the Daily Dot covering trending human interest/social media stories and how real people are reacting to them. He always seeks to combine evidence-based research, current events, and facts related to these stories to create your not-so-average viral posts.
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