You may not always see this, but treating employees, especially in service work, does matter. It says a lot about you as a person, at least to me. One Florida TikToker agrees with this sentiment and essentially called out an entitled McDonald’s customer after she exhibited some outright bizarre behavior and got confrontational with a worker over nothing. Now, others are sharing their feelings on those who take out their anger on employees.
Originally shared by Larissa Tiemy (@larissatiemy1), but was taken down on TikTok, user @saltyoccasionallysweet reshared it with her own commentary. In the video, you can see Larissa going through a McDonald’s drive-thru, stopping to speak with an employee. She asks them, “Hi, did you take my order?” to which they say no. She then asks the worker, “Do you know who did?” Larissa goes on to explain her son said hello to the employee, the one taking the order. No one responded to him. Because of this, she was frustrated. She went on to say, “I was just wondering if they heard my kid say hello. This is his favorite part of the day, and he has autism, so if he’s talking, it’s a big deal.”
User @saltyoccasionallysweet was dumbfounded by the video, as many of us are as we watch it. She pointed out Larissa demanded workers give her son attention. The sad part is he’s trying to his mom’s attention but she’s ignoring him.
She also suspects the video was actually filmed as fake outrage. It’s possible Larissa may not have confronted a worker about it at all. The TikToker asked, “Why would they just assume the child is talking to them?” and then finishes her video by calling the behavior “harassing a McDonald’s worker making minimum wage.”
The truth is, fast-food workers aren’t paid to put up with belligerent customers making silly requests that aren’t concerning food. People responded to the video by saying just that. One person cried, “THAT IS CRAZY – The entitlement is just wow!!!”
Another commented from experience, “As a fast food worker, we have such a hard time hearing anyone, much less someone in the back seat or passenger side. At the window is better, but still… I’m focused on getting your order out fast and accurate.”
Showing a bit of mercy for workers going through the grind of stressful, everyday life is important. I’ve worked in fast food before—it’s hot, sweaty, smelly, and you have to move fast. You don’t have a lot of opportunity to notice a child saying hello.
