Sometimes, rude customers can’t own up to being the problem. This is especially true at restaurants, where you just can’t please everyone. One server in Missouri was brought to tears by a rude guest who wasn’t happy with anything she did. But things got even worse when the Karen customer tried to make excuses for her rudeness. It’s a prime example of people not being able to take accountability for themselves.
Lisa (@montana10702) shared a server rant after a bad experience she had with a customer at the restaurant where she works. While serving a group of people, a Karen guest complained about everything she possibly could. First, she complained that they had to sit at a high-top table. Then, she started screaming at Lisa because she apparently wasn’t “done ordering” when Lisa went to wait on another table. Lisa says that Karen and her table already made all their orders, so she was confused about what else they needed. Lastly, the Karen wasn’t happy with her margarita drink because it had sugar on the rim instead of salt. She took all her anger out on Lisa.
Lisa finally asked her if she wanted to order something else. All she could conjure was an annoyed sigh! Lisa told her she could keep the menu. At this point, she decided to pull out an excuse for her own bad behavior. She tells Lisa that her husband died in a move to likely gain pity and direct the attention away from her behavior. The entire conversation caused Lisa a lot of anxiety. She said she understands that “grief is difficult” and that she wanted to extend some grace to the Karen.
In the end, Lisa’s manager asked her about what happened when he saw she was close to tears. He knew that everybody watched this Karen yelling at Lisa and berating her the entire time she was there. It’s no excuse for her actions. Taking out your grief and unhappiness on a worker who has nothing to do with that is never the right course of action. Lisa knew no matter what she did, the guest wasn’t going to be happy. Lisa’s manager comped the meal and gave her a free dessert to go just to get her out of there.
One commenter suggested, “Just get your manager to wait on them.” Another commenter pointed out, “If managers would stop giving free desserts and rewarding these customers, bad behavior and stop taking money off the check they would stop their behavior. At least the majority would stop acting like this.” A commenter replied to this: “Corporate has created these monsters.”
