An Arizona Sonic worker is going viral for cursing at a drive-thru customer instead of simply telling her the location was closed. The clip has TikTok split, with some defending the visibly exhausted employee and others saying there’s no excuse for how he spoke to her.
According to the video’s caption, posted to TikTok by @jo.jenny, she stopped at an Arizona Sonic around 11:15 p.m., before the location’s posted midnight closing time. She says she could hear a man arguing with the car ahead of her before he ran back inside.
He then came back out yelling, “EVERYONE OUT OF THE [EXPLETIVE] DRIVE-THRU NOWWW.” When the worker kept yelling, she says she calmly told him he couldn’t speak to like that and should just say they were closed. According to her, he responded by cursing at her repeatedly, which is when she started recording.
The portion caught on camera is brief. The Arizona worker can be heard swearing before adding, “we’re [expletive] closed, okay.” The creator responds, “I’m glad you said it on camera. Yeah, thanks Sonic.”
TikTok Splits Over the Reaction
A number of commenters sided with the employee outright. “Yeah I’m with the sonic guy. It takes a lot for an employee to do that,” one wrote. Another viewer took a more cynical view of the situation, arguing that employees making low wages have little reason to care about being recorded. “Do people seriously think these employees care? They making $15hr, these jobs are everywhere, record all you want.”
Some framed his reaction as understandable exhaustion rather than genuine hostility. “I’m on his side sorry. Poor man looks beyond exhausted,” one commenter wrote.
Other commenters weren’t willing to excuse the outburst no matter how tired he was. “Yall saying what happened before this, mind you he could’ve just locked the door and left, no need to ever do this again,” one wrote. Another zeroed in on how aggressive he seemed toward her specifically. “He came at you so aggressive too, I can’t stand toxic men.”
A few viewers wanted more context before taking a side, questioning what happened before the camera started rolling.
One commenter, however, pushed back on that argument and said the Arizona worker’s behavior shouldn’t be excused by whatever happened beforehand. “Everyone in this comment section is the problem. No one read the caption clearly. And a grown man should have a better grip on his emotions, especially at work. Would you guys be in agreement if this was, let’s say, a nurse? A dr? A police officer? Everyone needs to grow up,” they wrote.
The debate ultimately became about where empathy for a tired, underpaid worker should end and where basic decency toward a customer has to start.
