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Asshole Chinese Customer Doesn’t Realize The Cashier Can Understand Chinese
Never judge a book by its cover. This wise old saying applies in many situations, but particularly so when it comes to language. This story, uploaded onto the Tumblr page ‘Fuck-Customers‘ is a perfect illustration of that.
Written by a cashier, who identifies herself as a ‘white caucasian female,’ the tale is a warning to anyone who thinks it’s OK to trash talk someone in a foreign language. An impatient couple, who the cashier identified as Chinese, were coming through her line, with the wife making snide remarks at the cashier in Mandarin. She had probably made the calculations in her head, the chances of a white girl, working as a cashier, being able to understand this famously difficult language must be incredibly slim. However, today wasn’t to be her lucky day. Scroll down below to check out how it unfolded for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments!
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This story about a rude customer trash talking a cashier in Mandarin is a good example of why you should never judge a book by its cover
Image credits: David Woo (not the actual photo)
Here’s what people had to say about the story
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bob 7 years ago (edited)
A similar thing happened with my wife in London. She is Asian AND very fluent in Italian. We were in the tube and were about to get off, when we realized that a family was just standing at the door, blocking the way. As it happens way too often, the family was Italian. We kindly asked them to let us pass but they just pretended we didn't exist. So we pushed our way out and the father said something like "you can ask instead of pushing, damn you" in Italian. My wife turned around and yelled at his face "and you can move your a*s out of the way!" in perfect Italian. The shock on his face. I couldn't stop laughing. Not because of the situation, but the face of the guy. Priceless. Note that rude foreigner thinking that nobody understands them is quite common. I've seen my fair share of french tourists saying very rude things, thinking that nobody understood...
Blue Cicada 7 years ago
My American father started teaching me German when I was a toddler. My whole life, he has stressed to me that we should never say anything in front of someone in a foreign language that we wouldn't say in their native tongue. As a college student heavily involved with international student organizations, I preached this to my international peers.
Carol Emory 7 years ago (edited)
I had a college friend that spent a year in Japan. She was on the train, previously having a really bad day, and was talking in english how she was done with Japan and she wanted to go home. The gentleman who had been sitting behind her, gets up to depart, leans over, and says in English "It's really not that bad here." Fast forward a year later and she's in New York. She hears two women behind her talking in Japanese. She understands every word as they say how horrible and stupid Americans are and that New York was a filthy city. As she left the bus, she turned to them and said in Japanese "It's really not as bad as you say it is." The jaws on those women dang near hit the floor in horror of realizing she understood every word.
Vsevolod In 7 years ago
I'm a Chinese and I've got one thing to say.Please don't feel like most of us are the same.She is just coincidentally both disgusting and being a Chinese.There is no connection between manners and races.
Aaron Kara 7 years ago
May this be a lesson to you, dont be an a*****e even if you think you cant be heard
Bobbi Newell 7 years ago
Agreed, how about we just don't trash talk people, period?
Load More Replies... Chris Pitch 7 years ago
just sayin' that is the most stupid expression. There was no need for that comment either. What sort of job should they have then? Translator? Possibly too many of them. Don't be a job snob. Take what you can get at times.
ispeak catanese 7 years ago
You're right, Chris. Do people think interpreter jobs are a dime a dozen? Most companies outsource for interpreter needs because they don't want to pay salary and benefits for one person who "only speaks all day." They prefer to use the child coming with the parent, the patient in the other bed or the janitor rather than wait or page the interpreter who abides by a code of ethics and confidentiality. Story of my life. I was a professional interpreter for a large hospital and had to convince the staff to actually use my services rather than inappropriately rely on whoever was at hand.
Load More Replies...
Galaxy Domination 101 7 years ago
*ascending applause* this is amazing!! I love how the cashier didn't just say, "Shut up dude, I know what you're saying" but instead did it in a way that really embarrassed the Chinese girl. The Chinese girl totally deserved that!!
Hermien Scholten 7 years ago
"skilled enough to be bilingual and still stuck as a cashier"... Maybe they've grown up with two languages, maybe it's a hobby, maybe they studied is. Doesn't miraculously give you other skills you might need for another type of job.
Blue Cicada 7 years ago
I have a Masters degree in education, speak two languages, have studied several more, and have a part-time job as a cashier to supplement my income as a teacher.
Load More Replies...
bob 7 years ago (edited)
A similar thing happened with my wife in London. She is Asian AND very fluent in Italian. We were in the tube and were about to get off, when we realized that a family was just standing at the door, blocking the way. As it happens way too often, the family was Italian. We kindly asked them to let us pass but they just pretended we didn't exist. So we pushed our way out and the father said something like "you can ask instead of pushing, damn you" in Italian. My wife turned around and yelled at his face "and you can move your a*s out of the way!" in perfect Italian. The shock on his face. I couldn't stop laughing. Not because of the situation, but the face of the guy. Priceless. Note that rude foreigner thinking that nobody understands them is quite common. I've seen my fair share of french tourists saying very rude things, thinking that nobody understood...
Blue Cicada 7 years ago
My American father started teaching me German when I was a toddler. My whole life, he has stressed to me that we should never say anything in front of someone in a foreign language that we wouldn't say in their native tongue. As a college student heavily involved with international student organizations, I preached this to my international peers.
Carol Emory 7 years ago (edited)
I had a college friend that spent a year in Japan. She was on the train, previously having a really bad day, and was talking in english how she was done with Japan and she wanted to go home. The gentleman who had been sitting behind her, gets up to depart, leans over, and says in English "It's really not that bad here." Fast forward a year later and she's in New York. She hears two women behind her talking in Japanese. She understands every word as they say how horrible and stupid Americans are and that New York was a filthy city. As she left the bus, she turned to them and said in Japanese "It's really not as bad as you say it is." The jaws on those women dang near hit the floor in horror of realizing she understood every word.
Vsevolod In 7 years ago
I'm a Chinese and I've got one thing to say.Please don't feel like most of us are the same.She is just coincidentally both disgusting and being a Chinese.There is no connection between manners and races.
Aaron Kara 7 years ago
May this be a lesson to you, dont be an a*****e even if you think you cant be heard
Bobbi Newell 7 years ago
Agreed, how about we just don't trash talk people, period?
Load More Replies... Chris Pitch 7 years ago
just sayin' that is the most stupid expression. There was no need for that comment either. What sort of job should they have then? Translator? Possibly too many of them. Don't be a job snob. Take what you can get at times.
ispeak catanese 7 years ago
You're right, Chris. Do people think interpreter jobs are a dime a dozen? Most companies outsource for interpreter needs because they don't want to pay salary and benefits for one person who "only speaks all day." They prefer to use the child coming with the parent, the patient in the other bed or the janitor rather than wait or page the interpreter who abides by a code of ethics and confidentiality. Story of my life. I was a professional interpreter for a large hospital and had to convince the staff to actually use my services rather than inappropriately rely on whoever was at hand.
Load More Replies... Galaxy Domination 101 7 years ago
*ascending applause* this is amazing!! I love how the cashier didn't just say, "Shut up dude, I know what you're saying" but instead did it in a way that really embarrassed the Chinese girl. The Chinese girl totally deserved that!!
Hermien Scholten 7 years ago
"skilled enough to be bilingual and still stuck as a cashier"... Maybe they've grown up with two languages, maybe it's a hobby, maybe they studied is. Doesn't miraculously give you other skills you might need for another type of job.
Blue Cicada 7 years ago
I have a Masters degree in education, speak two languages, have studied several more, and have a part-time job as a cashier to supplement my income as a teacher.
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