Throughout our lives, communicating with service providers is hardly avoidable. But while not every single one of these conversations will be very pleasant, we can at least try to be decent to each other.

However, some people simply go out of their way to be rude to these workers and, thus, must be taught a lesson about manners. For instance, this Redditor shared how she humbled a rude kid who used to throw his debit card at cashiers for scanning. Scroll down to read the full story!

More info: Reddit

Some people like to belittle others so they can feel bigger themselves, and service workers are usually their preferred targets

Image credits: Joe Ross (not the actual photo)

A restaurant owned by the author’s family is often visited by a rude teen notorious for throwing his debit card at cashiers for payment

Image credits: Pixabay (not the actual photo)

When the kid threw his card at the poster, they scanned it and threw it back at him in the exact same manner, making all his friends laugh

Image source: u/deliverusfromevie

The boy left embarrassed and has been more polite ever since, leaving the author happy for being able to influence his growth

The OP begins the story by setting the scene: They work at a family-owned restaurant with their boyfriend and friends. The process usually goes as smoothly as anyone could ask for, and the team works without any hiccups.

However, there is this one kid who the author assumes to be around 16 years old and who has been visiting their store for a long time. The problem with him is that he is notorious for being rude to the employees and likes to throw his debit card at them when he needs to pay. 

The story itself takes place a couple of months ago. As usual, this kid came for a meal, ordered, and in the end, as anyone could’ve guessed, threw his card at the cashier to process his payment. But this time, the cashier was the OP, and they’d had enough of this nonsense.

The author took the card, audibly said, “Wow,” and, after running the card, threw it right back at him. The teen was shocked, and, to put a cherry on top, his friends were all there to see it. They all laughed, and he left embarrassed.

The OP said that this memory most likely got stuck in the boy’s brain. Ever since that day, he has been more respectful and has never repeated his previous behavior. All of the author’s coworkers were surprised at how they stood up for themselves and how this affected the teen.

The poster expressed happy feelings toward watching this kid grow and the fact that they may have had a play in that. The commenters were also pleased about this story, saying that this petty revenge turned out to be quite wholesome. There were also people participating in the comment section who shared the longest similar stories of their own that were every bit as good as the one the OP told.

Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)

Getting a debit or credit card thrown at them is just one of many possible rude actions that cashiers have to deal with from customers. But one question remains: Why are there still so many people who choose to disrespect these workers?

To get more clarity on this matter, we looked into an article by AMPLIFY XL, which provided some valuable insight that can help us understand the reasons behind these occurrences.

The article says that because we live in a business culture that rarely misses a chance to remind its employees that the “customer is king,” most of the time, these issues first come from entitlement. Some customers really do take this saying to heart and feel like they can do no wrong.

Another reason for this is the lack of consequences for bad customer behavior. The cashiers are usually just trying to do their job and rarely have any power to act on rude behavior set against them, as they might risk losing their jobs if they did. In addition, since the checkout is usually at the end of the customer’s contact with the store’s or restaurant’s workers, they’re unlikely to have to deal with them afterward and, thus, can walk away scot-free.

Image credits: Quinn Dombrowski (not the actual photo)

Some customers simply believe the cashiers are intentionally slowing them down in their busy daily rush. This is usually more true in places like grocery stores where longer lines tend to form. But to most, it’s evident that this happens due to a large number of customers having to go through the same process as everyone else, which doesn’t make it easier for the cashiers either. Why would they want to make it worse?

Other times, the workers might also get blamed for not doing what they were asked to do. But anyone who starts pulling hair over this rarely ever stops to think that there might’ve been a simple miscommunication or that maybe, just maybe, their request was completely unreasonable.

Lastly, there’s one cluster of behaviors that just come together, and the root of all of it is that most cashiers can’t fight back, as they’d risk losing their job. This makes them an easy target for people who look down on service workers and want to feel bigger, or maybe for those who simply had a bad day and are looking for someone to take their anger out on.

But in the end, it’s nice to know that the vast majority of customers are nice to their servers. After all, under the whole social categorization, we’re all not so different from one another. And while there’s a small number of people who can’t quite grasp this understanding, even they can change and grow, just like the kid who used to throw his debit card at cashiers.

What did you think about this story? How would you have acted in the OP’s place? Share your thoughts!

People in the comment section thought this petty revenge story was quite wholesome and shared their own stories about similar encounters

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