As many wise parents have always said, when you don’t have anything nice to say, it’s best to say nothing at all. However, not everyone seems to remember this adage into adulthood. One woman learned her lesson the hard way after demanding to complain to the manager at a fast food restaurant about the price of her salad resulted in her paying even more than expected. Lucky for us, one employee who witnessed the entire exchange recently shared the story on the Malicious Compliance subreddit, detailing exactly where this customer went wrong.

Nobody likes to pay exorbitant prices for their meals

Image credits: AZ-BLT (not the actual photo)

But as one Karen learned the hard way, complaining to the manager is not likely to get you a discount

Even after an employee purposefully undercharged her, the woman insisted on throwing a fit over the price of her salad

Image credits: Michael Saechang (not the actual photo)

Later, the employee who shared this story noted that they even executed some petty revenge following this entire exchange

Image credits: persimmonling

And the customer seemed to have learned her lesson not to take out her frustration on innocent employees

With inflation rates being what they currently are, it seems like our wallets take a painfully powerful blow every time we go grocery shopping or eat out in a restaurant nowadays. But despite how frustrating these seemingly perpetually rising prices are, we have to be careful not to take out our anger on innocent people who have nothing to do with the high prices. Just because someone sells you a sandwich that would have cost half as much a year ago doesn’t mean they set the price. In fact, they might even try to get you a discount if you treat them kindly. There’s a difference between simply voicing your opinion over prices, which likely still makes employees uncomfortable, and going so far as demanding to see the manager. So why does it seem like everywhere we go, or every time we scroll through Reddit, someone is exercising their assumed right to be able to have a conversation with the manager whenever they like?

Unfortunately, most fast food employees are used to being treated poorly by entitled customers

Image credits: Marcel Heil (not the actual photo)

Tom Whyman wrote a piece for The Outline examining why this happens, and he hypothesized that it goes beyond pure entitlement (though that’s certainly a contributing factor). “The specific act of asking to see the manager, racialized and gendered as per the above — is just one manifestation of a conception of political authority that runs across society in general,” Whyman writes. “There is a certain logic to this understanding: The manager-requester is the ‘normal’ private individual, the citizen or voter in a liberal democracy. He is the white, materially well-off subject that our political institutions have been built for and around, whether explicitly or implicitly. Let’s call him Jonathan,” he notes. 

“The manager is the powers-that-be, the government. The service staff are worthless underlings, the underprivileged others, the non-Jonathans (nonathans). These people are, perhaps, necessary for the orderly running of society — but on at least some level, our Jonathan thinks it would be good if they weren’t, so that he would have a direct link to the manager,” Whyman goes on to explain. “And this would be nice since the manager is, fundamentally, on his side. If only the manager could be called down to the shop floor, they would almost definitely see things his way, and give him what he wants. But currently this is only possible if he yells and screams at the service staff as much as possible. The more Jonathan is short and mean with the service staff, the more likely he is to get through to the manager, and be given his way.”

And Whyman might just be right, because unfortunately, many people historically have looked down on fast food workers, despite wanting access to their services. Were you ever threatened with the phrase, “Work hard or you’ll end up flipping burgers for the rest of your life”, or something along similar lines? Due to the fact that fast food jobs don’t usually require very much education, they’ve been deemed bottom of the barrel jobs, but that’s simply unfair to everyone who works them. These jobs can be great for students or young people who want a flexible work schedule, and let’s be honest, we all want to indulge in a burger every now and then, so we should respect the people who make them for us (especially if we show up drunk at 2am).

According to Icy Tales, the stigma around working fast food jobs persists due to the perceived lack of career growth opportunities, the low wages, and the small list of requirements potential employees need to fulfill. But this stigma allows employees to be subjected to brutal and completely inappropriate behavior from customers. According to one report, between 2017-2020 at least 77,000 violent or threatening incidents occurred at fast food establishments. “[The workers have] been choked by customers, pulled by the hair, grabbed at or pushed, and hit with food or other projectiles,” the report read. “Many more workers describe living in fear as a result of threats from customers or being emotionally shaken by violent incidents they witnessed.”

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Due to the unfair stigma associated with working in the service industry, workers have had to face aggressive behavior, and even violence, from patrons far too many times

Image credits: Paula Vermeulen (not the actual photo)

When there’s a risk that interactions with customers will escalate to physical violence, it’s no wonder that this employee decided to maliciously comply with this woman’s demands to speak to the manager. He knew she would end up being charged more, but instead of heeding his warning, the customer assumed that she knew better than him. We would love to hear your thoughts on this situation in the comments below, pandas. Have you ever had to deal with customers like this while working in the service industry? Then if you’re interested in reading another Bored Panda article featuring a Karen who got upset about her lunch order, check out this story next!   

Amused readers noted that the customer got what she deserved, and some even shared their own similar, personal experiences

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