Any person who has ever worked in a customer-facing position knows that there’s nothing worse than an entitled patron. 

Well, it’s our lucky day, because this Redditor’s wife does so too, and oh boy, is there a story to tell. The regular in question is a very “prideful” dude that always expects to be treated as royalty – however, when the woman finally reached her boiling point, she found a petty yet professional way to strike back at him. 

Entitled diner regular expects employees to treat him like “royalty”

Waitress takes none of it and plots petty but professional revenge

“Table for one?” – this internet user took to one of Reddit’s most vengeful communities to tell its members a tale about his wife’s petty revenge against a self-centered regular at the local breakfast diner where she waitresses. The post managed to garner nearly 5K upvotes as well as 195 comments discussing the situation. 

Now, did you know that according to IBISWorld, a publisher that provides trusted research on thousands of industries worldwide, there are 8,796 breakfast restaurant and diner businesses in the US as of 2023? Now, try to imagine how many of those experience difficulties with their customers!

Of course, when you work at or manage an establishment that prepares and serves food, be it a Michelin-star restaurant or a food truck, you’re bound to encounter some interesting individuals at least once or twice (or thrice even). Don’t get me wrong – complaints and constructive criticism are crucial for the success of your business; the feedback highlights a problem, allowing you to investigate it further and ultimately better your service. However, if it’s something that was said out of spite, then that’s a whole other issue.   

It’s no big news that a god complex is a thing that you often notice among customers. They love to rant and rave, and even if you’re somewhat used to the never-ending scenes, a burst of hostility or yet another entitled remark can tip an already exhausted worker over the edge. But fear no more, as u/Luck_Administrative’s wife found a great approach. 

So now, whenever the patron comes in, she makes sure to ask “Just one today?” to remind him that he’s alone

The culprit of this tale, according to the author, always had a problem. He expected his food to be made a certain way without specifying this in advance and would also make remarks about the dishwasher “stacking plates too loud.”

He wanted to be recognized and treated as a VIP guest – however, not everybody’s nerves are made of steel, and instead of getting what he wanted, his antics earned him a taste of petty revenge.

The netizen’s wife is a very professional woman, and while she had finally had enough of the guy, rather than sinking to his level, she decided to use his pridefulness against him by simply reminding him that he’s alone.

Now, everyone knows the good old “customer is always right” mantra. We’re constantly told to listen, to sympathize, to not take it personally – basically to do everything in our power to satisfy the needs of the consumer – but if someone’s being a total jerk, perhaps a little pettiness here and there can finally knock some decency back into them.

And just like Aretha Franklin said, “If you disrespect everybody that you run into, how in the world do you think everybody’s supposed to respect you?”

Fellow online community members shared their thoughts and opinions