# Restaurant employee rudeness **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 8, 2024, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-employee-rudeness/1006940 "2024-09-08T03:33:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-employee-rudeness/1006940/21 "2024-09-08T16:23:51Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > E-mail corporate and keep e-mailing until you get an actual response, not a form letter, with the location of the franchise, date and time of day. > > Don’t just call them out for rudeness. > > Say that in your opinion, both « Karen » and « bitch » are sexist insults and you will be telling all your friends that the KFC franchise discriminates on the basis of sex with female customers. > > Ask for an apology in writing from the manager. That’s way over the top, and you’re conflating poor customer service with verbal sexual abuse and asking for a written apology or you’ll broadcast accusations of sexual discrimination at that KFC? Pick your battles wisely. I’d provide feedback to corporate of the incident truthfully and let it go. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-employee-rudeness/1006940/22 "2024-09-08T17:22:33Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Disagree. Especially when it’s a big order, the customer is entitled to check that the staff got it right. Definitely a matter of opinion, and I won’t die on this hill here, but I’ll at least explain my thinking. I go to many restaurants doing take out where they have bags of food assembled and waiting for customers to arrive. Often there is limited (if any) counter space for a single pick up customer to open their bag and take out items to ensure correctness. If multiple wanted to do so it would hinder traffic in and out, make lines longer, and possibly create more mess for staff to handle. All while they are multi-tasking. Obviously this will be more or less disruptive depending on how busy a place is and how the food is packed for take-out. My point is that the customer should recognize that they are imposing on the others around them- taking up register time and counter space to go through the order after it has been packaged is non-standard behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-employee-rudeness/1006940/23 "2024-09-08T18:02:07Z")
My daughter is very polite. She knows her _yes mams and please and thank-yous_. Her boyfriend was with her and he states she was called _“bitch and Karen”_. She doesn’t feel sexually discriminated against. Just treated rudely. The state of employees in restaurants is the problem. There’s not enough people wanting the job. It’s often hard, thankless work for little pay. Restaurants will hire anyone. Poor and quick training makes for employees not prepared to face the public. Not to mention the age of the employees. The Lil’wrekker said the manager was about 20yo. She remembers her from highschool. Not to discriminate against youth. Some are better prepared for managerial positions than others. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-employee-rudeness/1006940/24 "2024-09-08T18:08:30Z")
If it happened when I was standing there (and I assume they wouldn’t call me a “bitch” but assuming some equivalent term), I’d probably say “Hey fuck you too” and leave. If I overheard someone say it about me as I was leaving, I doubt I’d bother to respond. In either case, I wouldn’t go back and would probably tell some friends and family in a “Get a load of this shit” sort of way but wouldn’t bother lodging a corporate complaint or dealing with it other than that. Life’s too short to devote a chunk of time policing KFC’s employees for them. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-employee-rudeness/1006940/25 "2024-09-08T18:16:05Z")
It seems “bitch” applies to any gender now days. And, f-bombs come out of the most innocent kids or sweetist granny’s mouths. Drop of a hat. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-employee-rudeness/1006940/26 "2024-09-08T18:17:02Z")
We’ve had enough orders from different fast-food places that were wrong, missing items, put cheese when told multiple times “no cheese!” and screwed up beyond recognition. When we are in AZ, home is at least 30 miles away. Imagine how much fun the whack orders are when you get home and open the bag! Going off to the side (further down the counter, a nearby table, or get out of the drive thru lane and park someplace) to check the order is damned near mandatory for us. I suggest Li’l Wrekker CALL corporate. And somewhere in the conversation say, “I doubt if I’ll patronize KFC any more…” ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-employee-rudeness/1006940/27 "2024-09-08T18:17:34Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > It seems “bitch” applies to any gender now days. Well, if they literally called me a bitch at the KFC counter, I’d probably just start laughing. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-employee-rudeness/1006940/28 "2024-09-08T18:21:44Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Disagree. Especially when it’s a big order, the customer is entitled to check that the staff got it right. The correct thing to do is take two steps to the right or check your food at a nearby table before leaving the restaurant. This kind of behavior gives off main character vibes and tells everyone else waiting in line they are not as important. It’s rude. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-employee-rudeness/1006940/29 "2024-09-08T18:23:26Z")
If I’m the guy behind, I don’t see it as rude; I see it as a careful customer. Plus, if I’m in the middle of my order, and the previous customer comes back with a problem, that’s going to interrupt my order. I’d rather just have the previous customer satisfied and done before I start with my order. That’s what lines are about. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-employee-rudeness/1006940/30 "2024-09-08T18:24:59Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > If I was handed a to go order in a bag, and then stood at the register with people in line behind me taking things out of the bag and inspecting them to make sure they were right… that’s disruptive and selfish behavior on my part. For medical reasons that, if triggered, could result in calling 911 and an ambulance ride I do insist on checking every to-go order I get. HOWEVER - I avoid getting to-go food for this very reason. In fact, I seldom eat out as it can be complicated in my case. - I try to research before ordering, whether that’s looking up the menu before I ever leave home, or just, you know, _reading_ the menu prior to stepping into line so if I have to make an inquiry it’s a quick question or two. Mostly, I try to order things that aren’t going to be a problem for me. - I do not stand in line to check my order. I step to the side to check so as to not block the flow of people. Since the vast majority of the time everything is actually OK this is minimally disruptive and if I do find something amiss I’ve found it before I leave the place, and - I am polite and give profuse thanks for getting an order right and/or resolving any problems if it isn’t. If someone called me a “bitch” for protecting my health you can be damn sure I’d say something about it to the manager, and if the manager had an attitude I’d go up the chain and/or to social media. Frankly, someone getting pissy because a customer double-checks? SHE’s the bitch in that scenario. Mistakes happen. The correct response is something along the lines of “whoops, sorry about that, let’s fix it”. Meanwhile, my current job involves human beings and food, even if in a slightly different context. I _want_ my customers to ask questions and give me a chance to fix problems (where I can) because it’s always easier to do that BEFORE someone leaves the business establishment. Sometimes I, personally, can’t fix something but maybe a manager can. The drag there is when someone wants me to produce a manager instantly when I can’t (maybe she’s delayed coming in to work, maybe she’s talking to her boss, maybe she’s helping another customer at the moment, maybe something else), asks me to violate company policy (I am not risking my job for you) or _worse yet_, demands that I _break the law_ - such as no, I am NOT going to sell you alcohol during times that is illegal by ringing it up as something else, or letting you use an invalid license, or other equally egregious demands. I am not going to jail for you, either. (Yes, in Indiana first-time offense for selling alcohol to a minor can potentially get you six months in jail. Does it always? No, especially if you have a decent lawyer, but I sure as hell ain’t risking it for _you.)_ ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-employee-rudeness/1006940/31 "2024-09-08T18:35:11Z")
This story reminds me of back in the day when I worked front at a popular, crowded bakery/coffee shop and a lady came in and just started screaming that we’d filled her order wrong yesterday. Screaming and cursing over the heads of all the people in line. I was young and had no idea what to do. One counter worker started yelling back at her. Another thought we should call the police. Then the manager came up from the back of the bakery and took in the situation. He waded out into the crowd with a sincere expression of utmost concern, apologized deeply, and asked how we could make it right for her. It shut her diatribe off at the spigot. She accepted a different loaf of bread, and a complimentary croissant and cup of coffee, and sat down in what appeared to be a daze. He taught me a big lesson right there. Not in customer service (something I avoided in the future), but in how to calmly defuse a bad situation getting rapidly worse. By the way her order wasn’t filled wrong, she just didn’t like it. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-employee-rudeness/1006940/32 "2024-09-08T18:36:12Z")
In KFC you get what you order. It’s not like you order custom foods. We call ahead, knowing it will be a big order and take time. It’s a 30 min drive, each way. There’s not much chance we’re driving back for a minor flaw. But we’ve been burnt a few times. My last words to anyone around here on pick up duty. “Check the order”. Since I’m paying for said “big” order, I want it kinda right. I don’t think wanting to be treated with politeness is too much to ask. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-employee-rudeness/1006940/33 "2024-09-09T21:24:41Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > I suggest Li’l Wrekker CALL corporate. Maybe they’ll send you some scrip for Skynyrd Chicken. _Freebird_ ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-employee-rudeness/1006940/34 "2024-09-09T21:28:00Z")
Got 'em!! ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-employee-rudeness/1006940/35 "2024-09-09T21:51:53Z")
I still want to know what the rest of the conversation was. Because I have a hard time believing the only thing said was “Bitch.” ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-employee-rudeness/1006940/36 "2024-09-09T22:15:52Z")
Ok. The Lil’wrekker was checking the bag(1 min. tops) The counter lady(young) said exactly (just asked,again): “Hey, bitch you need to go on, I have other customers behind you!” She moved down the counter where people were standing waiting on their bags to get put on the counter. (I assume door dash or grub hub orders, we don’t really know). Another lady(a bit older) asked the Lil’wrekker was she having a problem. She said "Your counter person just called me a “bitch”. Her boyfriend said “She did, I heard it”. Another man waiting said “I heard it too” This lady was the manager. She called another person up to the counter and told the previous girl “You’re on break”. Business went on as usual at the register after that The manager asked “is there a problem with your order?”, snatched the receipt outta her hand and unloaded the bag. She said I see you’re missing chicken tenders. Added them to the bag. No thank you, come again, just a curt “Sorry that happened” They left, she heard as she walked out, “that white bitch a karen” and laughter. She says the manager said it. The end. ETA. We don’t order chicken tenders/strips. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-employee-rudeness/1006940.md?page=1)