People are going to see it differnetly but my prespective is he was unreasonable when he walked out which is crazy because everything up until than made sense of why he was asking and how it was being handled.
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Am I an a-hole for asking a fast food worker to change gloves/get new bread for me?
- Thread starter Stiler
- Start date
You were fine until the walkout. Yeah him sighing is a bit irritating but I wouldn't have walked out over it (and you're at a sub place so you can always see what he's doing). Food service is one of the worst jobs out there and as someone who's been there you have to have a lot of strength to deal with shitty people day after day after day. And sometimes you just wanna let off some steam. Guy made a mistake and fixed it, nothing to walk out over imo.
User Banned (1 week): Inflammatory false equivalencies relating to sensitive issues.
I m not comparing, I just stated I know when intent matters and if you are African American, you should understand this is nothing compared to real racism issue. The event leading up to the sigh showed elitist attitude from op. If some Americans go out of their shell and experience other culture, they would understand what real humility and gratitude is. I have seen much worse reaction from employee who are being looked down upon by a customer who thinks they are better than them.
The days of slavery is long gone. Did op wanted the employee to say "yessa massa I gon be a gud n*** for you and get that bread how ya like it sir." The employee is already being submissive to op demands and you can't expect someone to not sigh after redoing a work. That is natural human reaction. The employee listen and did everything the customer asked. "Everything." But just because of a sigh, op walked out. If that is not being a douche than society has lost the meaning of being empathetic.
He said in a later post that he's got social issues, so I'm assuming that's a large part of it as I've seen that behavior more and more lately. At the least, it could have just been a misunderstanding on the OPs part, but personally, I'd rather someone bounce than give me a bunch of shit if I was the worker.
I think you immediately jumping to the conclusions you've jumped speaks more to issues within society than anything. One thing to think maybe the OP was rude, but this is another. Guy says he has social issues, but empathy goes out of the window when it's not something you personally understand yourself clearly.
I'm sorry but you literally said "it is like" when bringing up racism in relation to OP leaving a fast food place because the service was bad. That is a comparison. If you know this is nothing like racism then don't bring it up. It's a complete non sequitur. It's a little insulting tbh.
I don't know how the even leading up to the sigh showed elitist attitude. It's elitist not to want to eat food handled with gloves used to pick food off the dirty floor? I swear people would watch a waiter spit in their food and tell themselves "It's ok, I'm sure he's having a rough day, waiters don't get paid a lot and have tough jobs. I think I'll tip him extra."
Ok what the hell are you doing?
I have said my peace. Op walking out just because of sighing was a pretty dickish thing to do. I have no problem with him asking him to change gloves, but after all of that walking out seems to much. There are greater situations where walking out is required and this is not one of them.
? That bread had to be thrown out regardless. It was contaminated.
And yeah in food safety you're beat over the head with changing gloves constantly. Even if you decide to be conservative the second the gloves touched the ground those should be disposed of. The OP wasn't asking for anything he shouldn't have already done.
Nah, I got to change gloves constantly in order to prevent what you just described OP. You weren't wrong to ask him to change gloves. Kind of dickish to walk out though if the worker was doing what you asked.
The alternative to walking out is continuing a transaction with someone after they've sighed at a reasonable request.
I wouldn't want to stand there thinking I'm putting someone through a hassle. That's uncomfortable for me. If I'm buying shoes and I ask "Is it possible to check if these come one size larger" and I receive an open sigh, I would probably just say "You know what, don't worry about it". And that isn't a situation where I'm already accommodating someone's mistake (i.e. Dropping a sandwich, and having to wait for the process again).
This thread is all the way crazy.
The idea that as a customer I can't cancel a transaction at any point for any reason short of pure racism, prejudice, bigotry etc is an insane thing to argue against.
Lots of bleeding hearts for the worker to the point that people are trying to interpret the type of sigh the worker gave off. For all the people who sympathize with the worker, a question:
How else, realistically, would OP have expressed his displeasure with the service he was about to receive? Most people would probably berate the employee and/or escalate the situation to a manager both of which would reasonable be more of an ordeal for the worker to deal with. The worker in OPs case got off easy
OP was greeted with what he considered to be subpar customer service and decided to take his business elsewhere. There's nothing wrong with this at all.
The idea that as a customer I can't cancel a transaction at any point for any reason short of pure racism, prejudice, bigotry etc is an insane thing to argue against.
Lots of bleeding hearts for the worker to the point that people are trying to interpret the type of sigh the worker gave off. For all the people who sympathize with the worker, a question:
How else, realistically, would OP have expressed his displeasure with the service he was about to receive? Most people would probably berate the employee and/or escalate the situation to a manager both of which would reasonable be more of an ordeal for the worker to deal with. The worker in OPs case got off easy
OP was greeted with what he considered to be subpar customer service and decided to take his business elsewhere. There's nothing wrong with this at all.
Gonna "have words" with a dude making minimum wage over a sandwich, smh
Same here. I think the OP meant well, but he could have went about that in a better way. This thread is just going around in circles.
this.
I hope most of you nasty mothafuckas never touch someone else's food. Holy shit at the hand-waving of apathy or indifference towards sanitary habits and practices.
Imagine acting like the OP owed them his business after already demonstrating a series of questionable sanitary practices and clear mistakes that required the OP himself to request correction on.
Would you want your mother eating that next sandwich? Wait, don't answer. Some of ya'll have strange relationships with family too.
I'm starting to think some of you would have ate the broken bread from the ground so you wouldn't inconvenience the employee.
OP said forget it and left. OP didn't berate the employee or flip over a table while leaving. Everything was within his right as a customer.
OP said forget it and left. OP didn't berate the employee or flip over a table while leaving. Everything was within his right as a customer.
I'm not gonna lie, I would've walked out too. By sighing the guy making the sandwich was voicing his displeasure, if OP would have stayed it would have made things much more awkward.
Seriously. People are here acting like you have to tolerate terrible service with a smile or else your a classist, elitist asshole. I think most of the people in this thread would probably accept the first sandwich that actually fell on the floor just to not upset the worker. They'd probably tip for good measure too.
This whole thing reminds me of the other week; my girlfriend and I sat down at a restaurant. It took about 10 minutes for someone to come and give us menus. It's a "seat yourself" type of place but whatever, no big deal. I guess they just didn't notice us until then. I'm fairly patient.
Problem was that after this, the waiter left to give us time to decide what we wanted and a group of people sat down at a table next to us after he left us. They get their menus basically right away. Then about 5 or so minutes later, the same waiter that gave us our menus goes and gets the orders of the group next to us. I mention to my girlfriend how he just skipped us probably because he'll get more money from that table. We're pretty annoyed at this point but we still decide to wait, thinking he'll come back to us any second (of course now that the group that came in after us got their order first, we'll be waiting even longer for our food).
Well, maybe five more minute pass and he's nowhere to be seen. At this point we've been waiting close to 20 minutes just to order food and have actively been passed over so we decide to just leave and go somewhere else. We literally just stand up and walk away. Seeing this thread now, I realize a lot of people would call us assholes for this and it's pretty silly.
Probably your best choice dropping the whole racism comparison. I do have to point out again that OP didn't leave JUST because the guy sighed. You are removing context from it which of course makes OP seem unreasonable.
As for there being "greater situations" where it's required to walk out, what are those? Where's the line gotta be drawn where it's ok for OP to cancel his order and leave? Thing is, there is no situation where it's required to walk out because OP is not obligated to stay and the worker is not entitled to customers staying no matter how many times he fucks up their order.
I could even agree with you somewhat if OP stopped the guy in the middle of making a sandwich but he didn't. He cancelled his order after the second failure before the guy even could make another one. So you can't even argue that OP wasted food or time, that's all on the worker. Why is OP obligated to wait for him to make a third attempt?
I disagree mainly because OP asked something that he should not have had to ask. Keeping the food sanitary is the bare minimum of the job and it's not the customer's job to remind the employees to do that. The worker shouldn't get credit just for listening to OP. What was he gonna do otherwise? Tell OP he had to pay for and eat the bread he touched with his dirty gloves?
The only circumstance where it is acceptable to eat fast food is if you are drunk.
And if you're drunk you're not going to care about food falling on the floor.
And if you're drunk you're not going to care about food falling on the floor.
Honestly OP is well within his right to do whatever he wants, there is no law saying you gotta commit to buying food from a place just because you've started an order.
I remember once I was at chipotle with a friend when they were running a special for buy one get one, but the fine print said you couldn't get anything other than chicken and we did 1 chicken 1 carnitas each. So we get all the way to check out (the guy was fully aware we were intending on taking advantage of the order but never stopped to tell us) he rings up our order and it's twice as much. So we ask him about the promo, and he says "sorry you got carnitas on one so you can't even get the other free". So then we asked if we could just start over and he said "no i'd have to charge you for this food"
At that point me and my buddy looked at each other and said "you know we dont have to pay, we can just leave" so we left.
Should we have read the fine print? Absolutely.
Would the guy have been wise to tell us how the promo worked when he realized we were messing up? He didn't have to but it would have been nice.
Were we within our right to not pay for an order we didn't accept? Obviously.
I remember once I was at chipotle with a friend when they were running a special for buy one get one, but the fine print said you couldn't get anything other than chicken and we did 1 chicken 1 carnitas each. So we get all the way to check out (the guy was fully aware we were intending on taking advantage of the order but never stopped to tell us) he rings up our order and it's twice as much. So we ask him about the promo, and he says "sorry you got carnitas on one so you can't even get the other free". So then we asked if we could just start over and he said "no i'd have to charge you for this food"
At that point me and my buddy looked at each other and said "you know we dont have to pay, we can just leave" so we left.
Should we have read the fine print? Absolutely.
Would the guy have been wise to tell us how the promo worked when he realized we were messing up? He didn't have to but it would have been nice.
Were we within our right to not pay for an order we didn't accept? Obviously.
If he's going to catch attitude over grabbing some new gloves and piece of bread, sure. In either case, maybe you missed the part where I stated I didn't really care about anyone's opinions on how I'd handle it, but thanks for sharing your disdain anyway.
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Kinda just sounds like an unfortunate situation for both parties, don't really think it makes you an asshole.
I just don't see the sigh to be that big of a deal. They're most likely being paid a shit wage. I would react by saying something like, "Sorry, I'm just a bit of a germaphobe." and laugh it off. Working any kind of service job can be tough, so I think it's best to approach the situation like a human being.
He has a shitty job so I can kinda understand his mindset. Just wants to punch in his clock and get paid. It wasn't like he was purposely dropping the food and not changing his gloves out of spite.
On the other hand, there's no reason you should willingly pay for food that you know is unsanitary and can potentially cause you medical harm and that was a real possibility in this instance. Especially since you'd already politely requested minimum cleanliness on his part once already. I'd probably have done the same and just left.
On the other hand, there's no reason you should willingly pay for food that you know is unsanitary and can potentially cause you medical harm and that was a real possibility in this instance. Especially since you'd already politely requested minimum cleanliness on his part once already. I'd probably have done the same and just left.
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When I did food service work I could go through a box of gloves a day when I did everything myself and I was wearing two pair for every order unless it was busy and I got multiple at a time. Never mind how frequently I'd wash my hands in a day.
Maybe a little over dramatic but eh, I've seen people in Subway put on gloves, make someone's sandwich, take money and then go make another or drop the knife, pick it up and go throw it into the their sink and go back without changing gloves. There's so many in a box for a reason.
Maybe a little over dramatic but eh, I've seen people in Subway put on gloves, make someone's sandwich, take money and then go make another or drop the knife, pick it up and go throw it into the their sink and go back without changing gloves. There's so many in a box for a reason.
Even when I worked retail I didn't show any disdain (openly) towards customers who were being finicky. Half the time I asked them how they wanted their service; bag or no bag, bottled drinks to go, help to the car, etc.. Granted, sometimes I felt like I was fucking babying grown-ass adults, but I never let on.
But that's just me. Who knows what the headspace of homeboy was at the time? It's possible he was annoyed at himself for forgetting to get a new bread loaf and not at the customer for requesting, especially since he was fine changing the gloves. Alas.
OP wasn't an asshole to walk out though if he felt he was getting some pushback. Seems more like a situation of miscommunication.
But that's just me. Who knows what the headspace of homeboy was at the time? It's possible he was annoyed at himself for forgetting to get a new bread loaf and not at the customer for requesting, especially since he was fine changing the gloves. Alas.
OP wasn't an asshole to walk out though if he felt he was getting some pushback. Seems more like a situation of miscommunication.
Having worked in the food industry most of my life (and no longer thank god), this comes down to attitude. Sometimes employees act like little shits over the simplest requests and it annoys customers.
Sometimes customers are extremely rude and short with employees and then get on Yelp and post like they did nothing but act with the utmost respect and patience, when that is almost always a crock of shit.
People are very entitled and can act very poorly.
So this story could go either way, which one of you was acting like an asshole? Haha.
Sometimes customers are extremely rude and short with employees and then get on Yelp and post like they did nothing but act with the utmost respect and patience, when that is almost always a crock of shit.
People are very entitled and can act very poorly.
So this story could go either way, which one of you was acting like an asshole? Haha.
This whole "customer is always right" attitude bothers me.
Sure, the customer has the right to cancel at any point but he can look like an a-hole while doing it. In this case, op acted like an a-hole.
what was in your opinion the workers rightful punishment? To be fired?
All of this. This thread is all kinds of ridiculous.
You're fine OP. I'm willing to bet that employee was happy you walked out anyways.
Yup people can be total shits and since none of us were there we can only take OPs word and not the workers side.
This is a bit ridiculous. He didn't "smear his gloves all over the floor". And how did OP demonstrate "great self restraint""? What sort of reaction would you be expecting over such a minor incident?
This was pretty much my main takeaway from OP's scenario as well.
Echoing others here. What you asked for? Not a problem. How you acted when he showed even the littlest bit of irritation, yes. No need to walk out like that. Not like it was a slight against you or anything. You have to realize they are not paid nearly enough to deal with the BS they deal with. Not an excuse for them to act shitty, but being a little irritated at being asked to throw away the bread and change gloves is not worth walking out about.
Hey but those employees don't get paid enough so if they serve you a turd you have to eat it with a smile on your face.
I guess I don't get why we have to treat service workers so delicately just because they have a job that doesn't pay much. It's not like OP berated the guy or said anything mean. It's not like he demanded to talk to the supervisor or issued a complaint. It's not like he caused a scene or acted out. He just decided he didn't want the food anymore after the poor service with some added social anxiety, told the guy to forget the order and left. He honestly was very restrained and polite about it. I really doubt it ruined that guy's day unless he's ultra sensitive.
Even if it somehow really did get to that guy, it was his mistake and mistakes have consequences. It's taught to children and applies to adults as well. You learn from your mistakes instead of blaming it all on someone else. Everyone who's ever had a job has made mistakes. In service jobs you sometimes lose customers due to a mistake you made. You could blame it all on them or you could just learn from your mistake. I tend to go against the "It's a tough job with shit pay" mindset because it kind of implies we should always excuse service workers for their mistakes or any bad attitude and any response to bad service that isn't grinning and bearing it is somehow doing a terrible thing to said worker.
I have a service job (not food) and I've had customers decide in the middle of an order that they no longer want it and leave. Most of the time it's not even my fault like with the guy making the sandwich, it's usually a result of the price or the turnaround time. I've never taken it personally or thought they were treating me less than human. Why would I? It's their money, they don't owe me anything. A lot of the time I'm like "hey one less job I have to do!" There was one exception where someone told me to suck a dick and then walked out. That one was bizarre haha
I find it weird when people distrust the OP in a thread for no real reason. Yeah we only can take OP's word but is there really any solid reason to believe they're lying unless you inherently want to believe the worker?
You've never walked out of a store/food place when it didn't go the way you want it to, considering you're about to pay money? Money that is just as accepted as at another place?
And really, the judgement and all around shittiness of this post should be highlighted, because this is one of the problems with Era. Lets look for the backfire and come into a thread to find it/act like we're perfect.
As a person who used to work performing food preparation, the job required me to become certified in food handling using this company's certification:
And one thing that was heavily emphasized is if any food hits an unsanitary surface such as the floor, a person must use the existing gloves to pick up the food that hit the surface and then change gloves BEFORE handling any other food items and if something like bread for sandwitches or subs hit the floor, it must be thrown out, so no, OP was not being an asshole for requesting the food prep person to change their gloves and use fresh bread.
And one thing that was heavily emphasized is if any food hits an unsanitary surface such as the floor, a person must use the existing gloves to pick up the food that hit the surface and then change gloves BEFORE handling any other food items and if something like bread for sandwitches or subs hit the floor, it must be thrown out, so no, OP was not being an asshole for requesting the food prep person to change their gloves and use fresh bread.
Two things:
1) You're divorcing the sigh what preceded it which was OP's request for the worker to be more mindful of his cleanliness in a space where his purpose to serve people food. The idea that a person would be irritated because they're being asked by a customer to hold themselves to a standard that by many is considered the bare minimum for the requirements of their job is inexcusable.
2) Lots of people keep giving the worker a pass with the presumption that it's a tough job to deal with, they're being paid poorly, etc. This is 1000% irrelevant to me. Receiving shit wages doesn't mean your free to provide bad customer service and as a customer it damn sure doesn't mean that i have to sit here and accept it. Hence the OP walking out but yet and still almost 10 pages later, people are straight up demonizing OP for wanting to take his business elsewhere.
I would totally understand if people were like "eh, i wouldn't walk out but i understand why you would" If that was the prevailing sentiment in most of these posts, i wouldn't even be dropping my two cents in here. But people are calling OP a dick for walking out because he didn't get the service he felt he derseved. If that genuinely isn't a good enough reason to walk out, please explain to me what is.
This is so far from a "customer is always right" scenario that it's not even funny. As i see it, we're talking about standards in regards to good customer service. What OP requested was far from unreasonable. No one can suggest that it caused any added or undue stress on the worker. Beyond that, if the worker was committed to providing good customer service from the start, OP wouldn't have had to request these things in the first place and EVEN BEYOND THAT, for OP to be met with a perceived level of irritation and inconvenience from the worker in regards to the requests is downright INEXCUSABLE. This is not a "customer is always right" situation. This is about the worker not having a modicum of respect and decency for the basic standards of good customer service that their job requires.
I'm not calling for the worker to be fired or to be punished beyond losing that sale with OP. My point is that people flip their shit for far less and would have done more than just walk out without incident. But the idea that OP is the asshole for just taking his business elsewhere just makes no sense to me.