customer service

Decades ago, futurists predicted that by the 21st century, technology would make a shorter work-week possible. They imagined an efficient world in which workers had more leisure time and less stress. Boy oh boy, how wrong they were. Their optimism was pretty precious, though. Nope, instead we work harder, longer hours and get paid less. For anyone who's severely fed up with the daily grind, these painfully relatable memes are just for you. If you get the urge to tell off your boss in a fit of rage, take a deep breath and scroll through these memes first. We're here for you. 

Let's get one thing straight: at this point in the long-documented saga of the 21st century's most entitled a-holes, the term 'karen' isn't limited to middle-aged women, though the stereotype may have started that way. Just because someone doesn't flaunt a highlighted a-line bob doesn't mean they're exempt from the karen label. A 20-something man who calls the landlord on a neighbor peacefully sunbathing on a patch of grass outside is a karen. A vegan who posts a lengthy message to Nextdoor demanding that everyone in their vicinity stop grilling meat is a karen. A redditor who complains that people should be speaking English in r/France is a karen. Karens come in all shapes and sizes, but they all have one thing in common: nobody likes them.

The delusional karens and shamelessly disrespectful customers of the world are still at large and they must be exposed. If you've ever worked in the service industry or retail, some of these infuriating examples of utter rudeness might strike a nerve. 

Most of us have or will have to work in some sort of customer service job at some point in our lives. The industry can be great; you meet tons of people, make tips, and eat a whole bunch of delicious free food if you work in a restaurant. Perhaps the biggest downsides are the whole being-poor thing, and the fact that you have to occasionally deal with horrible customers who make you want to punch a brick wall!

Another day, another dollar. Sometimes it really does feel like we're all working our whole lives away. Whether you're working from home, in an office, at a bar, driving drunk people around, in a grocery store—it's essentially all the same sh*t if you think about it. Just a dull, thankless hell making more wealth for the big boss as the bills and debt pile up. Well you know what, there's one thing they can't take from us: memes. Scroll on the clock or text 'em to your coworkers. Hell, maybe even take it to the next level and make some work memes of your own in those moments where you've just had enough. 

In the words of Dolly Parton, "9 to 5! For service and devotion, you would think that I would deserve a fair promotion. Want to move ahead, but the boss won't seem to let me. I swear sometimes that man is out to get me."

There are very few jobs as thankless as that of a retail worker. Having to juggle your regular responsibilities and entitled people should be an Olympic sport. This Twitter thread from last week is proof that everyone needs to work retail at some point so we can avoid the horror stories these poor people had to endure.

One might think the option to order Starbucks online would make the job a little easier for the baristas—minimizing awkward miscommunication in a fast-paced work environment has got to be an improvement, right? Well, it turns out the absence of social interaction in online orders has also removed the embarrassment that comes with ordering an obnoxious Frappuccino with a million extra ingredients. So not only have those annoying orderers continued their cursed behavior, they're now emboldened to go even further. @ProjectJosiee is one unfortunate Starbucks employee who tweeted a photo of an obscene mobile order for a customer called Edward. The thread almost instantly became a support group for traumatized baristas who shared their own snapshots of deranged Starbucks and Dunkin' concoctions. We've put together some of the best replies of the hilarious and cursed thread. And if you're one of those '5+ ingredient' customers, remember to be generous with that tip. 

Even before the pandemic, the amount of people using delivery services like Uber Eats and Door Dash has skyrocketed over the years. It's amazing the price people will pay for a little extra convenience. For the most part, the job is probably pretty boring and annoying, but you've gotta wonder what strange encounters couriers have experienced over the years. One redditor asked delivery service workers to share some of the weirder things that happened on the job, and the responses were pretty entertaining—these workers have seen everything from BBQ rib orgies to basement puppy parties. We've collected some of our favorite anecdotes for your amusement.

Picture this: It's several months into the global pandemic and the governor has decided to allow indoor dining again. You're considered one of the 'lucky ones' because you got to keep your minimum wage job as a server in a restaurant, and although taking to-go orders only has been pretty chill, the mountain of bills that looms over you everyday has you really missing those tips. Strangely, customers don't feel the need to tip if it's take-out, but they'll call you a hero as if you volunteer to be an 'essential worker' and don't actually have rent to pay. Although you've got a lot of qualms about serving customers again, you feel like you don't really have a choice. You reassure yourself that your customers will be respectful and follow social distancing rules. Maybe they'll even leave a decent tip—you're working in the middle of a health crisis, after all. You don't have the benefit of working safely from home, and any decent person will understand the risk you're taking, right? Oh how naive you are.

Your first customers arrive on the day of reopening and to your dismay, it's a group of ten and they're already drunk, masks hanging down under their noses. They immediately ignore the social distancing policy notices posted on every surface of the restaurant and start pushing tables together. They ignore your pleas to respect your coworkers and other patrons. Your manager doesn't help you. You're pissed off. After hours of rudeness and belligerence, finally the assh*le table asks for the bill. They spend another half hour drunkenly squabbling over the check before demanding that you split it ten ways. You somehow muster up the last bit of civility deep within you and smile through the rage. Finally, they leave. It's the moment you've been dreading. Again, you try and reassure yourself—surely they tipped at least 15%. They ordered bottomless margaritas. They stayed for five hours. Surely they tipped...You pick up the pile of checks and examine the first one. Nothing. Then the next. Nope. Your stomach drops as you get to the last check and read the word 'zero' scrawled onto the tip line. Dejected and exhausted, you look at the clock. Five more hours of your shift to go. The next group walks in.

Whether this scenario feels familiar or not, it's important for everyone to understand just how shitty it is to be a server sometimes, especially during a plague. Not only does treating service industry workers like literal garbage make their lives a living hell, it poisons the soul of the evil-doer. Treat workers with respect and don't forget to tip—it's not that damn hard. Alternatively, if being a jerk is the only thing you know how to do and you truly believe that treating people like dirt is a valid personality trait, you can simply stay at home. The restaurant industry doesn't need mean customers in order to thrive. We've collected some frustrating experiences that servers shared on r/TalesFromYourServer. Hopefully these stories will either humble people who frequently dine out or give solace to those who hate their jobs. 

If you think your job sucks, then just take a gander through the following posts written by an amused and frustrated butcher who has, let's just say, seen it all when it comes to terrible customers. The stupidity here is truly amazing, people.

Be sure to check out the Butcher Stories official Facebook page for even more woeful tales of staggering stupidity!

Millions of people have been working from home since the start of the pandemic, which means couriers and food service workers have been going hard at the delivery game all through quarantine. It shouldn't be a surprise that the couriers of Caviar, Doordash, Favor, GrubHub, Instacart, Postmates, and UberEATS have some amusing stories. r/couriersofreddit is a subreddit where workers share relatable memes, funny experiences, and screenshots of both good and bad interactions with customers. We've gathered a bunch of amusing and eye-opening posts from the sub to remind everyone to be kind to couriers and tip extra in these crazy times. 

Anyone who's worked a bunch of jobs in their lifetime has likely experienced a volatile work environment at some point, but these stories from a recent r/AskReddit thread are seriously next level. I doubt many people have had to deal with the head of a rabies-infested javelina on their first day of work, or chase down some disembodied lobster tails running around a grocery store. Whether these tales of employment are totally shocking or all too familiar, anyone can relate to that moment where you think 'damn, I don't get paid enough for this shit.'  

Retail workers have undoubtedly been one of the most under-appreciated class of workers since the dawn of mass consumerism. Being polite and helpful to rude customers all day for a wage that barely covers living expenses is soul-sucking enough when there isn't a series of commercial holidays intersecting with a global pandemic. Since the dreaded Black Friday is upon us, we thought we'd share a handful of retail horror stories from the subreddit r/TalesFromRetail for all the brave wage warriors out there. You're not alone and we feel for you.

If you've ever worked in a customer service position, then you've guaranteed encountered your fair share of Karens and other horrible, entitled customers who make your job a lot harder than it needs to be. We're not going to stereotype generations here, but as proven by the memes you're about to see it's the Baby Boomers who are always the worst. Sorry, not sorry.

It doesn't take a genius to know that working retail during the holidays is an absolute shitshow. But Twitter user @dylan_thyme took to the site to share how insane it is to work in a fancy grocery store in particular. From shows of extreme entitlement, to people who are apparently willing to throw away money, it's a thread filled with trashy atrocities - and of course, the token Karens. Let's all resolve to be extra nice to grocery store workers this year. They deserve it.