There's always that one retired Karen who has all the time in the world to go to the local Michaels every other day with a new stack of coupons. Every cashier knows their Karen very well and holds their breath whenever Karen is about to choose which checkout line to terrorize. u/Neat_Warthog2633 recently shared a short and sweet story about a local Karen who came in hot, making demands about stacking coupons and senior discounts. She even asked the manager over (shocking!), who maliciously comp…

Simple yet effective

Karma

They aren't always right

There's no shortage of people who strut around like the whole universe revolves around them, and those people are mad annoying (especially if you work in the service industry). But it can be pretty hilarious when someone is entitled to their own detriment, or when choosing beggars get taxed extra for their rudeness. For example, when I used to bartend back in the day, I enjoyed being generous to customers for no reason. It felt good to improve some random stranger's day with a free drink or sma…

Karens have been around long before we labeled them as Karens. A lot of boomers don't like the Karen label (usually because they display some Karen tendencies themselves), but boomers can't deny that the term Karen serves a specific and useful linguistic function. There didn't use to be a concise word to describe an entitled, impatient, cruel, boomer white woman who drives everyone up the wall. The absolute worst thing about Karens is the self-centeredness they seem to all possess. They perceiv…

So hospitable

You get what you give

Customer service employees want others to see this as an example of how you should actually react when something goes wrong with your order—after all, we're all only human.

One of the worst customer interactions I've ever had was when I worked at a Chinese food place. A guy placing his order told me that his pregnant wife was allergic to sesame, and if she had any of it, she'd break out in hives. He also mentioned that this was her favorite restaurant. I noted the allergy on his order, but he kept calling the store, reminding us that there was to be no sesame in the meals. I reassured him that I had told the kitchen there was a sesame allergy for this order, and t…

On Christmas Day, customers usually have enough shame to not show up at a fast food place. They ask insecure questions about when the company lets the employees go home. When you deliver the sad news that you're working until closing, they retreat to their table to eat their McChicken with embarrassed expressions. Unfortunately, during Thanksgiving, customers have a lot less shame. They find it incredibly quirky to go to Popeyes for Thanksgiving instead of cooking a homemade meal. Working in fa…

Stupid people are everywhere.

If you're an Anthony Bourdain fan, or have worked service, you may have seen this quote pop up during your internet travels: ‘You can always tell when a person has worked in a restaurant. There’s an empathy that can only be cultivated by those who’ve stood between a hungry mouth and a $28 pork chop, a special understanding of the way a bunch of motley misfits can be a family. Service industry work develops the “soft skills” recruiters talk about on LinkedIn — discipline, promptness, the ability…

Oh boy did that manager learn their lesson.

No airline struggles more during the holiday rush than Southwest Airlines, and no airline customer service handles it as poorly.

Pay people fairly