We'd all like to think that we have something to offer to this world. If we didn't, what would be the point? While this is kind of a baited question, the easy answer is that there's more to life than your monetizable value, despite what society might otherwise try and tell you... So, go outside and smell a flower, for gosh sake, and stop overcomplicating a life that is already overcomplicated enough. Still, because of our obsession with our own value and the value of things in our possession, i…

Two basic rules are taught to us when we work in customer service. First of all, we should never presume that consumers will read the small print at the bottom of our signage. The second universal guideline is to never, ever concede that you are correct and the client is mistaken. The story below is an account of a frustrated arts and crafts store manager. OP has been managing the store for a while, and quite frankly, presumably has encountered an endless amount of difficult customers. However,…

It takes a certain kind of person to be a difficult customer at a restaurant; it takes another kind of person to go out of their way to write a completely off-base one-star review. These three reviews may all be referring to different kinds of restaurants: a taco place, a dog-friendly café, and a fancy restaurant. However, they also have a few characteristics in common: 1) they are poorly written, with grammatical errors all over the place; 2) it is clear from the get-go that the writers of the…

Some like to complain, while others take pleasure in solving problems. However, for a strange reason, we always encounter the 50% of the population who get their kicks from criticizing and complaining about those around them. The account that follows is the story of an innocent bystander who was the target of an irate customer who was attempting to mail an item through the postal office. At this point, you probably think this is just another typical event. Unfortunately, it probably is. But thi…

We should all strive to leave the world a better place than we entered it—unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be a very high priority on a lot of people's to-do lists. There are quite a few people who seek to selfishly maximize their own position without a care for anyone else or a regard for the effects of their reckless need for self-aggrandizement and wanton urge for wealth and power.

Can you really call dibs on an item in a store? Like any typical shopper, if you aren't sure about an item, you usually hold on to it or put it in your cart while you walk around, just to give you a little more time to decide if the item is really worth it. Or you could come back to the item, but there's no guarantee it will still be there, as other customers may walk past it and snag it for themselves. This is even more true in a thrift store, where every item is unique and usually one of a ki…

It's kinda sorta hard to dress too casually for a job you don't have. For one thing, it's not your job, and, for another—well, it's not your job. As long as you're wearing a shirt and shoes, you can pretty much go anywhere you'd like… Although those signs usually fail to mention any requirement for pants, so that one's up to you.

From glitter to an actual bear, it's truly shocking what hotel workers have discovered in rooms after guests leave. Not only is there a ridiculous number of folks who refuse to clean up after themselves, but also there is a startling number of guests who should at the very least alert the front desk that there has been an issue. Some of these guests may have been trying to get out of being charged extra, but in many of these cases, those extra charges are bound to come so you might as well just…

Being a retail veteran means that you're nearly immune to the tactics of wily entitled customers, hardened to the core with the scar tissue of encounters with other customers—that or just completely dead inside—but it's all the same thing, really. Even if you leave the retail industry far behind, you remember the way people can act toward retail staff long afterward and how it's almost like people become another person when they begin talking to someone they deem to be a “servant" and beneath t…

Perhaps everyone should have made their resolutions this year to be kinder to their servers and bartenders. If you're not part of the problem but you are witnessing a Karen customer throwing a tantrum for no good reason, perhaps you should consider stepping in and defending the people who have been on their feet for multiple hours and are just trying to get you your food and drinks the way you ordered them. No one is trying to mess up, and so much of what goes on in a bar or restaurant is outsi…

One would think that doing a little research would be necessary before threatening to change companies for an important service, but the Karens of the world are not always inclined to think before they speak. This kind of behavior takes me back to my early days in the workforce when I was working in a freelance, client-based position and would have to deal with the occasional difficult client who enjoyed picking fights and threatening to work with someone else. The truth is it did not take long…

When a customer gets too excitable, retail workers know the drill: call their manager over to handle it. Each customer is different, and they each have their own intentions when they enter a store. Of course, most shoppers arrive at a store with a list and just go around and gather all the items they need. But others require more assistance than that. Maybe they have a return that they waited too long to bring back, or perhaps they're looking for a really specific thing and can't find it. You c…

Working in customer service is both a blessing and a curse. While it is true that you interact with a variety of individuals throughout the day, you also sort of roll the dice and hope that the people you meet will greet you with a smile and a friendly attitude. Well, the story below is of a girl who hosted/managed the restaurant she has been working at for the last five years. On that particular night, though, in contrast to other nights, OP encountered one of the worst couples she had ever me…

It takes a whole lot of audacity and nerve to crash a kid's birthday party just so you can get some free vouchers. However, I suppose if you are truly committed to leaning into all the facets of your personality that might make you a Karen, you don't have room for second-guessing. After all, all the space in your brain is taken up by your Karen attributes. Personally speaking, I have never possessed the confidence to be able to crash a birthday party. Instead of this Karen's audacity, I cannot…

Now that the year has come to a close, let's look back at some of the most memorable stories of entitled people and their ridiculous tantrums. From a neighbor who claimed someone else's parking spot indefinitely to a sister-in-law's outlandish demand… from a former landlord's unnecessary request to a guy who ran off with his brother's ex … let's just say that 2023 was not short on entitled behavior. Hopefully, people remember what it is to be generous, or at the very least decent , next year. T…

Consider this: You have been working for what seems like forever. Just as you are about to clock out, a couple enters the restaurant and asks to be seated. You obviously attend to the unwelcomed couple, and then just like that you realize that you're not going home anytime soon. As if that weren't awful enough, the couple now treats you like they own the restaurant, giving you the run-around, yelling at you, and expecting you to treat them like royalty. Well, that's exactly what happened to our…