Every server feels their stomach drop when they see a toddler seated in their section. Like any service industry member with PTSD, for a split second, they'll imagine the terrors of cleaning melted ice cream from the corners of the booth seats, Karenish mothers yelling at them for a side of ranch, and scrubbing the crayon scribbles off the tabletop...

Some people have more confidence than they should, and this leads to lousy management, which in turn, leads to messes that can't always be cleaned up. One IT employee relayed the tale of the time his company shut down a client's entire server after they denied him access to the very equipment he needed in order to install the hardware for them… If you think that this is a counteractive move on their part, you would be right. The boss of the company that needed IT services was not the brightest…

Anytime there's a contest at a minimum wage job, it seems like whatever corporate baboon who thought of the idea has never actually stepped foot into the establishment they're attempting to manipulate. As out of touch as corporate contests are and no matter how pathetic the 'prize' is, there are still desperate employees who take part in the event. But the real winners, at the end of the day, are always the C-level suit monkeys counting their bonus checks and buying yachts.

Kids get a bad reputation in the service industry. However, anyone who has ever worked at a family restaurant know the truth—it's always the parents. Kids will be kids, we all know that, and it's up to the parents or guardians to teach their kids how to behave. So when an adult allows their tiny human to run around a restaurant like it's their personal playroom, of course everyone working there is going to be annoyed. Other than the fact that it's a real danger for your kid to be doing that whi…

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…

These customers didn't let their poor social skills keep them from dining at restaurants . Instead, they showed up ready to eat food and interact with wait staff as minimally as possible. We all have days where we want to be left alone. Sometimes you just don't feel like interacting with people, and instead, you just want to curl up on your couch, order food delivery, and watch a movie. It's odd that apparently lots of people decide to go to restaurants when they're feeling antisocial. Why woul…

After working in customer service, there are some experiences that will stick with you long after. These experiences will mostly be the exceptional ones that stand out even from every other bizarre daily interaction.

Even if your work, knowledge, and contributions make you irreplaceable in your organization, your employer is never going to admit it. For one thing, they probably aren't even going to be aware of it until long after you're gone. They probably think that there are dozens of people out there who can do exactly what you do. For another, if they did admit how valuable you were, they know that you'd likely want to be paid fairly for that fact—and that's just never going to happen. No, it's better t…

It is 2024, if you are an American and don't know how to properly tip, then shame on you. 20% is the minimum. Period. Nobody cares if you had to send your plate back multiple times, that service industry employee is working to pay their rent. The least you can do is give them $5. Like, stop being so entitled. This entitled customer got a beautiful act of petty revenge thrust upon him, and he probably never even realized it. You see, this guy was not only not going to tip, but he was also holdin…

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…

There's nothing more confusing in life than someone who refuses to accept that withholding a part of their order actually makes it a different order. It's like when someone orders a cheeseburger without cheese but refuses to accept that all that does is make it a hamburger. Similarly, if you're ordering eggs Benedict without Hollandaise sauce, you might as well just be ordering a poached egg on a bun. Making an issue of that fact really just betrays your lack of ability to think logically. So,…

Working in a kitchen is an eye-opening experience that will forever change how one eats at a restaurant. Not only does one gain further appreciation for what servers and restaurant workers have to put up with, but also one has a greater sense of the pandemonium that occurs behind the scenes. Yes, television shows like The Bear provide some insight into this visceral world, but hearing from actual restaurant workers directly is the best window into that experience. These restaurant secrets, whic…

What do you expect in terms of hospitality when you book an expensive 5-star hotel? You're usually paying upwards of $500 a night, so you would think they would provide the best of services. Especially if you get stuck in a bathroom! Things happen and precarious situations arise, we all know that's unavoidable in this place we call life. But it is how you handle these situations that gives you a top notch rating. When this woman got stuck in a 5-star hotel bathroom while vacationing with her bo…

The wider world of the internet is filled with stories of ill-mannered customers, making life unnecessarily difficult for the humble working-class customer service rep who had the misfortune of serving them. Still, it's important for us to take a step back and realize that, while it may be nice to root for the everyman, we can't blindly assume that the workers themselves are infallible. There are entitled people on all sides and from all walks of life—and there are certainly plenty of people wo…

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…

It's not uncommon for those in petty positions of power to vastly overestimate the reach of that power. Whatever the words of the message, the point this manager is trying to convey is clear: we know that you need us more than we need you, so we're going to see how far we can manipulate the conditions of your employment in our favor and you're just going to have to deal with it.