Being in charge doesn't mean you have all the answers. In fact, it often shouldn't, and this means that while you don't know the answers, you are experienced in identifying people with those answers and knowing when to differ to their better judgment. Those in petty positions of power who are unable to get their ego out of the way and accept the expertise of their subordinates are bound to end up in embarrassing situations like this one. This venue supervisor refused to accept that the experien…

We often hear stories online from customers who are acting unreasonable and unruly, like what you might call a “Karen,” and we tend to take the employees narrating these stories at face value. But what about the times when the roles are reversed? What about situations where a customer is simply making a reasonable request, only to be met with a harsh response from an employee? At what point is it okay for a customer to get a little bit frustrated when their issue isn't receiving any attention f…

Usually, immoral irrationality and disrespect towards others go unpunished, making those perpetrating that behavior to be more encouraged since, well, they got away with it already. Occasionally, though, the universe will react in kind and drown them in a karmic ocean of their own making. In these instances, the world feels like it is in balance, with just deserts having been served in ample portions. Working in customer service, you'll seldom get to see this play out, with the irrational getti…

Welcome to server life, where you get paid next to nothing to deal with entitled customers and power-tripping managers while working on your feet for seemingly endless shifts. You can just imagine the cast of characters that everyday servers are forced to encounter, confront, work with, and work for day in and day out. So let the following stories, which were compiled from Reddit's r/TalesFromYourServer subreddit, ~serve~ as yet another reminder to be kind and generous with your servers. Tip th…

Laughing in your manager's face when they're trying to find a reasonable way to deal with your antics is probably not the best way to behave in front of them. That being said, when your manager is an absolutely ridiculous person, it's not exactly your fault how you respond to them. Self-control is ideal, but it's not easy when you're in the presence of nonsense. This thread was shared to Reddit's r/TalesFromYourServer subreddit by u/blscratch , a former server who was attempting to advocate on…

Entitled customers need to be careful with the battles they choose. If they are not certain that they're in the right, the result could be embarrassing and, in this case, far less than what they wanted. When you order a pound of wings at a restaurant, do you fully expect everything to be carefully weighed to the exact desired amount? What kind of establishment do you think this is, sir? You're ordering wings , not caviar! This Redditor , who worked as a cook at said wing establishment, watched…

How much trouble is it worth going through to avoid paying for a couple of leaves of lettuce? Is it worth a run-in with the police that could possibly see you arrested and sent to prison, all because you didn't want to pay $9 for your salad after complaining about the toughness of your steak? From there, you'll be forced to plan a daring means of escape. By day, you'll see yourself unwittingly participating in and then dismantling the operations of the corrupt warden running the prison while sp…

The most infuriating part of this story is how common this phenomenon seems to be among other servers. Several folks in the comments section of this Reddit thread pointed out that they too would be forced to pay up if any of their customers dined and dashed at a restaurant. Not only is this completely unfair, but this kind of policy is certainly not going to create a sense of loyalty among the restaurant staff. The underlying concept here is that it's the server's fault for allowing customers t…

On the most monotonous days as a server, sometimes a wholesome act of kindness can make one's entire shift infinitely better. People don't tend to extend those kindnesses enough in the cutthroat world of customer service. Instead, servers and bartenders often have to deal with a slew of Karen customers, loud children, and entitled parents. Some of these more wholesome moments were compiled from the top posts this week on Reddit's r/TalesFromYourServer subreddit. These anecdotes included an anno…

There's a certain kind of satisfaction that comes with giving demanding customers a hard time, but there's also the satisfaction that comes with giving them exactly what they asked for. It takes a specific kind of person to order food at a restaurant and immediately threaten the server before they've done anything wrong yet. It's as if they're asking to be messed with in some way, which is exactly what happened with this demanding customer who we will refer to, unsurprisingly, as Karen. Karen i…

'Ask and you shall receive'. These are certainly words to live by– but when we're talking about making modifications on a restaurant order, this phrase is more of a solemn warning.

There's nothing like a table full of Karens to make your first shift as a waiter the worst shift ever.

It's time to pay our respects to those who are living the server life.

Working in the service industry is one of the toughest to endure, as customers, management, and coworkers can really get under your skin. You need the patience of a sloth, the memory of an elephant, and the speed of a cheetah. Picture this: a family of eight, children sobbing whilst simultaneously drooling, parents at their wit's end just rattling off their order to you while corralling their children. Having a long list of dietary restrictions and substitutions to their order after demanding y…

Serving one Karen at a restaurant is difficult enough. Imagine having to serve 13 of them!

Going back to an old job is always awkward, especially when you were fired from that job and especially when you go back to beg for free things—and especially when you go back to try and steal from your ex-coworkers' tip jar. Like, this guy actually managed to get himself demoted from line cook to customer and then managed to get himself demoted further from being a customer too. Lou really sucks, and is a In the end, it's incredibly fitting since you can't spell “lousy coworker” without “Lou.”