(My coworker told me this story while we were talking about parents’ tendency to bring extremely ill children shopping with them during cold and flu season. A woman and a young boy come to my coworker’s register, and the boy is rather pale and very obviously does not look well. The customer sets him on the counter while she orders.)

Child: “Mommy, I’m gonna throw up.”

Customer: “You’re fine, [Child]. You just need food is all.”

Coworker: *not wanting an incident involving a sick child* “The bathrooms are right over there if he’s not feeling—“

(The customer’s food arrives and she grabs a fry and stuffs it in the kid’s mouth. He weakly tries to eat it but ends up vomiting all over the counter.)

Customer: “[Child], that’s disgusting! You won’t be watching any TV tonight, since you made a mess that this nice lady had to clean up.”

(The child started to cry, and the mom made the poor kid wait while she sat and ate her food. And of course, the woman didn’t lift a finger to help clean up the mess.)

(At my store, the drive-thru sends employees outside with iPads to take orders when it’s busy, since this saves a lot of time by letting us move down the line instead of taking one car at a time at the speaker box. We still try to go out even in inclement weather, but we do have a ton of special equipment to make rain, snow, and cold much more manageable, and we rotate employees out in 20-minute shifts if they need it. Also, no one is ever forced to go outside in bad weather; we will send someone else or just take orders on the headsets if our other choices decline. I’m outside taking orders one particularly nasty day, when it’s 10 degrees Fahrenheit, snowing, and windy. I’m perfectly happy, since it’s less hectic outside even when it’s busy, and I’m wearing about four layers and a heated vest, and have hand warmers in my gloves, so I’m actually pretty comfortable. I approach the next car to take their order, and the woman driving looks horrified.)

Customer: “Oh, my! Why are you out here in this weather, dear?”

Me: “I’m taking orders today, ma’am. I love snow, so this is actually pretty exciting!”

Customer: “I can’t believe they would make a young lady work out here in these conditions! This is just terrible!”

Me: “Actually, they never force anyone to be out here. In fact, I was scheduled to work inside, but I volunteered to come out since I like it. Plus, I’m actually very warm. My vest and gloves are both heated.”

Customer: “This treatment of employees is just appalling! I can’t give my money to a company like this; I’m going elsewhere. You quit while you can, dear. You don’t have to let them treat you this way.”

(She pulled out of the line and drove off, and I assumed that was the end of it, but she apparently took a photo of myself and my coworker, who is also a young woman, working outside in the snow as she left. She posted that photo to Facebook later that day and caused a huge fuss about “proper treatment of employees.” I appreciate her concern, but she created a mess for us because she failed to mention everything I had told her, which caused unrest with some other customers that took some time to fix.)

(A woman brings her family in with her in the middle of our lunch rush and orders for herself, her husband, and her two sons. She asks for a #5 combo meal, which is a hamburger with cheese and bacon. The #6, right next to it on the menu, is a chicken sandwich. I read her family’s order back to her, giving the meal numbers exactly as she had given them to me, and she agrees that the order is correct. Not long after their lunch is brought out to them, I see her and her husband arguing and gesturing in the direction of the counter. I overhear bits of what’s being said and gather enough to know that she is unhappy with her food and mentally prepare for the complaints. She stands up from her table quickly followed by her husband.)

Husband: “Did she repeat your order?”

Wife: “Yes.”

Husband: “And did you correct her and ask for the chicken, instead?”

Wife: “No. But she should’ve known!”

(I am the customer in this story. I am hosting a small party for my birthday at a very popular fast food joint. We are almost fifteen people, and our order is really complicated since everyone wants a different kind of meal with different drinks. As such, the cashier has a tough time with my order but she is extremely patient and makes sure to take the order correctly. I pay for my order and take the numerous trays to the table, helped by friends. By this point, I am very flustered, too, since my friends are complaining about not getting the right drinks, etc. By the time I have made sure everyone has the right food, I realise I forgot to buy food for myself. Extremely annoyed, I go back to the counter.)

Cashier: “Namaste! How may I help you, ma’am?”

Me: “I forgot to buy food for myself in all that confusion. I’ll have a [burger meal].”

Cashier: “Sure! Your total is [amount].”

(I pay, take my tray, and start walking towards the table when I realise I forgot to get ketchup. I am so frustrated now that I storm to the condiment bar and put my tray there. I obviously am not paying much attention, because the entire tray falls down along with the food. There are fries and drink everywhere on the floor. I have had enough. I go and sit at my table with a huff.)

Friend #1: “Where’s your food, [My Name]?”

Me: “I dropped it, and now I’m not going to the counter again.”

Friend #2: “Look, [My Name], the cashier is calling for you.”

(Sure enough, I turn back and see that the cashier is gesturing to me to come to the counter. I go over, and she hands me a tray with a burger, fries, and a drink.)

Me: “But I dropped my—“

Cashier: “Take this; it’s on the house.”

(I thanked her and went back to the table. Thank you, kind lady. You made my day! Or rather, my birthday!)

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(I work in a fast food chain that’s popular in the south. We have a dessert menu with two kinds of pies: apple and lemon. A customer comes to the drive-thru speaker and I listen on my headset as my coworker takes his order.)

Customer: “Uh, yeah, I didn’t receive my peach pie in my bag yesterday, and I’d like a fresh, free one.”

(We haven’t served peach pies in years. This guy has tried scamming us before, so my coworker decides to have some fun with this.)

Coworker: “Um, are you sure it was a peach pie?”

Customer: “Positive.”

Coworker: “You sure it wasn’t a banana pie?”

Customer: “Oh, yeah, yeah! That was it!”

Coworker: “All right, pull around to the window.”

(The customer pulls around to the window, and my coworker opens the window with a smirk on his face.)

Coworker: “Do you have your receipt with you?”

Customer: “Nope, I lost it.”

Coworker: “All right, one pineapple pie coming up.”

Customer: “Thank you! I can’t believe you guys forgot my pineapple pie! Are you guys always this incompetent?”

(My coworker decides to break the unfortunate news.)

Coworker: “Sir, we haven’t served peach, banana, or pineapple pies in over a year, so we couldn’t have forgotten it because you never ordered it. Nice try, though.”

(The customer’s face gets red and he speeds out of the drive-thru.)

Manager: “People will do anything for free food these days.”