I used to work in a [Coffee Chain] kiosk before moving to a better coffee shop with tips, privileges, and benefits. I haven’t had one difficult customer since starting there, but today I go to [Coffee Chain] to get my mom and my sister their daily fix, and the line is MASSIVE.
When I quit, I caused a mass quitting, and now there are only three fully-trained baristas there and everyone else is in training. Two trainees are in the kiosk.
Now, I can judge how they’re performing silently all I want, but they’re new, and of course, it’s going to take them more time to get through customers and drink orders, so people should be prepared for a wait when getting in an already massive line.
An older lady gets in line a few people behind me, and I immediately feel bad for the two East-Indian baristas in the kiosk, since this lovely lady is very volatile with POC; it was always my job to handle every part of her order when she came in because I was the only one she wouldn’t yell slurs at. (The store managers wouldn’t allow us to refuse service to her despite how hard I fought for it.)
Eventually, I hear her witch-like, raspy squeal:
Lady: “Why don’t you get in there and help them?”
She isn’t a daily customer, but she comes in at least once or twice a week, and I haven’t worked in the kiosk for six months at this point, so I’m looking around trying to figure out who she’s talking to. She points her cane at me as she speaks again:
Lady: “Get in there and help them! At least you can understand the customers.”
I groan and decide to interact.
Me: “They’re doing just fine. They’re new, so we all have to be patient. And I don’t work here anymore.”
This does not satisfy her.
Lady: “No, you work here! And even if you don’t, you used to, so you can go fix their mistakes!”
Constantly fixing the kiosk’s problems is why I left in the first place.
Me: “Ma’am, even employees can’t go in to help without clocking in or writing it down due to the union and work safety laws. This is especially true for me because I’m a customer just like you are; I don’t work in this establishment anymore!”
Lady: “You know how to use the PA; go call backup for them!”
Me: “I can’t use the PA because I’m not a store employee.”
Lady: “You should at least try, or you could tell the baristas to work faster or something!”
Me: *Less than kindly* “If you don’t want to wait, you don’t have to. Not serving someone as ungrateful as you wouldn’t be heartbreaking for those baristas.”
Thankfully, she shut up after that, instead of her usual tirades. But after she gave up in the line, I saw her talking to one of the supervisors at the customer service desk while I was heading to my car.
I didn’t handle it the best, but years of her being a monster and having to pretend to be nice to her really ate away at me, so I definitely needed the release. Hopefully, our little conflict stops her from going in for quite some time.
