I work at a famous sandwich shop. This customer has been particularly rude and condescending to the staff each time he’s been in. After storming off the first couple of times I served him, he started flat out refusing to let me make his sandwiches.

Tonight, there is one other person working with me. He knows who the customer is and knows he doesn’t like me. The customer comes in, and after I finish putting the meat on the sandwiches I am working on, I give my standard greeting.

Me: “What can I start for you today?”

The customer looks up at me, doesn’t say a word, and then goes back to his phone. I help my coworker finish up the other sandwiches and tell him to help the customer. He refuses and starts doing mundane tasks like stocking things that don’t need to be stocked. I try my greeting with the customer again.

Me: “What can I start for you?”

Customer: *A bit rudely* “Can someone else make my sandwich?”

I hand him off to my coworker and go into the walk-in cooler to (figuratively) cool off. The rest is told to me by my coworker.

Coworker: “Do you have a problem with him?”

Customer: “Well, I don’t really like the way he makes my sandwiches.” *A few seconds of silence* “You don’t even know who I am.”

Coworker: “Oh, yeah, I do. You’re the guy that yelled at me on my second day here and almost made me quit.”

The customer mutters something inaudible under his breath, followed by:

Customer: “I do not yell. I always give all of my kindness to the [Store] workers.”

Coworker: “Look, you can either leave or shut up and let me finish your sandwich.”

The customer is mostly quiet after this until my coworker is done ringing him up. It is worth noting that there is a link at the bottom of the receipts that will take you to a survey about your experience.

Customer: “I do not yell. Put the receipt in my bag.”

After he and the rest of the customers in the store left, my coworker called our boss to tell his side of the story, almost certain he was going to be given a negative review. Fortunately, our boss didn’t care what my coworker said. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see what the customer says in his review.

I work at a famous customizable sandwich shop. We have a pair of regulars, a husband and wife, who always order the same sandwich for their son. Today, we get to the vegetables and the wife stops me.

Wife: “My son always complains that you put too much lettuce on the sandwich. It’s really annoying me. Please put one, and only one, of each kind of vegetable on the sandwich. One slice of cucumber, one tomato, one thin strip of onion, and one-half inch long piece of shredded lettuce.”

We’re not monsters, so I gave them a reasonable amount of vegetables in a salad container.

The next time they came in, the regulars laughingly said the son didn’t speak to either of them for an entire day afterward, and the wife then prompted me to put more lettuce on the sandwich.

I have newly moved to this small town with a relatively higher population of Asians. One Sunday afternoon, I go to this global chain sandwich shop for a quick bite. This shop is the kind where you get your sandwich first and then pay when you exit. As I enter, I see an employee making a sandwich for a previous customer. I sit down at a small table, play on my phone, and wait for my turn, not paying much attention to what is going on at the sandwich station. When the customer leaves, I move to the sandwich station, and the employee returns from the cash register.

It is worth noting that I am an Indian and I’m a vegetarian by choice. I mention to all restaurant staff upfront that I eat no meat, eggs, or chicken, but milk and milk products are okay. I am not the glove police or anything, but I request that my food is handled with clean hands or fresh gloves just to avoid meat contamination. Usually, this is not a problem as I order simple vegetarian options on the menu and everyone understands and accommodates this.

Me: “Hi, I’d like a [selection of wheat bread] to start my sandwich. But before that can you please change your gloves?”

Employee #1: “I just changed now.”

Me: “Sorry, I did not see that. You just finished serving the other customer.”

Employee #1: “Doesn’t matter. My gloves are clean. Did you want your bread toasted or not?”

Me: “Hey, sorry, I am not going ahead with this. I’d like you to change them, please; I am a vegetarian and it matters to me. Please change the gloves.”

The employee rolls her eyes and looks upset by now.

Employee #1: “That customer is also like you and ordered a vegetarian sandwich.”

She gestures to me while saying this in a way that kind of implies that the other customer was an Indian, too. But I am not comfortable with her answer, nor do I appreciate her rudeness. I don’t know what to do at this point, and I am about to walk off when another employee arrives from inside.

Employee #2: “What seems to be the problem?”

Employee #1: “Yeah, she wants fresh gloves — like people of her type — and I am not doing that. I just changed to these and I served no meat with these.”

Me: “I am sorry for the inconvenience. I am just not sure.”

When I start to say I will leave, he cuts me off.

Employee #2: “Hold on. Hey, [Employee #1], did you cash out the previous customer wearing the gloves?”

Employee #1: “Yeah, so?”

Employee #2: *Exasperated sigh* “Let me handle this. You wait inside, please.” *To me* “let me help you now, if that’s okay.”

Me: “Sure, I’d like [selection of wheat bread] toasted with cheese, please.”

He wears fresh gloves and completes my order perfectly well and wraps it in paper.

Me: “I am sorry if that was an inconvenience to you.”

Employee #2: “No problem at all. She was not supposed to touch the register with gloves anyway. And we’ll change our gloves if you want us to change any number of times; that’s our policy.”

He then apologized for his coworker’s behaviour, and we made a small chat about my move to the town. I bought a cookie and drink with my sandwich and left. I went there almost every Sunday for lunch and met this employee most times. The first employee did not interact with me when I was there. She left soon after.

I am working at a sandwich chain.

Me: “Hi. What can I get for you today?”

Scammer: “I’d like the ham and swiss and a cup of water.”

Me: “All right, would you like to make it a combo?”

Scammer: “No.”

Me: “Will that be all?”

Scammer: “Yeah. “

He tosses a wad of bills in my general direction. Then he just goes to sit down as I stand there confused with his change in hand.

Me: “Um, sir? Your change…”

The scammer rolls his eyes at me and waves a hand impatiently. 

Scammer: “Don’t just stand there! Bring it to me!”

At this point, I am gritting my teeth in anger. I have been polite and nice through all of this, keeping a strained smile on my face as I place the change in his hand. I head back to the counter to grab his food so I can be through with him ASAP. But as I place the tray in front of him, he levels a glare at me. 

Scammer: *Snapping* “I ordered the combo.”

Me: *Faking a smile* “Of course, sir. That will be an extra [amount].”

He waves one of his fingers in my face. 

Scammer: “Oh, no, you made the mistake of not having the intelligence to listen, so you’ll pay for it.”

Stifling a laugh at his ridiculous request, I merely shake my head. 

Me: “Afraid not, sir.”

I walked back to the counter as I hear a string of curses directed at me. Apparently, he complained about me “not paying for his meal.” The manager laughed at him. Ah, sweet karma.

I volunteered to get lunch for our design team. The new intern, who had been suspiciously quiet all morning, ordered this:

Intern: “I’ll have a six-inch meatball marina, please.”

Me: “Meatball marinara?”

Intern: “Yes, a six-inch meatball marijuana, please.”