Few things are as maddening as watching a rude customer get away with their behavior without so much as a consequence. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case in this Reddit story.
A night-shift gas station employee found themselves dealing with a particularly difficult woman who threw a tantrum when things didn’t go her way. When she came back later to try and intimidate the worker, they decided enough was enough. What followed was an act of clever and satisfying revenge. Read on for the full story!
On a seemingly ordinary night shift, the gas station employee encountered a nightmare of a customer
Image credits: Santiago Sauceda González / pexels (not the actual photo)
After enduring her tantrum, the worker plotted the perfect revenge to settle the score
Image credits: Mark Ou / flickr (not the actual photo)
Image credits: engin akyurt / pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: kasasagithief
Working a customer service job is not for the weak
Image credits: Traworld Official / unsplash (not the actual photo)
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that working in customer service means you’re bound to encounter some difficult, and occasionally bizarre, people. In fact, 76% of customer service workers report dealing with rude or unpleasant behavior at least once a month.
To get a firsthand account of what it’s like, Bored Panda got in touch with u/kasasagithief, the author of the Reddit post.
As a night-shift employee at a gas station, they run into a variety of uncomfortable interactions, though most go smoothly. “Honestly, a solid 85% of my customers are normal. But I do get about 5% inappropriate men—unfortunate but true—and 10% who are just plain rude,” OP says. “Even then, most of them tend to calm down when I explain I’m following strict training rules.”
However, those rare awkward moments can still be stressful or downright frightening. “There’s this older man who asks odd questions whenever I’m alone,” OP recalls about a regular customer known for his prying remarks. “Stuff like, ‘Is it okay to keep my shorts on?’ or ‘Is your favorite underwear black?’ No, I didn’t skip a word—that’s a direct quote.”
“I once had a guy come in bragging about how he makes money on his OnlyFans,” they share. “He even tipped me $20 after going into way too much detail about what he does there.”
Sexual harassment is unfortunately a common issue for customer service workers. A recent study from the University of Sydney revealed that in retail alone, nearly half of women and a quarter of men have experienced sexual harassment, with customers being the perpetrators in over a third of cases. The most frequent advances include suggestive comments or jokes, intrusive questions about private life or physical appearance, and staring or leering.
Despite these obstacles, OP is able to work through most tricky situations. “I can handle the creeps 97% of the time. They’re usually harmless,” they explain. “When I sense nefarious intent, I’m pretty good at disengaging and getting them to leave without causing trouble. I’ve been groped once, but that customer was banned from the store.”
One thing that helps OP feel secure is knowing they have the full support of their manager. “The fact that I deserve respect is impressed upon me every shift. Management wouldn’t be happy if they found out I blatantly accepted someone trying to verbally berate or even physically assault me. They’d rather the store lose out on a bit of money than risk us,” OP says. “And that’s something special.”
Reflecting on the incident with the angry customer that sparked the Reddit post, OP adds, “I got frustrated and snapped. I knew I was doing the right thing following my training, so any actions I took would follow protocol. I just wish people would treat overnight staff with a bit more kindness. I get that I’m either the first or final public face many people see in their day, but it gets challenging to maintain a smile and bright, cheery attitude when people can be really cruel.”
Commenters cheered for how the worker handled things and had some questions about the details of the incident
