Dec. 27: Clients being rude

 I saw this YouTube video of this morbidly obese man losing his mind at McDonalds. I think it was taken in the United States somewhere, possibly in a WalMart. It was being filmed by a guy who kept saying "bro" as in "why you so mad, bro?" His questions did little to mollify the fat guy, who probably would have been even more enraged if he knew he was being filmed.

At the heart of the gentleman's rage was that McDonalds didn't have his chicken sandwich ready for him in an appropriate amount of time. The work crew told him they were making him a sandwich fresh. This was the start of Tantrum City. The man yelled and screamed and swore at the entire McDonalds work crew and he also cussed out the other people in the restaurant who suggested he might want to be a bit more patient. One person even had the temerity to suggest he might be in better health if he chose a salad instead. Yeah, that prompted an all new fresh rage and an invitation to a fight. Seriously, I'm surprised the guy didn't drop dead of a heart attack.

-

YouTube is full of videos of people getting their rage on at various fast food eateries. McDonalds, Burger King, Popeyes, A&W - none of 'em are safe from the invective of stupid people having bad days.

One of those videos showed a guy at Burger King who would have happily called for the deaths of every single Burger King employee (and their families) for committing the grievous sin of putting mayonnaise on his burger when he specifically asked for the burger without mayonnaise. Another video showed a woman at a drive-thru screaming the vilest profanity at the hapless clerk. When the woman discovered the person in the car behind her was filming her, she got even angrier and suggested that the people in that car, both men, were "faggots."

-

Look, I have had my share of fast food restaurants messing up my orders before. It's an inconvenience, for sure, but not a major one. As far as inconveniences go, it's a little above mosquito bite on my elbow and a little below having my leg cut off. I like to think that I'm pretty good about it. I am a picky eater - I don't eat cheese on pizza and dozens of times I get the pizza delivered to me with cheese - so it happens more often than not for me. Sometimes, I'm sure I broadcast my annoyance but I don't think I've ever gone postal on a hapless car hop. God save me from ever doing so.

-

My batting average is lower when it comes to dealing with customer service, particularly with my cell phone provider. I have no patience for dealing with robots or the ever-changing menus or the faux-sympathy of operators telling me "I'm so sorry you're having problems with your cell phone." Ash usually has to urge me to be patient. It is a good thing she does this. I know that whoever I am on the line with is not responsible for what's going on with my cell phone. It is human nature to look for a scapegoat.

-

As luck would have it, my kid wanted a pizza this afternoon. He has gotten into the habit of thinking he's entitled to a pizza (plus swim time plus whatever he wants from the store) whenever we go out. I had to order it from Pizza Pizza, which is the only pizza franchise in Canada that has a call centre. Seriously, when I call Dominos in Cornwall, I get connected right to the store. With Pizza Pizza, I usually have to wait on hold for a few minutes while someone sitting in front of a computer somewhere asks me if I want the same thing as I ordered last time, which I usually can't remember.

Now we are back home and my kid will get hungry in about 1.26 hours. (If the Calgary Flames are playing, he usually tells me hungry when the Flames are about to start a power play.) Thank God for Ash, who told me the best way to prepare sausages for B-Man. I am supposed to fry them for a long time in butter. Beforehand, I was frying them for a short time in water. Not the B-Man way.

The moral of this story is that Ash helps people be better at stuff.