TikTok Isn't On The Side Of This Dismissive Burger King Employee
Nowadays, it's easy to see why people are empathizing with fast food workers. Between staff shortages and having to deal with rude customers and impatient Karens, the folks working behind the counter have truly received the short end of the stick when it comes to people-facing jobs. However, every once in a while, the person ordering ends up on the receiving end of a worker's irritation, as evidenced by a viral video of a drive-thru interaction between a customer and Burger King employee posted by user @breelynfay on TikTok.
Per the text over the video, the TikToker only started filming after the worker "cut [her] off while ordering," which caused them and the other passenger to wait in silence for several minutes until they felt the worker regained their composure. In the clip, they can be heard asking the employee if they heard the order, to which they curtly reply, "No."
The customer orders a number four meal "with cheese and no ketchup," and a medium drink followed by a number two meal "with cheese, no pickles, no lettuce," and another medium drink. For whatever reason, the modifications annoyed the employee, who responds to the seemingly simple request for "no pickles" with an exasperated sigh before asking in an irritated tone if there was more to add. The contemptuous response clearly upset the TikToker, who wrote in title text overlay, "When the employee tries to make you feel like sh** because you don't like pickles."
People thought the customer handled the situation
By now, most of us are used to seeing videos of unreasonably aggressive and at times, violent customers who are so clearly in the wrong. But the TikToker's behavior in the video couldn't be more different from the customers' in those videos. Despite the worker's audible dismissiveness, they remain patient and considerate, saying "please" after each request and double checking if he heard everything correctly. "I was seriously trying to be extra polite...I didn't want him spitting in my food!" they admit in the text overlay.
That fact didn't go unnoticed. Several commenters applauded the customer for keeping their composure throughout the exchange. "Respect to you for stay[ing] respectful" wrote one user. "You're better than me (...) I would've told him about him self" remarked another. A third offered a lighthearted take, writing, "When the world's nicest customer at the drive thru vs worst employee meet."
Still, not everyone was immediately on the TikToker's side, namely fellow fast food workers who could relate to the employee's frustrations. "Y'all have no idea what his day could've been like. We are underpaid and overworked" commented one user. However, a viewer who claimed to also work in the service industry didn't believe the Burger King employee had a valid excuse to behave the way he did: "i work in customer service and no matter how bad my day is i would NEVER treat someone like that it's not acceptable."