It should be no surprise that people are more susceptible to lose their cool when they're hungry. While this happens to just about everyone, some people are more likely than others to throw major temper tantrums when they haven't had a meal in a few hours. Anger and hunger are two things that should never be combined, but the duo makes an appearance more times than not. As is the case in the following stories.
A Reddit thread recently asked people to share the most ridiculous temper tantrums they have seen at a restaurant. No matter if its the waiter, the bartender, or even a customer, the following stories are full of irrational people finding themselves in tense situations just because someone was hungry and angry. All posts have been edited for clarity.
“What Do You Mean My Dog Isn’t Allowed?”
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“To give some backstory, my parents own a small, casual, family-oriented restaurant. I was talking to them yesterday and they were a bit annoyed about this person:
A woman walked in with her dog and a server kindly told her that dogs weren’t allowed in the restaurant.
Woman: ‘What do you mean my dog isn’t allowed? I am allowed to bring my dog to literally EVERY other restaurant.’
Server: ‘I’m sorry, it isn’t our rule. We aren’t allowed to let dogs in because of health laws.’
Woman: ‘Well, why not? That’s such a stupid rule. Actually, I don’t believe you because I can bring my dog to other restaurants. Fine. Whatever.’
She tied her dog’s leash to something outside and sat down. A few seconds later, a family with their kid walked in.
Woman: ‘Wait, KIDS are allowed in but my dog isn’t? That is so dumb, I know plenty of kids that are way dirtier than my dog.'”
Drive-Thru Lanes Aren’t The Place For Political Discussions
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“This friend of mine works at a McDonald’s drive-thru, and yesterday, an older man driving an ugly orange Chrysler Town and Country van came through. His wife and adult daughter were with him. The man ordered three drinks. My friend noticed that the van had a handicap parking pass in the windshield, which may explain why this guy had a meltdown. My friend prepared and served the drinks, with three straws.
The guy refused the straws and gave them back to my friend. Then he tried to refuse the lids as well, but my friend wouldn’t take them back, so they hurled them back into the McDonald’s through the drive-thru window.
All of a sudden, this guy started ranting about the environment and how many plastic straws and lids clog up the landfills. Then he questioned my friend about when Mcdonald’s would switch to paper straws and paper lids.
My friend told him that he didn’t know about corporate stuff and that he only served food, but the driver didn’t care. At this point, the women in the van had bent down with their faces in their hands. He demanded the manager to come over.
Once she came over, he threw the same questions and environmental rant at her. A line of cars had now formed and many were honking at this guy. The manager lost it and straight up told the dude to get lost.
The dude took off angrily and nearly hit a bus on his way out.”
This Was By Far The Worst Thing They Had Experienced On The Job
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“I managed a movie theatre in a local mall and it wasn’t that unusual for shoppers to swing in to grab a soda or bag of popcorn to snack on while they shopped.
So one day, this woman came in and asked for a small popcorn which I happily provide to her. She took her popcorn and exited the lobby. About 20 minutes later, she came back in with the bag almost empty and asked if I could pour the rest of the popcorn into a brown paper bag. I apologized and let her know we didn’t have any plain brown bags, just the decorative bags we used.
‘Okay, then I want a refund.’
I politely but firmly refused the refund and explained that she had already eaten the bulk of what she paid for and her distaste for the color of the container was not grounds for reimbursement.
What followed was about 15 to 20 minutes of this woman just getting red in the face and threatening to sue me, personally, because I wouldn’t refund her the price of a small popcorn, and how I was what was wrong with America. Once she finished hitting the usual, ‘Whatever happened to the customer is always right?’ bullet points, she moved on to accusing me of being an agent of Satan, that the theatre itself was a satanic temple, and that Jesus Christ was going to strike me down.
And then something about money lenders and Jews. By then, I had called security because she was starting to try to tip over our standees.
I had some weird stuff go down during my years in the retail mines, but that was easily the craziest thing I’d ever had to deal with.”
She Was Going To Have Things Her Way, Whatever It Meant
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“I work at a Subway at a popular amusement park. The park usually closes at 10 pm and thus all the restaurants and attractions inside close as well. Unfortunately, on this particular day, we were so swamped that we ended up being open up until 10:30. So it was 10:30 and we were serving our last guests of the day, a middle-aged woman with five young children, and then a man and older women behind them.
So at this point in time, we were 30 minutes past close and we started to run out of items, and it being a REALLY busy day, didn’t have much in the way of prep in the back for the next day. So we made this woman and her five kids their sandwiches and get to the very end where we add condiments. She requested that we put mayonnaise on each sandwich, but unfortunately, we were out. I told her and at first she was a reasonable human being and we offer her light mayonnaise instead which she accepted. So we put light mayonnaise on each sandwich when lo and behold one of her demon spawn of a child started screaming.
Apparently, the child was so distraught at having light mayonnaise instead of regular that the mom demanded we scrape off all the mayo off of each sandwich. So we did that. She then decided this wasn’t good enough and demanded we throw all six sandwiches away and remake her new ones. I was ticked at this point, and so as we went about making them a second time we proceed to run out of even more ingredients. I informed her that we were out of, for example, banana peppers because she wasted the last of it she surprisingly took it well and moved on.
So here we were at the condiments again and she did her famous line, ‘Now, put mayonnaise on all of them’ because for some reason between the time it took to remake her sandwiches she forgot that we are LITERALLY OUT OF MAYONNAISE IN THE ENTIRE FRICKEN STAND. So I told her again, we were out, to which she proceeded to scream and cuss me out for an impressive amount of time. So I decided to go in the back to ‘look for more again’ and to get away from her screaming with another supervisor. We sat back there, staring at each other in disbelief until one of us decided, forget it, we took a spare light mayonnaise bottle from the fridge, take off the cap that’s labeled ‘Light Mayo’ and replaced it with a regular mayo label.
Triumphantly, we brought the ‘completely regular mayonnaise’ up front and make up some lie about how it fell behind another bottle. She rewarded us by screaming some more about how we lied to her all that time about not having any before we finished her transaction and sent her and her demon brigade on their way.
Humorously, the man and older woman behind her happened to be her husband and mother who apologized to us profusely and were all around very kind people.”
It Sounds Like She Never Grew Up
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“My sister-in-law had a meltdown because my wife and I wanted to take her to a local restaurant that specialized in big sandwiches. I’m talking poundage here. Things are huge and amazingly delicious. Well, the fact that we were willing to pay out of our pocket for her and my brother didn’t matter. I should note here that at the time, my wife was less than a year out from a leukemia diagnosis, and I’m a disabled veteran so we don’t have a lot of money because neither of us can work).
My sister-in-law decided that a ‘sandwich isn’t a meal’ and refused to go. We tried to tell her that they do serve other things like a normal restaurant, but no. All she could respond with was ‘a sandwich isn’t a meal.’ After about an hour of this, I lost my cool and proceeded to flip out on her. She started the waterworks and everything went to crap from there. The night ended with us going to where she wanted to go. I haven’t been on the greatest of terms with her since then.
The same woman had another meltdown shortly after my brother married her and told her that she needed to transfer student loans that were in her father’s name to herself because she was a grown woman that needed to take care of her own finances at that point. That didn’t happen.
She is not a great person to begin with then you add in the fact that she acts like a child on top of that. I constantly feel sorry for my brother.”
The Tantrum Was Bad Enough Before They Took It To The Next Level
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“A buddy of mine told me about one of the regulars at the restaurant he worked at and how annoying she was. Most of the employees gave her ‘specials’ so she’d not complain about poor service. He, however, didn’t care about her ‘specials’ and treated her as just another customer.
One day, she came in asking for a combo and then requested to change all the items, but have the same price of the combo. He told her he couldn’t do that because it was not the combo anymore and she wouldn’t get the same price. She threw a bit of a fit but just accepted what he said. She then asked for a cup of blue cheese. He told her it was extra. She flipped out and told him that he was being completely unreasonable. She called up the store’s owner and whined to try to get him fired because he ‘mistreated her.’
Fast forward about a week and a half. The lady came in with her husband. He was holding his phone awkwardly and occasionally peering into the kitchen trying to spot things. The lady acted all smug that her husband was there and tried to get one of her ‘specials’ again. My friend just flat out told her he cannot do that. She started whining and her husband started recording the situation and verbally abusing him, calling him a worthless pig for working at a restaurant while stroking his own ego.
My buddy’s co-worker overheard all this and was just observing from the kitchen as this went down. My buddy didn’t say a word and just accepted that this was happening. The lady’s husband later posted it on the restaurant’s Facebook page.
This all happened because of a cup of cheese. She was trying to ultimately get him fired.
It didn’t work.”
She Was All Bent Out Of Shape Over One Penny
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“I work in a donut shop. One Sunday morning, one of our busiest times of the busiest day of the week for us, the register ran short on change and we didn’t have any pennies in the back.
That morning, a lady came in, bought one or two donuts, and the total was $1.74 with tax, and all that jazz. She gave me two dollars, and I handed her a quarter, as change. I explained that we had run out of pennies and that I was extremely sorry, but I didn’t have the .01 to give her. She then threw a HUGE tantrum in the middle of the store, in front of a line of people, saying that I had robbed her and that I shortchanged her on purpose and how I was going to burn for it (I live in the belt buckle of the Bible Belt).
I calmly explained that if she wanted to come back the next day, I would gladly give her an extra penny when my boss (the owner) would return from the bank with another roll of pennies. She then threw an even bigger fit, demanding to see my manager. She then began to tell me that she would have my job and that I would never work in this town again. I told her that I was a manager and that if she wanted to come back the next day and get her penny, I would gladly give it to her, but she was out of luck today.
She snatched up her donuts and left the store still fuming. The couple behind her felt so bad for me, that they gave me a huge tip and gave me words of encouragement. The penny lady never came back, for which I’m incredibly glad. Gee, I love my job.”
He Couldn’t Believe How Quickly She Lost It
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“I worked at a Wendy’s for a few years during college. The meltdown of legend was when a little-league mom came in with the whole team of kids and ordered food for all of them and some of the parents. She then began to grow increasingly frustrated/visibly upset at the amount of time it took to prepare such a large volume of food. She started pointedly asking why her food was taking so long, over and over, each time her voice getting a little higher.
After a few minutes, she started saying, ‘This is simply unacceptable’ and asking for a refund despite the fact that she can see the poor sandwich maker is standing right next to me working frantically to put all her cheeseburgers together. I said, ‘Okay, let me just get the manager.’
She then started screeching about how she wanted the refund NOW and threw her carrier tray of Frosties onto the floor, got down on her hands and knees, and proceeded to start grinding the spilled Frosty into the carpet with her bare hands all the while shrieking as if her child had been run over in the drive-thru.”
She Thought She Was Above Everyone Else
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“I earn extra money working at concession stands at big rated horse shows. They are usually full of rich entitled people who think that a lowly worker is there to be abused. This one woman asked for the chicken salad. Ok, we had the traditional with mayonnaise that would go on sandwiches OR a green salad with sliced chicken. I asked her, point blank, ‘The chicken salad that goes on bread?’ She said yes and to hurry up.
I gave her the scoop on bread. She went off on me about trying to get her fat. Blah blah. I was shocked but then she started calling me a fat piece of white trash. I had to take a walk before I said things I regretted. The next customer gave me a $20 tip and told me she was always that way.”
It Sounds Like This Guy’s Tantrums Were Well Known Around Town
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“Back in the 80s, I was working at a Burger King located in a mall. It had the seating area as you walked in, and the ordering area in the back. To try to sell more drinks, they made a drink station in the front by the restaurant opening to serve people as they were passing by.
I was working the front drink station one day. It was a pretty good job, just stand there and check out all of the hot women passing by and serve drinks.
Next door to the BK was a sporting goods store. One time, this 14-year-old girl came over and got an iced tea. She left and went into the sporting goods store. About a half hour later, she came back and asked for a refill (we gave out free refills on carbonated beverages but not tea). I told her this and she got a look of ‘oh crap’ resignation on her face, thanked me, and went back into the store.
About a minute later, I heard a man yell something and ski poles, skis, boots, and various other winter items started flying out of the store. Everyone around stopped and looked into the store to figure out what was going on. This guy came stomping out with his daughter in tow and asked (yelled) why he couldn’t have a free refill. I explained the company policy and he grabbed the countertop and started shaking it like he wants to rip it off the counter. I told him I could get the manager if he would like and he said, ‘Get them out here right now.’
By now, everyone was gathering around to watch the spectacle this guy was creating and the daughter was standing there embarrassed and shaken. I ran to the back to get the manager and she explained the same policy. He was redfaced and foaming at the mouth yelling at the manager, grabbing the counter and shaking it again, when a security guy showed up. The guy took one look at him and walked away, back into the store. About a minute after that, two big guys that worked at the store walked him out and told him not to come back. He stormed away yelling obscenities.”
No One Could Figure Out Why She Was So Upset
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“I was at a supermarket and the woman in front of me was acting like a child. She was in her 40s and wearing some formal clothes, so this surprised me a bit. She snatched the receipt out of the cashier’s hands, crumbling it in the process. Then she screamed at the 17-year-old cashier, ‘What the eff is this crap?!’ I guess she was talking about the wrinkles in her receipt, which she’d crumpled. She shoved the receipt in the cashier’s face, then she went back down to her stuff and started putting it in her bag, but then walked back up to the cashier halfway through and said, ‘This is unbelievable, you should be ashamed!’
During all of this, I had no idea what her problem actually was. Neither did the cashier. We just looked at each other and laughed at the crazy lady.
The lady then turned to me and asked what my problem was. I told her, ‘You are an adult, behave like one. Nobody wants to listen to your crap.’
She then started yelling, ‘You’re disgusting! Move out the way, little boy! Get away from me! Now, half the store was looking at us.
I just kept telling her, ‘Have a really nice day.’
She sped past me and quickly walked to her car. Then, as I was walking home down a gravel path, she came from behind in her car, accelerated and flew past me, leaving a huge dust cloud behind her car.
My friend and I just looked at each other and said, ‘What was her problem?'”
There’s Only One Way To Handle Disruptive Customers
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“I used to work in a bar and on certain nights outside the bar, we’d hand out cards for a free shot as an incentive to get customers in. The building had three bars and only one of them accepted the shot cards.
A woman came up to my bar and asked for the free shot and handed me the card. I explained to her that the free shot card is only for the bar downstairs and cannot be redeemed at this bar.
She went on to scream that it did not mention that on the card. I apologized for the inconvenience and directed her to the bar which was at most a 20-second walk down some stairs, she screamed again that it didn’t say that on the card. I calmly told her that I was trying to explain it to her and that what I said was more important than what was written on the card.
She asked to speak to a manager, I told her she was speaking to a manager. She screamed that she wouldn’t move from the spot she was in until she had been given a free shot. I told the rest of my staff on the bar not to serve the woman as she was rude.
I started serving other customers and I could see her starting to seeth. She crumpled up the cards and started throwing them at me. I turned around and grabbed a soda dispenser and sprayed her full of lemonade, ruining her makeup and her dress. She stormed off screaming. A few surrounding people got hit by the lemonade but they all saw what was happening and were understanding, I gave a few free shots to anyone hit by it and we all toasted to that terrible woman.”
He Should Use That Cup Of Water To Cool Down
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“I worked for Chick-fil-A and the county where we were located was in the middle of a terrible drought. In response, the county asked us and other restaurants to refrain from giving out large waters (keep in mind, we CAN give out mediums and smalls).
A man came through the drive-thru one day and I took his order like I normally would. However, he asked for a large water. I calmly and politely told him that I could not give him a large water and asked if he would like a medium instead.
The man then proceeded to curse at me for a good two to three minutes, yelling about how this was bogus and what not. And being a Chick-fil-A employee, we must be nice, so there I was being yelled at by a belligerent man wanting a large water that I could not give him.”
He Had Never Been So Ashamed Of His Family
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“I don’t understand yelling at the wait staff. My stepfather once LOST it on a waitress because his food took longer than he thought it should. He was so awful to her, my mother and I just sat there in shame. She agreed with him and was nodding along. I just sat there in silent disbelief.
When they left, I went back to the waitress, apologized for his behavior, and gave her a 100% tip. No one deserves to be treated like that over something that small. I know that means nothing in the end, but still, I wanted her to know my whole family wasn’t full of jerks.”