A 17-year-old Subway worker faces the ultimate test of patience when a mom with high demands and a wild kid enter her quiet store.

After a drawn-out, chaotic sandwich-making process, tensions hit a boiling point, and she may have “accidentally” suggested the mom should step up her game.

Read on for the story.

AITA for hinting to my customer that she is a bad mom

I’m a 17-year-old female, and I used to work at our local Subway. It was usually quiet, so only one person worked each shift.

This story happened during one of my evening shifts, when I was working alone.

It’s common for smaller locations like ours to have a sign at the front saying the “sandwich artist” is on break and will be back shortly.

From the break room, there are cameras that show the front, and I saw a couple with their kid (the parents were around 40, and the kid about 8) standing there looking at the sign.

Get the hint, lady…

They kept waiting, which was unusual—most people just go to McDonald’s nearby.

Feeling bad, I decided to quickly make their sandwich.

The woman asked for gluten-free bread. I internally groaned because gluten-free bread is tricky—it’s hard to balance, takes longer to heat, and is more difficult to work with.

I grabbed the bread, and she asked for a recommendation. I suggested the BMT, but she asked for taco beef instead.

No problem—I made the sandwich and put it in the oven.

While the bread was heating, the kid started pulling on the glass, yelling, “CAN WE GET A FREE DRINK? MOMMY SAID WE COULD!”

Man, this sounds like a restaurant worker’s nightmare.

When the bread came out, the cheese had fallen off (which is common with gluten-free bread), so I offered to add extra cheese for free.

She then asked, “Can you add more meat too?”

Confused, since no meat had fallen off, I still obliged.

When I asked what vegetables she wanted, she said, “All of them.”

I cringed because gluten-free bread is hard to close.

As I added lettuce, she complained, “Shouldn’t there be more?”

I explained, “Since you asked for all the veggies, I’m seeing how much fits.”

She scoffed and mumbled something to her husband.

This sandwich maker can do no right.

After 10 minutes, the sandwich was done.

Then she asked, “Can we get this half off? It’s clearly not gluten-free.”

I was confused and asked, “What do you mean?”

She replied, “The bread touched the table.”

I explained I had disinfected everything, changed my gloves, and used a separate knife, but she raised her voice, saying, “You don’t want my son to get sick, do you?”

At that point, I might’ve been rude. I said, “If your child’s health is that important, you should always double-check before ordering. We follow protocols unless told otherwise.”

She looked stunned and stormed off, yelling, “I’m not buying that!”

Her husband was nice, though, apologized, and said he understood.

I gave the sandwich to the guy fixing our fridge.

While the worker followed every rule, the customer wasn’t satisfied—and neither were the kid’s manners.

Reddit thinks the worker is a saint for dealing with a lady like this.

This person knows this kind of woman’s motive.

This person has been there before.

And this person just isn’t buying it.

When gluten-free sandwiches bring more drama than they’re worth, maybe it’s not just the bread that’s hard to handle!

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