Serving customers is tough because a lot of them are belligerent and entitled. Throw hunger into the mix and it can be a nightmare.

Check out how this worker got a nasty guest under control.

“You’re humiliating me!” or, how at least most of you have a door between you and the guest when you’re closed.

I work as a cashier at a buffet inside of a casino. There are 2 entrances, just wide open space for guests to walk through. One is for normal paying customers and low ranking player cards, and one for high tier player cards.

We also have 4 registers set up facing the entrances so we can see everyone coming in, and they can see us.

One would think that a sign stating we are closed from 2:30 PM – 3 PM blocking both entrances would be enough to deter guests from getting into the buffet.

The guests get ready and so do the staff.

One would also think that said sign plus all 4 registers being empty would be a sure sign that the establishment is currently not accepting new customers.

But not for Hungry McBuffetpants. No, that means “Come on in, we’ll waive the fee for now!” to him.

It’s an unassuming easy day. Nothing but seniors (50 years +) coming in because the casino gives them free meals if they play their entire Social Security check on the floor.

They’re shuffling their old, decrepit bodies in and out of the establishment like it’s the end of the world and they need food. Finally, we watch as the clock ticks down to 2:30.

We make our way to the signs and pull them into place as quickly as possible, run to get the next wave of cashiers’ banks set up in the Casino Cage and have the morning shift count their drawers down to make way for night shift.

All is going smoothly, everyone gets done with 15 minutes left to relax and catch up on side work.

Trouble starts brewing.

We see a guy, probably mid 30s, come into the restaurant, past the closed signs, the ‘Please wait here for the next available register’ sign, the empty registers, the nearly empty restaurant and charge straight to the buffet line and grab a plate.

Managers back us up most of the time, but employees have most of the power to tell a guest that they are not welcome. Touring our line is fine by us, we don’t have a printed menu so we offer a free glimpse at what we offer.

However, grabbing a plate and helping yourself is the one way ticket to 86ville. Getting rude with staff is also a one way ticket.

So back to Hungry McBuffetpants (HMB for short). He waltzes in to the buffet past all of the markers for a closed place and grabs himself a plate and starts to peruse the delicious selections we have for the day.

If a manager caught sight of that, we would all be up the creek. So Coworker (CW) decides to let our guest know that he is not welcome in our establishment until opening time.

This guy is super salty.

Their encounter, from what we could hear and what CW told us, goes a little something like this:

CW: Taking plate out of his hand. I’m going to need you to leave the restaurant until 3 PM, when we are open and willing to serve you.

HMB: Closed? I see people sitting down and eating. Why are they allowed in?

CW: They were here before the 2:30 closing time, sir. We can’t kick out paying customers if they paid before we closed. As for you, you will need to leave now and come back after 3 PM.

HMB: This isn’t fair! Your times aren’t posted anywhere. Never did I see anything that said you are closed!

But this coworker knew exactly how to wrangle this piece of work.

My coworker walks him to the front entrance and showed him the signs and closed registers. See these signs that you so boldly walked past and the closed closed registers.

HBM: I want to eat now! You’re humiliating me in front of all of these people for 1 buffet!? For a measly $20 when I have spent thousands in this casino?! You know what, I’m not coming back here after this treatment! I will take my money to other big casino in the next state over. They know how to treat their guests!

CW: I’m sorry that you feel humiliated, sir, but maybe next time you will read the signs placed in front of you before you take matters into your own hands. And please, feel free to visit other casino because they, too, are apart of our company! Have a good day, sir.

And what do you know, HMB has been back every Monday since that incident.

Here is what folks are saying.

No pride at all!

Such a champ. That was so satisfying.

I’m not surprised, but it would upset me.

Something tells me this isn’t CW’s first rodeo.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.