Respect costs nothing, but being rude can get expensive fast.

So, what would you do if you showed up to deliver a 700-pound dishwasher and the restaurant owner started barking orders like you were there to install it?

Would you just do what he says and move on? Or would you push back and let him embarrass himself?

In the following story, one delivery driver deals with this exact type of customer and chooses the latter.

Here’s what happened.

Um, I’m just the delivery guy.

I (me) work for a freight company (FC) and my job is to drive around town in a semi truck with a 28′ trailer with a lift gate on it and deliver items on pallets that are too big for normal mail trucks.

So I’m delivering an industrial dishwasher to a new restaurant. I have to squeeze my truck through the alley to the back door like normal, but it’s too big to park on the side of the road.

I go in and the manager politely says, “We can’t take that today. I was told it was supposed to come in 2 days, and I just don’t have the room.”

When he got there the second time, things didn’t go as smoothly.

I said, “No problem, I’ll bring it back in two days!” I load it back up and leave. (Which, by the way, is not easy to do because it weighs 700 lbs)

Fast forward two days. I’m back behind the restaurant, so I lower my lift gate, open my door, and head inside with the paperwork I’ll need to show the customer.

I look around inside and find an employee who takes me downstairs to a locked door.

A man (the Rude Owner) comes out of the door and immediately stares at me and repeatedly interrupts while I say my opening line: “Hello, I’m ME from FC, I have….”

The next thing he knew, the owner started giving him orders.

Rude Owner: “WHAT DO YOU WANT?”

Me: “Um…ya, I have your dishwasher.”

He abruptly walks away, so I follow him into the kitchen area, where he starts barking orders.

Rude Owner: “So I need this dishwasher pulled out, that electrical line replaced, the feed and drain lines replaced, and you need to take the old one with you. This was supposed to be done yesterday, and we open in two and a half hours.”

Unfortunately, nothing was changing the owner’s mind.

Obviously, I’m confused, so we share an awkward stare for what seems like an eternity until he breaks the silence with a “WELL?!”

I realize what’s happening here, so I say, “Sir, I don’t know if someone told you the wrong information, but I’m not the installer. I’m just here to drop it off.” He didn’t like that.

Rude Owner: “I don’t care what you’re here for; I need this done now!”

All I can muster is, “Sir, if you need it installed, you’re going to have to call a plumber.”

Luckily, he got the paperwork signed first.

He then throws a fit and yells at me, saying to get it down there before he calls my boss. This is where I get evil. You see, we have to get a signature on a delivery receipt to complete the delivery.

Well, I had him sign it before this all happened.

So I go the 150 yards and two staircases back to my truck, get in the back, and lift the pallet with the pallet Jack (at 700 lbs, it’s hard to move it with even that). I drop it to the asphalt, load my Jack back up, and leave.

Even his boss was proud.

As I leave, I see him come running out waving his arms, and I keep going.

An hour later I get to the yard and my boss/uncle says, “I got a call from Rude Owner, he’s mad.”

Then he sticks his hand up for a high five and says, “Nice one.”

The moral of the story is: Don’t be rude to people who have the power to make your day terrible.

Wow! The guy probably regretted what he said.

Let’s check out what the folks over at Reddit think about what the driver did.

This is a messed-up thought.

A fellow restaurateur shares his thoughts.

No kidding!

This person is on the right track.

That guy is so wrong.

Next time, maybe he’ll show a little more respect to delivery drivers.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.