Being told “no” can bring out the worst in some people.

This fast food employee found that out during a stressful shift when a customer became upset that she wouldn’t ignore company policy for his pickup order.

The order had been placed for in store pickup, and both the customer and his wife had already been told someone would need to come inside to get it.

However, when the man finally showed up, he started yelling at the employee and accusing her of being lazy for following the rules.

Then he called her “little girl,” and she decided she wasn’t going to let that slide.

Read on to see how it all happened.

AITAH for giving a customer attitude after he called me “little girl”?

I (18F) work in a fast food restaurant. I’m not sure if I can legally say which one, so I’ll leave the store name out. I have been working there for 2 years, and all of the managers have claimed that I am one of their best workers. I have never had a serious problem with any customer, and most of them I was able to keep my cool the entire time.

Today had been stressful enough due to us being short staffed, trying to get everything cleaned for our upcoming inspection, and constantly having large orders (at least $40 or more per order). Plus our grill workers were not our fastest, and they were running our times up.

On top of all of this, I was working with the two managers who are currently upset with me for getting them in trouble for clocking me out earlier than I left (example: last Friday I stayed until closing at 2 a.m. and I was clocked out at 12 a.m.).

They must follow the pick up order policy.

All I did was ask for my hours to be adjusted, and they were caught lying. So I was stressed about that because ever since then, they have helped me out less than they already did, which they never helped because they are both overweight and can’t stand for too long.

So, at 5:30, there was a pickup order. It very clearly stated that on the app, our system, and the tag. For pickup orders, we are not allowed to take it outside for a curbside, or for a drive thru order because it could cause a mix up and we could get in trouble from corporate.

I bagged the order, made their drink, placed it on the pick up stand, and called the name and number out.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t change it for the lady.

My manager walked up and was on the company phone with a customer who was talking about the pickup order. The lady had thought she placed it for curbside, but she did not.

My manager explained that due to her placing it inside, she would have to come get it because of our policy. She said okay and hung up. Our manager told me and two others to not go and take it outside. There was a car at our curbside, and the person did not move the car.

About 5 minutes later, an old man comes limping to our front window. He starts knocking on the window and flailing his hands.

The man started yelling.

I grabbed the bag thinking maybe he wouldn’t complain too much if he didn’t have to come all the way inside. I opened the window and handed him the bag and drink and told him to have a great day. He got mad and started yelling about how we were lazy and why couldn’t we bring the food out.

I calmly told him that we were not allowed to do so per company and manager orders. I apologized, but he kept on yelling. He wouldn’t accept my answer, but I kept explaining.

Then he says, “Little girl, stop talking and being lazy and learn to respect me.”

I got mad and said, “Old sir, do not speak to me like that, and kindly leave, have a good day.”

Then, he reported her to the manager.

He kept on yelling, so I shut the window to make him leave. Another manager came running up and wrote down his license plate because apparently this isn’t the first time he’s done this.

Then, he decided to drive to the window to report me, and my manager told him exactly what he said, but he was still yelling and cussing at her.

She said she would deal with me, and he needed to leave. He finally did. I know I was in the wrong for saying that, and I’m honestly not sure if I’ll get written up because of it. I’m just curious if I took it too far.

AITA?

Eek! That whole situation sounds like an annoying mess.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a customer complaint that led to them losing their VIP status.

Let’s see what the readers over at Reddit think about what she said.

For this person, she did the best she could.

Here’s someone who would’ve gotten extreme.

Let’s hope she’s not in trouble.

Great point.

Customers have every right to be frustrated when something doesn’t go the way they expected.

However, that doesn’t give them the right to yell at employees who are simply following company policy.

And once this man started calling an 18 year old employee “little girl,” he lost whatever sympathy he might have had.

If anything, being called “old sir” seems pretty mild compared to what some people would’ve called him.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a customer complaint that led to them losing their VIP status.