A mom recorded a drive-thru worker refusing to take her order due to her screaming child in the back seat, and let’s just say… she didn’t get the online support that she’d hoped for.
The mom filmed the entire interaction, which occurred at the US-based cafe chain Panera Bread, as she tried to place an order from her car.
“So you are gonna refuse to take my order because my child is screaming?” she can be heard saying at the beginning of the clip.
The worker replies, “Yes I have the right to do that, you’re more than welcome to come inside or you can place an order online and we’ll make it for you.”
The mom, taken aback, then says: “Really? You’re just not gonna take my order?”
“Yes ma’am, that’s what I’m saying,” he says.
The mom, now dubbed ‘Panera Karen’ online, informs the man that she’s got the whole thing on video and will be “emailing it to corporate.”
“I cannot come inside because my daughter doesn’t have shoes on,” she adds.
The worker seems unphased, and calmly says, “I understand but you’re also more than welcome to order online as well.”
“So you want me to take an extra 20 minutes and order online? That’s not convenient to me, this is ridiculous.” she retorts.
She then asks if he will take her order and after a long, awkward silence he concedes.
“Ok, I’d be happy to take your order as long as your daughter doesn’t scream, all right?”
The woman says, “I think that’s a pretty good decision on your part,” before the man replies, “Ok, I don’t need this attitude,” and then the video cuts out.
It’s clear from the clip that the mom thinks she’s in the right – but if you only went off what the comments said, you’d think she was the one in the wrong here.
Lots of commenters urged the mom to consider that the worker was likely wearing an earpiece that amplifies background noises, making it impossible to hear what a customer is saying.
“I worked fast food years ago… it’s hard enough to understand what customers are saying without a screaming child in the speaker,” one woman replied.
Another commented, “As a former fast food worker, I’m on the guy’s side. Keep in mind the employee has EARPHONES on.”
And this person explained, “I work in drive thru and the intercom projects a customer’s voice twice as louder through the headset than customers think. As a drive thru cashier, I barely understand half of the time when customer’s children are talking /yelling/etc…”
“OMG is she kidding? I bet if he got her order wrong over a screaming kid she would be the first to complain. The audacity of some parents,” chimed in a fourth.
However, among the critics, some commenters came out to defend the mom.
“Lol, these comments are hilarious. So tell me how do you keep a baby from screaming or crying? It’s better to go through the drive thru than getting out,” said one person.
Another echoed this sentiment and pointed out, “No matter how disciplined, how well behaved the child is, every child has tantrums. So they shouldn’t be allowed to go through the drive thru anymore?”
And finally, someone concluded: “Who is he to tell someone how their child should act in their own car? It’s not like she is making a scene in the cafe.”