The Dunkin' Karen Who Had TikTok Shaking Its Head
As fast food workers know all too well, one of the toughest parts of the job is dealing with rude customers. In fact, one Colorado restaurant hired a therapist for its staff to help them manage their mental health amid the challenge of putting on a brave face every day, no matter what the shift entails.
For better or for worse, social media platforms like TikTok make it easier than ever for people to document incidents of rude customers. Earlier this year, a Chipotle Karen had TikTok rolling its eyes after yelling at employees for the wait time during a rush, which they had no control over. Similarly, a McDonald's employee went viral after getting back at a rude customer in a ridiculous way, replacing the caramel sauce in their drink with sweet n' sour sauce.
While it's perfectly understandable that a customer might be having a bad day, there's really no excuse to take it out on employees. Unfortunately, one Dunkin'-craving traveler seems to have not gotten the memo.
Maybe don't stop for coffee if you're already running late
Although no fast food job is easy, you can imagine that working at an airport location of a restaurant chain might be especially demanding. Think about it: All your customers are stressed out travelers who are probably still irritated from going through security, likely in a rush to get to their gate, and desperately in need of the caffeine that a cup of coffee offers. All in all, not a great combination.
One TikTok user posted a video of one such customer, racking up more than 18 million views and over 2 million likes. In the clip, the customer yells at a Dunkin' employee, saying that the slow service is going to make her miss her flight. However, what Dunkin' employees wish you knew — and let's face it, this is all common sense — is that they're doing their best to get orders completed quickly and correctly, which is no easy feat during a rush.
Among the 62,000 comments on the video, many people leapt to the employee's defense. One person wrote, "You know what I do if I'm running late for a flight? Not stop to get food and blame the person behind the counter." We couldn't have said it better.