Customers harass teenage employees for ice cream

Not technically a CF topic, but I had some thoughts (and Lord knows I can’t share them elsewhere) so please bear with me.

Basically what happened is that an ice cream shop in MA opened up with new guidelines, nobody followed them, chaos ensued, and angry customers felt it appropriate to begin screaming at the teenage employees, to the point that one of them quit in tears. The article doesn’t specifically point out breeders, but I have a hunch they were probably the worst offenders. Any ice cream shop I’ve ever been to is always crawling with kids, and we all know breeders don’t think the rules apply to them.

This story really struck a chord with me, as I think it would with anyone who served their time as a retail or foodservice employee as a teen. I worked as a waitress and a summer camp counselor all through college, and I noticed pretty early on that the rudest customers were the ones with children. As far as being a camp counselor, the abuse I endured from parents during those two summers was much worse than anything I endured in my later 10+ years as a teacher (by the end of my teaching career I had perfected the art of standing my ground and telling people to go fuck themselves in a professional manner). I’m talking about grown men and women literally screaming in my face. It seemed to be their first reaction to even the smallest of problems.

Two things occur to me: 1) that being around their children makes them miserable, and 2) they are desperate to take their misery out on others, especially those they deem weak enough to not fight back. It does not matter to them if the target is little more than a child themselves, because as much as breeders love to talk about “the children,” they really only care about their own DNA replicants. Breeders live for the Kodak moments, and what could be more Kodak than ice cream and summer camp? Why the need to be so nasty?

This particular story has a happy ending though, the owner said girl was working to save for college, and someone started a Go Fund Me for her, which is up to almost $40k. Good for her.

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"Not every ejaculation deserves a name" - George Carlin

suppose they could have tried to limit the number of these jerks in at one time but I'll bet even that would have gone south real fast

two cents ¢¢

CERTIFIED HOSEHEAD!!!

people (especially women) do not give ONE DAMN about what they inflict on children and I defy anyone to prove me wrong

Dysfunctional relationships almost always have a child. The more dysfunctional, the more children.

The selfish wants of adults outweigh the needs of the child.

Some mistakes cannot be fixed, but some mistakes can be 'fixed'.

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one. Leo J. Burke

Adoption agencies have strict criteria (usually). Breeders, whose combined IQ's would barely hit triple digits, have none.

This is assinine, but that teen really thought a retail crap job would help with college? LOL

+++++++++++++

Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!

Parents are entitled and miserable, and retail employees are perfect targets. Pissy customers can just unload in full on these underpaid workers and they have no choice but to sit there and take it with a smile because management will always side with the customer. Breeders are also venturing out after being locked inside with their screaming bastards for the last two months, so they're all ticking time bombs and these teens happened to be prime targets.

But it makes them feel big and strong to pick on a younger person who can't defend themselves verbally. And I'm guessing that businesses are desperate for money right now, so they won't turn away even the most abusive customers. I notice that at no point in the story did staff tell these assholes to fuck off.

Treat these fuckwads like the spoiled brats they are and tell them no ice cream for you until you can learn to behave.

Side comment: since when is ice cream considered ''essential''? Around here, pretty much everything is closed and we're told to stay home - and yet all the breeders and brats are lining up at the Dairy Queen.

Massholes strike again!

What is it with MA, that lead to the whole Massholes thing? We went there a while back and ended up in a right lane only lane to enter a parking lot. DH was forced to slow down as someone was ahead of us in the lane going the same way and we got honked at from behind. DH was like "well, Massholes"

People who think that parenting has made them a better person were probably shit people to begin with, and are still shit people. Any person actually interested in improving themselves would try some combination of therapy, introspection, and education, rather than simply proclaiming their superior status on the basis of reproduction.

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Medusa
Side comment: since when is ice cream considered ''essential''? Around here, pretty much everything is closed and we're told to stay home - and yet all the breeders and brats are lining up at the Dairy Queen.

The car is considered I think an extension of your home.

+++++++++++++

Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!

Shit like this is why I can't tolerate customer service.

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craftyzits
The car is considered I think an extension of your home.

It's not a drive-through; they're lining up on foot in front of the DQ window.

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Medusa

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craftyzits
The car is considered I think an extension of your home.

It's not a drive-through; they're lining up on foot in front of the DQ window.

Eyeballs rolled and staring out the back of my head.

+++++++++++++

Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!

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Medusa
Side comment: since when is ice cream considered ''essential''? Around here, pretty much everything is closed and we're told to stay home - and yet all the breeders and brats are lining up at the Dairy Queen.

Last week I had my car maintenance completed because I finally found openings for grocery delivery. So I wanted to take care of car business now versus when everything opens up and everyone books appointments at every conceivable service and the risk skyrockets. And we enter the second surge.

I found a nearby bench that was empty and across the street from a McDonald's. I was surprised to see it open (the bench and the store). I wish I would have counted because new McDonald's customers were entering the parking lot at a constant rate. This narrative played out until my car was ready to go. Almost all male customers.

Many of the people I see while on walks make no effort to socially distance. Most are breeders and a few appear to be so 'in wuv' and can't acknowledge the existence of anyone outside their lover, let alone maintain distance of any kind. It is only a virus that could kill them, no worries. Just like having kids they can't afford won't do anything at all to improve their lives, no worries. These are the same people freaking out because others are socially distancing and they're finding any excuse to take out their misery on others.

Many of these same breeders also have dogs in tow. They make no effort to train their dogs so the dogs run away, try to take off in all directions, stop, start, and generally misbehave. It's glaringly obvious little to none of the breeders bothered to walk their dogs pre-corona. And the dogs weren't socialized, so every dog that passes them causes a huge barking freakout fest.

This is annoying enough when one is trying to walk on a trail without throwing a deadly virus into the mix. The untrained dog adds to the morons' dilemma, making it even more difficult to decipher the all but lost language of cause:effect. They're a big bunch of

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freya
Many of the people I see while on walks make no effort to socially distance. Most are breeders and a few appear to be so 'in wuv' and can't acknowledge the existence of anyone outside their lover, let alone maintain distance of any kind. It is only a virus that could kill them, no worries. Just like having kids they can't afford won't do anything at all to improve their lives, no worries. These are the same people freaking out because others are socially distancing and they're finding any excuse to take out their misery on others.

Between the people who are too busy chattering with the person they're with, and the breeders with kids all over the path, few people seem to make any effort to distance. When I'm taking my walk I end up going off the path maybe 10 times, just so I can maintain distance. The fact that I simply stand there and glare has no effect whatsoever on them, because they are oblivious to everyone else in the world.

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freya
Many of these same breeders also have dogs in tow. They make no effort to train their dogs so the dogs run away, try to take off in all directions, stop, start, and generally misbehave. It's glaringly obvious little to none of the breeders bothered to walk their dogs pre-corona. And the dogs weren't socialized, so every dog that passes them causes a huge barking freakout fest.

On today's walk I saw a famblee getting out of their car and getting ready for a walk, and all I could think of was what a clusterfuck it looked like, and why would anyone choose to have a life like that? It was moo, duh, one young kid on a bicycle (one of those for toddlers where they can put their feet on the ground and walk along while pretending to ride; I don't know why these silly things replaced tricycles), stroller with an infant, and large dog straining at the leash. The amount of crap that they needed to arrange a simple walk was ridiculous. The fact that they needed to take a car was telling - I live in a small city, and pretty much all the residential areas are within walking distance of nature areas, unless you are disabled or burdened with kindercrap. Meanwhile all I had to do to take a 3 hour walk was grab a waterbottle, keys and sunglasses before leaving my house.

Why do people go out of their way to make their lives far more difficult and complicated than necessary?

Yurble, I have always noticed how much more difficult and complicated the simplest things are for people who have kids. It doesn't look like a happy or rewarding life to me.

yurble: if it was a 2 wheeled tiny bicycle with pedals and the child could put its feet on the ground, it's a method of teaching a child to ride without those retarded 'training wheels'. I read about it long ago and it makes sense. There is not as far to fall if the child topples over, and it is a short step from shoving along, pulling feet up, and gliding until too slow to balance. rinse, repeat. the next step is to try and pedal. I have always been curious about the method, but never had the chance to try it. for obvious reasons...

two cents ¢¢

CERTIFIED HOSEHEAD!!!

people (especially women) do not give ONE DAMN about what they inflict on children and I defy anyone to prove me wrong

Dysfunctional relationships almost always have a child. The more dysfunctional, the more children.

The selfish wants of adults outweigh the needs of the child.

Some mistakes cannot be fixed, but some mistakes can be 'fixed'.

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one. Leo J. Burke

Adoption agencies have strict criteria (usually). Breeders, whose combined IQ's would barely hit triple digits, have none.

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ondinette
Yurble, I have always noticed how much more difficult and complicated the simplest things are for people who have kids. It doesn't look like a happy or rewarding life to me.

Agreed. I notice this most painfully on our yearly summer vacation with the in-laws. Something as simple as going to the pool takes 45+ minutes of prep to get the two young kids out the door. Getting them changed. Fighting with them about going potty before we leave. Fighting with them about washing their hands afterwards. Which shoes do they want to wear? Getting them slathered with sunblock. Packing their swim wings and toys. Making sure they have their towel. Where are their sunglasses? Packing them a cooler of water and snacks.

It’s like that anytime we need to leave the house for anything. Sometimes I get tired of it and just go sit outside, and then I get accused of being miserable. It drives me nuts, because if we agreed to, for example, leave for dinner at 5:00 I’m dressed and ready to go at 5:00. Yes, I will get annoyed if I am sitting there waiting nearly an hour later. I could have kept doing what I was doing for another 45 minutes and still been ready to go before them.

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"Not every ejaculation deserves a name" - George Carlin

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LoveToLurk
Agreed. I notice this most painfully on our yearly summer vacation with the in-laws. Something as simple as going to the pool takes 45+ minutes of prep to get the two young kids out the door. Getting them changed. Fighting with them about going potty before we leave. Fighting with them about washing their hands afterwards. Which shoes do they want to wear? Getting them slathered with sunblock. Packing their swim wings and toys. Making sure they have their towel. Where are their sunglasses? Packing them a cooler of water and snacks.

That sounds hellish. I'm a rather low maintenance person, in that I like to be able to get out of bed and be ready to go in 15 minutes. I don't often do that, largely because I like to lie in bed reading after I wake up, but I could be ready in 15 minutes, and whatever time in excess of 15 minutes I spend is spent doing things I want to do, or else useful chores like putting away the dishes.

Plus so much of that sounds unnecessary. Why don't they ignore the kids and pack things first, then deal with the kid wrangling? Why don't they ensure that everything is put away in its proper place when they come home, when their dawdling won't affect anyone else? Running from one emergency to the next is never as efficient as simple planning and organization.

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LoveToLurk
It’s like that anytime we need to leave the house for anything. Sometimes I get tired of it and just go sit outside, and then I get accused of being miserable. It drives me nuts, because if we agreed to, for example, leave for dinner at 5:00 I’m dressed and ready to go at 5:00. Yes, I will get annoyed if I am sitting there waiting nearly an hour later. I could have kept doing what I was doing for another 45 minutes and still been ready to go before them.

I would ditch them. This is a trait that really gets on my nerves. The point of setting a time for departure as opposed to a time to start getting ready is to allow everyone to adjust their starting point according to the amount of time they need. Persistent lateness is a sign of prioritizing yourself over others, and therefore it's extremely rude.

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yurble

I would ditch them. This is a trait that really gets on my nerves. The point of setting a time for departure as opposed to a time to start getting ready is to allow everyone to adjust their starting point according to the amount of time they need. Persistent lateness is a sign of prioritizing yourself over others, and therefore it's extremely rude.

I didn’t go the one year, which caused its own load of drama. The entire family is like that when they get together, so I don’t think it bothers any of them. They’re all on “vacation time,” which is understandable, but adding the kids in there has made it SO much worse. Anyway, it’s looking more and more like this year will be cancelled.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
"Not every ejaculation deserves a name" - George Carlin

Doing absolutely anything with children in tow will take at least ten times as long to prepare for and carry out because every fucking thing you have to do with those kids involves a fight. Junior will pitch a fit because he wants to wear a specific shirt or pair of socks and can't find them and no other article will do, it HAS to be the one he wants. There will be a tantrum because he doesn't like how his shoes feel - the same shoes he's worn every day for two months without issue.

If it's freezing outside, there will be a fight about why he has to wear his winter coat because he doesn't want to, and if you just say fuck it and leave without it, the first thing his ass whines about is being cold. You tell them to pee before leaving and they insist they don't have to go, and proceed to pick the worst possible time to tell you they need to pee when you've already left, usually with about 1-2 seconds notice and then they whine about wearing wet clothes after they inevitably piss themselves. They need to have snacks to shovel in their faces at all times. You pack them their favorite snacks ever, but they decide that day that they hate that snack and need something else. Cue crying if they don't get it. Then you get it for them and they say they hate that one too and they want the original snack.

They need their favorite (thing) to take with them - toy, shoes, hair tie, shirt, whatever. Don't tell them no because they NEED it with them, dontcha know! Like their life depends on them having their favorite thing with them, and when they lose it, the ensuing tantrum will be atomic in scale. Or they will "need" some stupid thing they see like a toy or pack of gum or some bullshit and no amount of explaining why they don't need it will work. Cue screaming and bawling because they can't have this plastic piece of shit that they'll forget about within five seconds.

And every goddamn thing with a child is an earth-shattering emergency, even completely stupid trivial shit that precisely NO ONE would ever care about. If they have too many blue sprinkles on their ice cream than red sprinkles, they may very well throw themselves on the ground to scream and convulse in the mother of all meltdowns and good luck trying to wrangle a child that's foaming at the mouth and kicking every which way back into the car.

And this isn't even autistic brats I'm talking about - this is just typical children. I will never understand why people voluntarily subject themselves to this, and you can't even spank the little fuckers because everyone will film it and someone will call CPS. I'd rather drive hot skewers under my fingernails.

Cambion, that is five paragraphs of depression-inducing, yet realistic verbiage about what it is like to have a brat.

I personally believe that many parents today get themselves in trouble because they do not lay down the law when kids are young. If you cannot control your three year old child and you do not demand basic obedience and respect for you as a parent, forget it when they are 13. It's kind of like money: depending on your behavior, money will either be your slave or your master. And kids will either rule your life or you will rule theirs.

HOWEVER, there is no question that even with rules, boundaries and limitations, kids will be kids and they WILL do the annoying shit that Cambion described above. ALL OF IT. MANY TIMES. FOR YEARS.

My niece was a neuro typical kid but she was always strong willed. Luckily she turned out okay--more than okay--she's a doctor. But for years there were many memorable stories of her strong-willed behavior, like when the grandparents and parents went to the zoo and she wanted to eat a piece of gum that was on the ground and her mom wouldn't let her. Cue the screaming meltdown and the car trip home where she cried non stop for 25 minutes. Wouldn't a normal person want to beat that kid's ass? Or leave her on the side of the road?

Another story: one of my good friends has a grown up, successful son who had a meltdown at Disney World when he was six. (I personally think he was way too young for the trip but she fell for the "Disney vacation" hype.) Anyway, they were on a bus that carts you around the complex and he kept screaming at her that he hated her. She said she was never so embarrassed and angry and she wanted to clock him, again, normal behavior when some little shit is screaming at you.

Yeah, my sister and friend can point to their kids and be "proud," when it could have turned out either way really. I personally don't see where the "return" is. I always looked at those years of drudgery and thought, nope, not worth it, not even for a second.

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ondinette
Yurble, I have always noticed how much more difficult and complicated the simplest things are for people who have kids. It doesn't look like a happy or rewarding life to me.

That’s one of my big reasons for not wanting children. Simple errands turn into productions in trying to get the kids ready just to leave the house and dealing with them while shopping. Instead, I get dressed, roll out, get what I need, return home, and that’s it. It’s amazing how many breeders want to take their kids everywhere because I wouldn’t want to take them any goddamn where.

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"Why children take so long to grow? They eat and drink like pig and give nothing back. Must find way to accelerate process..."
- Dr. Yi Suchong, Bioshock

"Society does not need more children; but it does need more loved children. Quite literally, we cannot afford unloved children - but we pay heavily for them every day. There should not be the slightest communal concern when a woman elects to destroy the life of her thousandth-of-an-ounce embryo. But all society should rise up in alarm when it hears that a baby that is not wanted is about to be born."
- Garrett Hardin

"I feel like there's a message involved here somehow, but then I couldn't stop laughing at all the plotholes, like the part when North Korea has food."
- Youtube commentor referring to a North Korean cartoon.

"Reality is a bitch when it slowly crawls out of your vagina and shits in your lap."
- Reddit comment

"Bitch wants a baby, so we're gonna fuck now. #bareback"
- Cambion

Oh whatever. Abortion doctors are crimestoppers."
- Miss Hannigan

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yurble
Between the people who are too busy chattering with the person they're with, and the breeders with kids all over the path, few people seem to make any effort to distance. When I'm taking my walk I end up going off the path maybe 10 times, just so I can maintain distance. The fact that I simply stand there and glare has no effect whatsoever on them, because they are oblivious to everyone else in the world.

Yurble, this is exactly what I see and we live thousands of miles apart. Afraid it is the norm now.

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yurble

On today's walk I saw a famblee getting out of their car and getting ready for a walk, and all I could think of was what a clusterfuck it looked like, and why would anyone choose to have a life like that? It was moo, duh, one young kid on a bicycle (one of those for toddlers where they can put their feet on the ground and walk along while pretending to ride; I don't know why these silly things replaced tricycles), stroller with an infant, and large dog straining at the leash. The amount of crap that they needed to arrange a simple walk was ridiculous. The fact that they needed to take a car was telling - I live in a small city, and pretty much all the residential areas are within walking distance of nature areas, unless you are disabled or burdened with kindercrap. Meanwhile all I had to do to take a 3 hour walk was grab a waterbottle, keys and sunglasses before leaving my house.

Why do people go out of their way to make their lives far more difficult and complicated than necessary?

I don't understand this either. And, let's add the almighty cell phone to the mix. Because it isn't possible to spend 30 minutes or an hour outside without the phone in tow. Double points for the morons who try to steer brats, dogs, and talk on their phones at the same time.

I walk a little over a mile to the trail nearby. Many, many people drive (with their cars full of crap, dogs, and brats).

Why not escape the phone for a little while and enjoy nature?

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bell_flower
Cambion, that is five paragraphs of depression-inducing, yet realistic verbiage about what it is like to have a brat.

I agree. I have witnessed nearly identical behavior to everything you listed. And not just with the terribly behaved kids either!

I've been around brats who exhibit this behavior the entire time they are awake. It is a good thing I'm not a parent, I'd leave the kid in the forest. I'd wait for the inevitable pout and let the kid sit there.

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freya
Yurble, this is exactly what I see and we live thousands of miles apart. Afraid it is the norm now.

I'd call it rude, but it seems to be the norm now to be completely oblivious to other people sharing the space. I have noticed that older people still seem to be aware of their surroundings, but people my age and younger have no spatial awareness. I'm not sure why people my age so readily adopted the new norm, because it certainly wasn't what I was taught.

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freya
I don't understand this either. And, let's add the almighty cell phone to the mix. Because it isn't possible to spend 30 minutes or an hour outside without the phone in tow. Double points for the morons who try to steer brats, dogs, and talk on their phones at the same time.

I walk a little over a mile to the trail nearby. Many, many people drive (with their cars full of crap, dogs, and brats).

Why not escape the phone for a little while and enjoy nature?

I hate those people too. Here they are mostly men alone with their bluetooth headphones, marching along the path as if it is just one more thing they need to check off on their list of tasks for the day. The only good thing about them is that they are usually alone, so I can pass them without having to go off the path. I don't really care if they want to be oblivious to the nature around them, but their shouting on the phone spoils things for other people.

I don't even bring my phone with me these days. Going for a walk in the forest is how I release stress, after an entire day at home. I go for 1, 2, or 3 hours and just pay attention to where I am or spend time alone with my thoughts. I listen to the birds or running water, or nothing at all.