'Extra extra extra pickles': Chef shares his stories of petty malicious compliance to absurd customer requests

Restaurants see no shortage of demands for customization and demanding customers, with the latter uttering the former with surprising frequency. Dealing with these demands from the demanding is no picnic, but learning to handle them can be. Not in the literal sense in that you're going to sit down in a nice grassy spot with a blanket, basket, some nice cheeses, a bottle of prosecco, some ripe fruit, and your favorite pal—more so in the sense that like a picnic is a pleasing and relaxing experience for everyone involved, so too can dealing with entitled persons. Oh—and there is food involved in both instances.

This phrase is, of course, not taking into account the experience of the person responsible for planning the picnic, who may not be relaxed at all and may, in fact, be very stressed out due to all the planning, organization, and coordination necessary to pull off a successful picnic in the first place. For this person, a picnic is no picnic at all.

And still—the original point stands. If you're going to survive in the restaurant environment or retail—or any customer service role—learning to handle demands in low-stress ways is essential. One of the best ways to do this is by maliciously complying with suitable requests, technically fulfilling the rude customers order even if it's not exactly what they meant.

Read on to see this post originally posted on Reddit's r/pettyrevenge subreddit by a chef who shared some of his best examples of maliciously complying with customer requests.

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Posted by Brad Dickson