'Our steaks are RARE! WE ordered WELL DONE!': Eight Karens make restaurant worker's first shift difficult, malicious compliance ensues

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jul 30, 2023 8:00 AM EDT

There's nothing like a table full of Karens to make your first shift as a waiter the worst shift ever. This Redditor worked at a restaurant on a cruise and was in training to be a front staff waiter when a table of eight Karens walked in. They asked if they could make it to their show in an hour, to which OP and his supervisor said yes… depending on what they ordered.

 

Of course, they wound up ordering the one thing off the menu that takes forever to make: the NY steak. On top of this, the kitchen was completely backed up. It seemed like the universe was ordering the NY steak that night. Of course, the Karens ended up missing the start of their show and they were very upset. But it gets worse! They insisted that they still wanted their steaks, but when they finally arrived, two of the Karens claimed that their steaks were rare when they wanted them well done (because only a Karen would want a steak well done!). Both OP and his supervisor wrote down and confirmed that the initial order was rare, but the Karens insisted that they take the steaks back to the kitchen and get brand new ones… well done, of course. Well, because the kitchen was so backed up and the chef was not taking orders on the fly, the Redditor thought of a way to give those Karens exactly what they wanted but with the help of a microwave.

 

Keep scrolling below to see how they reacted. For more stories like this, check out this post about a woman who got revenge on her cheating boyfriend by covering his house in glitter.

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  • 01
    Food - "Table of Karens make my waiter training a living nightmare!"
    via Sandra Seitamaa
  • 02
    Font - Table of Karen's make my waiter training a living nightmare! A Malicious Compliance Story! LOC Back in 2014 I was hired to work on a cruise ship, I started off as a lowly restaurant steward, busting tables and moping floors in the buffet. After a few months I was promoted to Back Waiter and was moved to the main dining hall. I quickly caught on to the Back Waiter duties, my front waiter, who we'll call Bert, (Not his real name) took notice of my hard work.
    via u/Golden_Silver61
  • 03
    Font - After a couple of weeks in my new position Bert told me that it's only a matter of time before I get promoted to front waiter, and he wanted to start training me on how to be one. So he told me to shadow him when the next group of passengers were seated in our section so I can observe how he did his front waiter duties. Unfortunately for us, the next group of passengers seated in our section was an 8 top of KARENS!
    via u/Golden_Silver61
  • 04
    Font - Bert and I welcomed them to the restaurant, they were friendly at first, and the head Karen, an older, heavier set man asked, "There is a show in the main theater we want to see that begins in about an hour, is it possible for us to get our dinners, eat it, and get to the show on time?" To which Bert says, "Absolutely, DEPENDING on what you order."
    via u/Golden_Silver61
  • 05
    Font - After looking over the menu the Karen's were ready to place their order, and 5 out of 8 of them wanted the New York Steak, the one single menu item that took the LONGEST to cook! Bert told them this, and that if they all wanted to order the NY steak that there is no guarantee that we can get them their dinners fast enough to eat and be able to get the show on time. Bert suggested alternative dishes that we could get out much quicker, but the Karen's refused to change their orders. Bert re
    via u/Golden_Silver61
  • 06
    Font - My first stop was the NY steak counter, and to my horror... their was a line a mile long of waiters waiting to drop off their tickets! Just so you know, this ship has a max compacity of about 3,500 passengers. The main dining hall seats nearly 1,000 people, and I have NEVER seen the NY counter as busy as it was this night! It seemed like everyone and their MOTHERS were ordering the NY steak! I would have to wait at least 20 minutes just to drop off my ticket, and God knows how long afterw
    via u/Golden_Silver61
  • 07
    Font - With the wait time, and juggling the other tables Bert and I had to wait on in our section I knew there was NO chance the Karen's can get their meals and make it to the show on time. So I rushed out to Bert, told him what the ETA was on the NY steaks, and that he needed to tell the Karen's that they needed to change their order, otherwise they will miss their show. Bert relayed my message to them, he came back to me and said that they still refuse to change their order. Bert shrugged his
    via u/Golden_Silver61
  • 08
    Font - BERT: "Well, we did all that we could to try and convince them to change their order so they can make it to the show they wanted to see, but they refuse to change it. So if they miss their show, they miss it, and it will be their fault."
    via u/Golden_Silver61
  • 09
    Font - I did my best to get their meal as quickly as possible, while also waiting on the other tables in our section, sure enough the Karen's missed the start of the show, and they were PISSED! They demanded to speak to the restaurant manager. They fabricated multiple lies about the service they received!
    via u/Golden_Silver61
  • 10
    Font - Saying that we were lazy, incompetent, purposely dragged our feet, and lied about how long they were really waiting for their meals. (They said they were waiting over an hour since they got their appetizers when it was only 50 minutes since they were seated in our section at most). Bert and I told the Manager our side of the story, he believed us, said he would try and calm the Karens down, but told us to do our best to get the Karen's their meals as quickly as possible so we can get them
    via u/Golden_Silver61
  • 11
    Font - Two of the female Karen's called Bert and I back to the table and complained, "Our steaks are RARE! WE ordered WELL DONE!" Bert and I huddled, he looked over his note pad where he had the two ladies steaks written down as rare. He asked me if I heard them say they wanted rare steaks when we took their order earlier on and I nodded yes. Bert approached them and said,
    via u/Golden_Silver61
  • 12
    Font - BERT: "Ladies, my back waiter and I BOTH heard you two say you wanted Rare steaks, I read the order back to you, and you BOTH said that the order was correct."
    via u/Golden_Silver61
  • 13
    Font - But the Karen's responded, "We've NEVER Ordered Rare Steaks In Our Lives! You Two Messed Up! Take These Back, We Don't Want Them! We Want Brand NEW STEAKS!!!"
    via u/Golden_Silver61
  • 14
    Font - So Bert hands me the steaks, and told me to go back into the kitchen and order two well done New York Steaks on the Fly, (Which is restaurant lingo for it's and emergency and we need this order right now). So I rushed back into the kitchen, the NY steak counter was still busier than it's ever been, I rushed to the cook and asked for two well done NY steaks on the fly, the cook angrily yells at me, "No One Is Getting ANYTHING on the Fly Tonight! You Get Your to the BACK of the Line and Wai
    via u/Golden_Silver61
  • 15
    Font - At this point I began to panic, it was going to be at least another 40 minutes if not longer for the two Karen's to get their well done steaks. In an alternate reality this would be a r/MaliciousCompliance story where I make the Karen's wait the near hour long time for them to get their NEW steaks as they requested.
    via u/Golden_Silver61
  • 16
    Font - But I didn't want Bert to deal with the Karen's any longer than he had to, and the Restaurant Manager DID tell me to do my best to get them their meals asap so we can get them out of the restaurant as quickly as possible. So queue the Malicious Compliance. The Karen's wanted well done, they're going to get well done! There were microwaves in the kitchen. I flipped the steaks over to hide the previously made cut marks, threw them into the microwave and nuked them till they were well done!
    via u/Golden_Silver61
  • 17
    Font - I brought them back out to the Karen's and prayed to every deity I could think of that they wouldn't realize what I have done, fortunately they didn't. The Karen's ate their meal in complete silence, giving Bert and I the dirtiest glares while doing so, and stormed off when they were finished.
    via u/Golden_Silver61
  • 18
    Font - Once they left I told Bert what I did. It took him a moment to digest what I told him, and he finally said, BERT: "Under normal circumstances, I would be VERY upset with you, and I strongly suggest that you NEVER do what you just did ever again! HOWEVER, These aren't normal circumstances. Those people were Rude, Unreasonable, Liars, AND they didn't even tip! So you know what, THEM!! I'M GLAD THEY MISSED SHOW!!!" THEIR
    via u/Golden_Silver61
  • 19
    Font - In the near two years I've worked on that ship I've dealt with many Karen's, (Stories for another day) But I'll never forget this one. Just a reminder to everyone reading this story to Please be kind to your waiters.
    via u/Golden_Silver61
  • 20
    Font - +2.8 hr. ago Lay-ZFair I would say that compliance was: well done.
    via u/Golden_Silver61
  • 21
    Rectangle - paradroid27 +1.7 hr. ago They deserve that just for ordering steaks well done, that's nearly a crime against humanity
    via u/Golden_Silver61
  • 22
    Font - Red_Cathy +2.8 hr. ago Well done! What simple minded idiot leaves only one hour between hitting the restaurant and going to the show anyway. There should be a rule where you can tell folk like that to just leave.
    via u/Golden_Silver61
  • 23
    Font - Deesparky366 hr. ago People always forget that the people there rude to at food service have alot of access to there food
    via u/Golden_Silver61

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customer service karens steak malicious compliance server karen-customer customers karens in the wild entitled reddit thread Reddit tales from your server karen entitled people
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