'I can't fire him, because he's my boss': Customer lets her kid wreak havoc in pool store because she's 'the owner's daughter'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Dec 21, 2023 3:00 PM EST

Some customers will look at a sign that says "Don't climb on this" and then let their kid crawl all over it anyway. It's not that they can't read the sign, it's not that they didn't see it. They just don't care.

Lots of customers feel entitled while shopping, and they think that any mess they make in a store is not theirs to clean up. They believe that since they're the prized customer, all employees need to bend to their will, and bring out a broom to clean up any mess they make. Something I've seen over and over is customers who will drop some food, a beverage, some tissues, a receipt, or any other type of trash, and then refuse to pick it up. They truly believe that they can freely litter, and that it's someone else's responsibility to clean up after them. Technically, it is a staffer's job to do that, but dropping trash on purpose is pretty disrespectful to the store's employees. Some customers will make eye contact with a worker as they drop a crumpled pile of tissues on the ground. The customer is apparently establishing dominance. 

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  • U/XxTEETERxX shared their story of what happened when a customer and her badly behaved child walked into a family-owned pool store. All kids misbehave a little bit, but this child seems like a menace. You can check out the OP's whole story below. And then, one health professional decided to let go of any extra responsibilities at work after her bosses changed their minds about giving her a promotion.

  • 01
    'Have you heard how your employee talks to me?... I demand that you fire him'
    via Toni Cuenca on Unsplash
  • 02
    Lady claims to be owners daughter.... So a little backstory on where I work. It's a very small family business where we sell pools and pool chemicals. Only 2 desks in our office which can fully see into the showroom. One desk for the manager and one for me. Also when I say small business, I mean it. Normally, it was always just me (assistant manager) and my mom (I had been in this business since I was born, therefore knew a lot for my age). However, we had just recently hired someone new that wa
    via u/XxTEETERxX
  • 03
    Now onto the story, The cast will be Matt coworker Me=me, duh Karen-idiot customer KK= Karen's kid The manager(my mom) had to go and pick up some office supplies for us and mail off some bills so it was just me and my coworker. We weren't very busy at the time since it was a weekday and fairly close to closing time, so I was sitting at my desk and he was at the
    via u/XxTEETERxX
  • 04
    managers desk, since he didn't have his own, on our phones waiting to hear the door open. We hear the door open and my coworker(we will just call Matt from here out) starts to get up and I tell Matt that I've got this one so he sits back down. I stand up and see this lady, Karen and her kid come in and start walking around. I walk out into the showroom and welcome them to the store and ask if they need help finding anything.
    via u/XxTEETERxX
  • 05
    Karen-"We will let you know if we have any questions." are just looking right now. I Kk-"I want a pool toy! Wheres the toys at?" Me-"Well the pool toys are right over in the aisle by the door and on that wall there." I motioned to the wall where all the displays were Karen-"I told you that we didn't need any help right now. "
    via u/XxTEETERxX
  • 06
    I just stepped back and walked into the office not wanting any confrontations this close to closing. They continued looking around for another few minutes when I heard the kid hollering from the front of the store. I looked up and the kid was climbing on our ladder samples which clearly have neon green signs that are 8" x 11" that say "DO NOT CLIMB ON!" So I walked up to the front of the store and politely told the kid that he couldn't climb on them.
    via u/XxTEETERxX
  • 07
    Karen-"you can't tell my son what to do!" Kk-"I just want to climb on them!" He then starts to cry. *this "kid" was about 10 years old Me-"Im sorry but it is against company policy to have anyone climbing on them for safety purposes." Karen-"Well then maybe you should have a sign on them that says you cant."
    via u/XxTEETERxX
  • 08
    I point at the sign that says you cant. Karen-"Well you should have made the sign bigger." I'm not the best at containing my frustration and when I get frustrated at someone my sarcasm comes out with absolutely 0 filter. This kid had been running around our store screaming like a banshee and I was getting very annoyed.
    via u/XxTEETERxX
  • 09
    Me-under my breath "Well maybe try using your eyes next time." Karen-"What did you say to me" Me-"I said to look for a sign next time you want to let your son climb all over displays in a store." And I walked away.
    via u/XxTEETERxX
  • 10
    She continues walking around with the kid still crying until she gets to the one corner where we have some legos for kids to play with while their parents wait to have their water tested or be helped. Mind you, the test lab was closed and the area roped off with all the lights shut off to that corner.
    via u/XxTEETERxX
  • 11
    Kk-screaming "I want to play with those legos!" Karen-"alright just go ahead" I wasnt even in the mood to say no, as long as it stopped him from crying. Then he starts carrying them out from the designated area and throwing them down the aisles at our toy displays. I had enough of these little because I knew I was gonna have to clean it up. I've been told that I'm pretty scary when I'm angry too.
    via u/XxTEETERxX
  • 12
    Me to KK-"You are not allowed to take the legos from the play area. Please put them back where you got them from." Karen-"Who do you think you are talking to my son that way?" Me-"I am simply telling you both that what he has been doing is not allowed in our store and he needs to stop." Karen-"Well how dare you talk to us that way. I'll have you know that I'm the owners daughter and I will have you fired for this."
    via u/XxTEETERxX
  • 13
    Mind you, The owners are my grandparents........ And she sure as isn't my aunt. She walks up to the counter that looks into the office before I could say anything. Karen to Matt-"Have you heard how your employee talks to me? He is the most employee I have ever seen in here and as the owners daughter I demand that you fire him.
    via u/XxTEETERxX
  • 14
    Matt-"Well I can't do that." Karen-"Why not? He is a !" Matt-"I can't fire him, because he's my boss..." Karen-"What?!?! No he isn't. You are lying to me..." she's droning on and on Now, we have an employee picture on the wall celebrating our businesses 50th anniversary with everyone labeled in the picture including the owners and all their kids.
    via u/XxTEETERxX
  • 15
    Karen finally shuts up and looks at me while I'm grabbing the picture frame off the wall. I slide it in front of her and point to my label. My Name - Assistant Manager with Grandson underneath my name and title. Her face turned every shade of red under the sun. Me-"So you mean to tell me that you're a long lost aunt of mine because if not, you can get the out of this store."
    via u/XxTEETERxX
  • 16
    She practically dragged her kid out of the store while trying to run out the doors. She kept pushing on our doors trying to get out, they're pull doors. Me- shouted to her "Maybe try to pull the doors ya dumbass"
    via u/XxTEETERxX

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karens entitled parents small business retail shopping retail worker demanding working cashier karens in the wild workplace entitled family karen story karen entitled people shoppers
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