Entitled customer disrupts patron's lunch by screaming into speaker phone the whole time, patron figures out how to get even: 'I called my coworker [...] I put him on speaker, and we started shouting at each other!'

Sometimes, a perfectly good dining experience can be completely ruined by unforeseen circumstances.

In this instance, those circumstances had nothing to do with the quality of the food or the service, but it had everything to do with the noisy stranger seated at the adjacent booth.

This author was going out to lunch with their coworker at their favorite spot near work, when this loud man was screaming into his phone, which was also on speaker at full volume, about coordinating logistics for an upcoming flight with his family. Of course, we are sympathetic to the fact that airline inconveniences can be infuriating, but it became clear early on that this man's demeanor had more to do with his own lack of self-awareness than any inconvenience thrown his way.

After numerous attempts to quietly calm this man down, the author had an idea. They moved immediately to the other booth next to this man and placed a call to their coworker. The coworker instantly knew what the plan was without even having to debrief about it beforehand. What transpired was a taste of this man's medicine!

Author image for Ben Weiss Ben Weiss
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  • A diner with red leather booths.
    via Dayanara Peenee

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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  • Here's hoping that this man learned a lesson. Of course, taking a phone call in a restaurant sometimes is inevitable, especially in the case of emergencies. But if the call is not brief and if you're unable to be discreet about it, then you need to remove yourself. Otherwise, any feedback or treatment you receive from other patrons is kind of your fault. Just go outside! Your food will still be there when you return. 

    Besides, you're likely to have more peace and quiet speaking around the corner than trying to hear someone on the other line in a noisy restaurant. It's a win-win situation! Unfortunately, this man did not seem to understand that, and it was likely due to a complete inability to comprehend that he was disrupting other people. Sometimes, one has to envy what it's like to simply not care about how one's behavior will affect others. However, if you actually want people to respect you and think of you as a decent individual, then you absolutely do not want to be like this person.

  • I juat discovered this sub, thought I would share. Two years ago I was with a coworker, traveling out west. Midday we stopped at an Dennys for lunch, and the restaurant was empty.
    via AntoineWeiner
  • Middle of nowhere, Utah. The waitress let us pick our seats, and we sat in a corner, by a window. She took our drink orders, and within a minute a man came into the empty restaurant,
    via AntoineWeiner
  • took the booth next to us, and started SCREAMING into his phone, which was on speaker.
    via AntoineWeiner
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  • We sat there, getting angrier with every passing second, listen to this guy argue with his wife about ticket costs on Southwest airlines, whether his mother needing wheelchair assistance
    via AntoineWeiner
  • would allow them all to board early, long-term parking costs. His wife has her brother join the call, and they all start screaming at each other in their native dialect.
    via AntoineWeiner
  • Man talking animatedly on the phone.
    via Vitaly Gariev

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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  • My friend and I are giving this guy glares, and he just glares back and keeps shouting. So I got up, took the booth on the other side of the man (with his booth now between my coworker and I), and
    via AntoineWeiner
  • I called my coworker. He immediately understood, put me on speaker, I put him on speaker, and we start shouting at each other.
    via AntoineWeiner
  • "I DON'T CARE WHAT TIME IT IS, I'M HAVING FRENCH TOAST!" "I HOPE THEY DO THE THING WHERE THEY GIVE YOU THE EXTRA MILKSHAKE IN THE METAL CUP!"
    via AntoineWeiner
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  • The waitress comes to our table, immediately understands what is going on. The random guy and his family are all agitated and we can hear him yelling louder into his phone, one hand over an ear. I
    via AntoineWeiner
  • am shouting my order through the phone, and my coworker is relaying it to the waitress six feet away. She goes along with it, "Ask your friend how he takes his eggs."
    via AntoineWeiner
  • "HOW DO YOU WANT YOUR EGGS?" "SCRAMBLED!"
    via AntoineWeiner
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  • This goes on for two solid minutes until the guy stands up, shouts "You fucking assholes!" and storms out. We are laughing, waitress is laughing. Gave her a giant tip, ate in peace. My only real petty revenge.
    via AntoineWeiner
  • lalauna What a delight it was to read that
    via AntoineWeiner
  • RJack151. I had a coworker that did this. So one day he was using his credit card to order something and I started repeating the numbers. He stopped doing it.
    via AntoineWeiner
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