My daughter: "I went full "Karen" at Walmart." ... then her 5 year old ---

[3Hotdogs]

She's in line at check out with a full carriage and 3 kids in tow. ONE cashier is on duty. Just as she gets to put her stuff on the belt, the light goes off. "Sorry, I'm going on break and this register is closed."

R: "I've been waiting in line for over 15 minutes."

Manager comes over. "You can take it to the self checkout."

R: "I don't work here or get paid to check out. So you either open a register or put this shit back on the shelves, yourselves."

Manager: "Sorry ma'am, the cashier is on break."

Daughter leaves the cart and starts walking out the door.

5 Year old shouts out: "Fuck this place!" (He gets that from his father, but I approve the sentiment.)


End of story.

[leftieNanner]

1. That little girl's response

would have been mine BEFORE I walked in the door.

But that's not exactly the best customer service. A woman with three small children and a full cart getting shunted over to the self service line? I don't think so!

Funny/Sad story. Thanks for sharing.

[LakeArenal]

2. Well then, MrMsMrs Manager get over here and check me out.

[lunatica]

23. Exactly. Management doesn't get breaks, or hours.

She should call the headquarters and complain.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

3. The cashier isn't an automaton. She earned her break. The manager

Should have picked up the slack.

If I'd heard a 5-year-old yell that word, I wouldn't have been favorably impressed.

Times are stressful for all. Imagine working retail during a pandemic.

[StarfishSaver]

5. Usually cashiers will tell the last person in line that the lane will close after them

and then not allow anyone else to get in the line - to avoid just this kind of situation. Not sure why they didn't do that.

But these workers are under incredible stress. We all need to be more thoughtful.

I agree about the child's behavior. Not something I'd brag about ...

[yaesu]

33. I always look for the open light, if that isn't on I figure the the line is closed for checkout. nt

[Mr.Bill]

36. Yes, there is a proper way to close a checkstand.

I've seen it done, and in my younger years done it many times myself.

[TheFarseer]

43. Right, that's how to close a lane

Making someone wait in one line and when they get to the front, telling them they need to go to the back of a different line is BS. That’s the kind of crap that happens at the DMV in a sitcom.

[theneworiginal]

89. Industry standard. Common courtesy.

The woman deserves her break. SOP is to politely tell customers at the back of the line that she is closing her register so that she does not have to stick it to whoever has waited.

The real bottom line for me is that she works in a punitive atmosphere where her company sticks it to her every chance they get and she's just acting out on the wrong person. Walmart is evil. They treat their workers disrespectfully and the mood in those stores is palpable.

I will not patronize that store under any circumstance. Ever.

[Fla Dem]

104. I agrree it's a tough job, but there has to be process in place so customers get the best service.

Unless Walmart doesn't care about the customer.

If there is no process, the cashier could still have told her when she got in line that she was closing.

[Mariana]

11. Yes, she earned her break.

However, leaving the light on and letting people stand in line, knowing break time is coming up and you won't be able to serve all of them is a really shitty thing to do.

[liberalhistorian]

21. If I were the cashier, I'd

have responded that I wasn't getting paid enough to deal with that kind of shit treatment. And a five-year-old speaking like that in public is not at all cute or impressive.

[Mariana]

46. What shit treatment is that?

Nothing in the OP suggests that the customer was rude to the cashier in any way.

[cstanleytech]

35. Had a cashier actually do that to me at Walmart last year.

I would have been fine with having to use the self checkout if they told me beforehand.
After all they need to eat lunch or if it was due to her time being up as Walmart like most retailers do not want to pay overtime.
That aside it was still extremely rude of her not to at least let me know rather than keeping me waiting.

[uponit7771]

18. +1,

[judesedit]

38. I agree

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. Way to stick it to those retail workers. Definitely punching up there.

[cwydro]

76. This.

And proud of a child screaming obscenities. Smh.

[StarfishSaver]

83. And people defending it

smh

[cwydro]

86. Often a visit to DU is eye-opening.

One thing we can always count on lol.

[localroger]

6. The proper procedure

...is for the cashier to turn out the light early enough that she can clear the people who are already in line before leaving. Additional customers who try to get in line are told the line is closed, but those who are there when the light goes out get served.

[wnylib]

39. If there was one cashier on duty, there was no place to

send people to, except the self checkout, which is harder to handle when you have a full cart and 3 kids.

The manager should have taken over the register with the light off, to check out her daughter. I've seen mangers do that in grocery stores, drug stores, convenience stores. It's part of a manager's responsibilities to keep things running smoothly and courteously.

The 5 year old's profanity was nothing to brag about and most likely gave the staff an excuse to chalk up the whole experience to "What can you expect from people like that?"

[StarfishSaver]

7. I can see your daughter being upset. But her child's behavior's nothing to brag about

Not cool at all.

[Poiuyt]

22. I agree

[Salviati]

49. The entire situation is a whole lot of people behaving badly.

The Cashier should have shut down the line properly. Failing that, the manager should have done it, and picked up the slack to clear the line. The customer should have shown a bit of grace to provide a better example for their daughter. I mean everyone is under a lot of stress these days, but that just means it's more important to be a bit kinder out there to everyone, especially if it's hard, because you really don't know how terribly their day is going.

[TheBlackAdder]

8. That's what I do, if I have a full cart and they pull that self-checkout crap, I do a cargo drop.

[Historic NY]

9. Self check isnt really self either

It has to be monitored from all the damn screw ups. This store apparently doesn't employ enough persons and the manager is a moron, who could have done the check-out. Three kids at a self-checkout!!!!!!!!! I would have blown up the place if I was behind them.

[Freedomofspeech]

10. We never shop at Walmart.

They came into our area about 20 years ago. Shut down most of the other stores in our rural area and never paid a dime in taxes for over five years. I probably would have been high fiving your grandson if I had been there.

[luvtheGWN]

34. I've never shopped at Walmart.

In fact, only time I was ever in the store was to use the bathroom.

I've boycotted Walmart even before I learned that (in the U.S., not Canada) they paid their workers such low wages that many of them were eligible for food stamps. Not to mention the fact that Walmart has destroyed so darn many family-owned small businesses in towns throughout North America.

I know their prices are generally lower but I prefer to shop Canadian -- so there!

As for the little girl's potty mouth -- criticize her Dad, not her!

[Butterflylady]

51. Thank you. Children only imitate what they hear from grown-ups.

The child more then likely doesn't even know what she said was wrong. She probably heard a grown-up say that when they got mad so naturally she said it when she knew her parent was mad. Criticize the parent.


As far as the clerk closing the lane down while customers are in line was rude. The clerk needed to issue a warning that the lane was going down for the clerks brake after the next customer.

[Ilsa]

12. I would have stood outside and told everyone coming in that

No checkers are available and someone had diarrhea at the self-check.

The manager should have checked her out since they forgot to close the checkout aisle.

[BusyBeingBest]

13. Cashier should have had her move to another line if she had no intention

of ringing up the sale. Or manager should have handled it. The situation I often find myself in is waiting in a long line to ring up, and just as I get close (within one or two customers), the manager or cashier opens up a lane and everyone behind me who hasn't been waiting as long (or at all) will rush to it and get rung up before me. That makes me near-homicidal

[JCMach1]

14. The cashier deserves the break don't be THAT person

If you have ever worked retail you know whereof I speak...

[RobinA]

92. I Sure Do

For decades after I left retail, whenever I was in a store and somebody started bitching at the clerk I just wanted to rip their face off. Oddly, when I was IN retail, I wasn't all that bothered by the constant rudeness. The minute I left though...

[Celerity]

15. I have never seen a cashier refuse to take someone already in line, only turn down new people

who try to enter it after their sign goes up.

They should have finished off all the people already in line OR the manager should have.

Plus, fuck Walmart.

Never have, never will step foot inside one (there are none here in Sweden and the rest of the EU anyway as they refuse to follow our labour laws and I never shopped as Asda in the UK, which they are now selling).

[Mariana]

47. They probably have to take their break at a certain time, or lose it.

But if that's true, the cashier would have known she wouldn't be able to serve all the people in line, and should have turned the light off and sent them to the self-checkout.

[sinkingfeeling]

16. I agree.

[snowybirdie]

17. She wasn't A Karen

She was rightously pissed about bad customer service. Karen's just get pissed about stupid stuff. Hope she can shop elsewhere.

[whathehell]

42. No she:s not..She had a right to expect decent service

The cashier deserved a break, but that's not the customer's problem -- The manager should have checked her out.

[robbob]

74. Thank you! I was going to post something along the same lines...

We have to stop throwing the “K” word around every time some woman stands up for herself. As a matter of fact, that was one of the big issues when “Karen” first became a thing. Men using it as a general put down to any assertive woman. “Yes, Karen...” accompanied by an eye roll every time a woman voices an opinion in the workplace.

[KT2000]

19. Similar experience

going home late one night I stopped too get some chips. Got to the front and there was one checker and a line of about 10 people, some with carts full. The manager was watching so I asked if there could be another checker and she said no. I handed her my chips and walked out. This was before self check out. Cannot stand WalMart.

[csziggy]

30. Another similar experience

Spent all night walking a colicky horse. About 8 AM got someone to relieve me since I could no longer feel my arms. My husband took me to a walk in clinic and they gave me some muscle relaxants. We wanted a quick breakfast and McDonald's was the faster one around so we went in and got in line at about 10:40 AM. By the time we got to the register to order it was just before 11 AM. The cashier would not take a breakfast order since "It is too late for breakfast." Their sign said "Breakfast served until 11 AM." My husband drove me home, I popped the pills from the doctor, and fell asleep for twelve hours. Woke up starving.

I've only been to McD's twice since, neither time by my choice.

[JI7]

20. The light is supposed to go off before they close that register line

Those who got in the line while the light was on should be checked out. And if anyone else gets in the line let them know it's now closed so they aren't waiting.

I understand the employees need their break so they should get someone else to finish checking out the line.

[USALiberal]

24. How did the 5 year old learn to talk like that??? Nt

[3Hotdogs]

60. His father.

[cwydro]

77. But you seem oddly proud of her behavior.

[LakeArenal]

25. The only person I judge is the manager.

In Walmart if you miss your break you get no break.

If manager had stepped in, kid would not have shouted anything.

[electric_blue68]

26. There are lights that signal a cashier's break??!!!

Shoot. Is this only at Walmart?

😄 Laughs at self!

[Srkdqltr]

27. If there was no other cashier it is the managers job to check out the customer.

Since when does a manager only have one cashier in Wallmart? Or any other store? If this story is true as told, it is on the management. Somehow I think something was left out.

[Srkdqltr]

28. I worked retail for many years and a cash register was never left like that

Ever.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

29. If that Walmart is anything like the grocery store a close relative of mine manages,

They are hard-pressed to keep any staff at all these days. My relative's store is constantly losing employees, thanks to Covid and Covid fears.

[tblue37]

31. After a certain time (9 or 10 at night, I think), Wal-Mart here always has just one cashier.

[Dorian Gray]

32. Times are stressful

and I'm sure your daughter and that cashier have both suffered for it. So with that in mind, I'm going to say that neither behaved wonderfully, and we should look at things through the eyes of the other person and try to have compassion.

[Sugarcoated]

37. I did that at Walmart

Twice. Their employee attitude sucks, at least at the Walmart by me

[Sugarcoated]

59. Aww

I got a heart...DU'ers are the best

[Sugarcoated]

75. For clarification

In line, left food in my cart and walked out due to poor service. No f-bombs, at least not verbally

[Mr.Bill]

40. Self checkout is not an option for me.

California has a law that alcoholic beverages are not allowed in self checkout, and I pretty much don't shop without buying alcohol.

[jaxexpat]

41. You should be ashamed to tell that story about your own people.

Daughter, granddaughter. All this is way out of line and you shouldn't bring it to this forum. We're a civilization, not every place is daycare. Grow up.

[Jon King]

45. They would not last a minute in our family...

The 5 year old needs to have her mouth washed out with soap. Then both mother and daughter need to have it explained to them that life does not always work out the way they want and to stop acting like prima donnas. The father sounds like a dip for using that language in front of kids. That would result in several male family members taking him out back for a 'talking to'.

[StarfishSaver]

53. My mother would have snatched me and whupped me right there on the spot

Yeah, I said it. She would have torn me up. She believed in corporal punishment. And not the "wait til we get home" kind but the "I will take my shoe off right here in the store and wear your ass out in front of everybody and not care if you're embarrassed and I dare anybody to accuse me of child abuse because I'll whup their butts, next" kind.

[BlueStater]

100. Teaching your children profanity is bad parenting but so is hitting them.

In fact, the latter is actually worse.

[obamanut2012]

68. I agree

I was a bit taken aback the OP posted this as a GOTCHA about a front-line essential worker.

At Wal-Mart, if you do not take your break when you are told, then guess what? You don't get your break. Your break from a low-paying job with no benefits, where you are exposed to Covid constantly.

The Manager should have taken over, but maybe they were the only manager on duty and couldn't.

It sucks, but the thinking this punching down story is a GOOD THING is bad, bragging about someone being a KAREN is a bad thing. And, no one should take to essential workers like the child did, either. It isn't cute or funny or RIGHT ON!. It's... ugh.

[StarfishSaver]

73. Thank you

[cwydro]

78. Well said.

This story is sad.

[Bigredhunk]

44. Lol

It's ridiculous how few "normal" lanes are open when you go there. Often times there are none open, only self-checkout. I'm not self-checking'out $300 worth of sh*t. You always have to get a mgr to run them through the damn thing for you. It should be a law that "X" # of "normal" lanes have to be open in any store at all times (do it by square footage maybe, IDK).

Target (and most other stores) are bad in this regard too, but not as bad as Mal-Wart. The problem is that Mal-Wart carries EVERYTHING and other stores like Target don't.

I wish people would refuse to use self-checkout. I get that it's a time saver if you have chips and a soda. But the stores have taken it way too far.

[jalan48]

48. Walmart treats their workers like shit. That's what what consumers should get upset about.

[obamanut2012]

69. Yup

[BlueStater]

99. I worked there for eight and a half months as a cart pusher.

My time there did not end well. I was fired and I can’t say I left on friendly terms with them.

A couple of days before my firing, the two other cart pushers who were scheduled for that day both called out. I ended up working the entire eight hour shift by myself. In Florida. In mid-July. When I couldn’t keep up and they inevitably received customer complaints about the lack of shopping carts in the store, they held me responsible for it and I received a “strike”. I argued that it was their responsibility to keep track of when their employees call out and that they should have sent someone out there to help me a lot soon, but it feel on deaf ears.

That’s not why I was fired, however. The next day, I was shaken by what happened previously and ended up accidentally scratching a car with the cart pushing machine. While I feel they were justified in firing me based on that, the manner in which they did it rubbed me the wrong the way. They made me return my vest and name tag (which the way too full-of-herself manager referred to as a “badge” 🙄 ) in a way reminiscent of a cop being kicked of the force and then didn’t even thank me for the months of hard work I put in for them.

I still feel bitterness when I think about it to this day.

[MurrayDelph]

50. To sum up

1. Yes, the cashier has a right to a break.
2. Yes, the cashier should have warned R before she waited in line
3. Yes, R, or any customer, has a right to expect reasonable service
4. Yes, the manager should have stepped in on the side of providing said service either by
a. Telling the cashier to service those in line before taking the break, or
b. Ringing up the sale while the cashier went on break
5. Yes, a five-year-old should not use that type of language (saying this as a retired kindergarten teacher)
6. Yes, it was totally appropriate in this case (also saying this as a retired kindergarten teacher).

The moral of this story is:
Yes, Wal-Mart sucks. Fuck it.

[StarfishSaver]

54. You really think it's appropriate for a 5-year-old to scream "FUCK" at people in a store?

Wow.

[MurrayDelph]

56. Generally no. As I said

In this case, yes. Also as I said.

[StarfishSaver]

57. As I said - Wow

[obamanut2012]

70. IKR? Because an essential worker didn't want to lose her break

At WM, if you don't take your break when told, you miss the break.

I guess essential retail workers deserve to be cussed out by a child. Good lord.

[StarfishSaver]

72. Well, his mother DID have to stand in line for a long time

and that was really inconvenient, so what else could a kindergartener do besides cuss everyone out?

[obamanut2012]

79. lololol

[Luciferous]

82. 😄

[cwydro]

97. Lol, perfectly put.

Smh.

[womanofthehills]

65. Kids will be kids - My family was visiting for the weekend - I live way out in the country

I woke up from a sound sleep to hear my 6 yr old grandson running through the yard yelling -" Fuck Donald Trump," "Fuck Donald Trump" over and over. Actually, it was an amusing way to wake up. Lighten up folks. Kids are not just going to imitate their parents - they will pick it up from friends, older siblings, school, movies, etc.

[lpbk2713]

52. I've used a self serve line maybe twice.

How many employees are let go after a store installs self serve checkouts?

One day I was in Lowe's and all they had open were the self serve lanes.
I left my cart where it was and walked out the door.

[Coventina]

55. .

[LisaL]

58. Not sure this is something to be proud of.

NT

[obamanut2012]

71. Exactly, it isn't

Punching down on essential workers who don't want their break to disappear.

[MicaelS]

61. Walmart is a godsend for me.

I don’t have a car. It costs me $25 for a Lyft based round trip to Walmart.

For $9.95 I get my groceries delivered to my front door, plus they now take SNAP for delivery.

Many Progressives forget many people are poor and they have to shop there.

[GulfCoast66]

62. We obviously have different expectations on the proper behavior of a 5 year old

But hey, it’s a free country.

I do share a distaste for self checkout. If I’m going to do you work then pay me.

[MustLoveBeagles]

63. This was poor customer service all around

The cashier should've turned off her light if she knew her break was coming up. That way customers could've gone to another lane to get checked out. Or the manager could've rung up your daughters groceries while the cashier took a break. Either of those things would've avoided a lot of hassle for everyone involved. However I do agree with other posters that the 5 year old's outburst wasn't a good thing and shouldn't be encouraged.

[Shaddox]

64. JFC - can't we all just STFU and leave the poster alone?

I’ve been watching this shitshow unfold all day. I love to watch this community of high falutin’ individuals descend on a member like a pack of ravening hyenas when they take umbrage with a story on a board. Well done. While you are licking the spittle off your outraged mouth about a story you read in the internet, I can offer you Q and anything else you would like to assuage your anger. Ffs, Get your head in the game.

[StarfishSaver]

66. I assume that if the poster wanted to be "left alone," they wouldn't have broadcast their grandkid's

behavior on a public discussion board. Having chosen to put the kid's behavior in those people's faces, they shouldn't be surprised if those people tell them they don't find that behavior as cute or charming as they did.

[cwydro]

81. Lol, if you think this is a DU pile-on, you're sadly mistaken.

This is pretty mild actually.

Never mind the fact that the OP chose to post this and chose to brag about the grandchild’s behavior.

[moriah]

84. Gonna give you a heart here in a second just because I feel like you have missed out...

... on breastfeeding at Olive Garden threads.

As in, "bless your heart, you really think this is us being a pack of raving hyenas when we take umbrage over something non-political?"

But seriously, this kind of OP and the responses it generates are why I generally stay in LBN. Also, there are fun "block" features if specific posters bother you, and "trash thread" features when specific threads bother you, to enhance your DU experience. I hope you check out all the functionality built in, because some have even figured out ways to hide threads by keyword from what I understand!

Take care and be safe!

[Blecht]

94. Yeah, the poster was held at gunpoint and forced to put this up on a forum

[live love laugh]

67. " Daughter leaves the cart and starts walking out the door"

Daughter wasted X-amount of time and money.
Daughter will spend additional time and money probably elsewhere.
Walmart. Doesn’t. Care. Their subsidized wages insulate them.

[Luciferous]

80. The manager should've checked her out. I haven't

shopped much at Walmart over the last year, but when I did I actually preferred using their self checkouts because they have the long conveyor belts, and I bring my own bags so it's quicker for me to just do it myself.

I can see why she was upset with the manager, but it's not the cashier's fault. As for the 5 year old's behavior, sounds like he needs some better role models because that is just obnoxious.

[Chakaconcarne]

85. Why I don't shop at Walmart

The store just breeds bad behavior all the way around.

[StarfishSaver]

87. It wasn't Walmart that taught a 5-year-old to cuss people out

The younguns in my family could spend all day every day in a Walmart and they would never behave like this.

[cwydro]

90. Walmart breeds bad behavior?

Huh?

I’ve been to a Walmart, and as far as I remember I behaved exactly as I always do in a public place. Politely.

[MineralMan]

88. No doubt that manager knows how to work a cash register.

A good manager would have simply stepped in and checked that customer through the line. That one was a bad manager. No doubt he also treats employees poorly.

[3Hotdogs]

91. Follow up: I don't know if prior respondents will read this. It is an old thread....

By support of my daughter is a reaction against the corporation. Not about an individual cashier. Although, yes. Walmart does have a system for making known that a register was going to close. It was not followed in this instance.

Now, about my grandson. Lets go back to the '70's when her and her sister were pre-school. Cursing was used in our house. Not often, but still, used. Daughters were taught that they could use "F'", "S" and so forth in the house. They were then taught that here is also "Grandma, aunt an uncle' language that does not include f and s and such other polite company words.


--- interesting that neither daughter uses fuck and shit or such in their language. Sometimes, yes. Not frequently.


S.i.L does curse . That is as far as his ill mannered behavior goes. Corporal punishment is not used with any of the three kids.

No, I do not feel dumped on, reading the reactions to my o.p.

As a final addition to this post, I recall a post back in September that consisted of people in Scotland expressing their opinions about Donald Trump. "He's a ball bag." --- and so on.

One of the opinions came from a girl, probably 6 or 7. "He's a c..t"

It is interesting that there were no negative D.U. responses about that.

And yes, I do feel badly for people stuck in sad work places like Walmart, Amazon and such.

Carry on.

[Blecht]

95. It's nice that you unconditionally support your daughter.

But she did not handle her frustration very well.

I like the kid.

I dislike the manager.

I feel bad for the cashier.

[cwydro]

96. The "C word" is very different in Scotland, England, and Ireland.

Really not comparable to a five year old saying what your grandchild did, and of which you appear to be so proud.

[nini]

93. Karen indeed

That is nothing to brag about.. especially the child's response.

disgusting.

[demmiblue]

98. She sounds like an asshole.

Shit happens... move on.

[Captain Stern]

101. Ummmm..ok. Is bragging about bad behavior cool now?

I'd be ashamed if my daughter had acted that way, and I'd be mortified if my grandchild had acted that way.

I sure as hell wouldn't be posting it, like they'd done something good.

[Beringia]

102. Scene with Jodie Foster, So Long Suckers

I always loved this scene with Jodie Foster. I can't believe so many people are getting the vapors because of your son.

My Mother once yelled out "Christmas RipOff" because of the store doing something, I forget what, and it was a favorite story of my Dad's.

[Mosby]

103. It's likely that the refrigerated stuff had to be thrown away.

Because of health dept. regs.

I know that stores like self checkout because it reduces labor costs, but it doesn't reduce them as much as people think. Grocery stores and others like WM/target are running mini warehouses, every bit of backstock is accounted for. That takes time. And they do that so other employees can shop for cuatomers and put together the online order and deliver it curbside or for delivery. In any given Target right now, there could be 5-6 employees building orders for pickup. Thats a lot of labor.