Another day another, another TikTok video of two people in a disagreement. A recent video of an exchange in the Panera Bread drive-thru caught our attention, because, well … some Karen thought people would empathize with her, and that just didn't happen.
In the video, we can hear a Panera employee's voice through a drive-thru speaker along with the customer's voice as they argue over his refusal to take her order. The reason for his refusal got the lady's panties all in a bunch, so she started recording.
She then posted the video on TikTok, looking for support and basically, the entire internet sided with the Panera employee, and her attempt to slander him blew up in her face.
The woman and her daughter were out for a bite to eat.
We don't see the entire interaction between the woman, @leikerornot, and "Panera Guy," but context clues tell us that there was a disagreement over him taking her order. Evidently, her kid was screaming, which we surmise made it difficult for him to hear her order, so he told her he wouldn't take it.
That's where the video picks up. The woman asks, "So you're refusing to take my order because my daughter was screaming?"
Panera Guy quite politely responds: "Yes. I have the right to do that. You're more than welcome to come inside or place an order online and we'll make it for you."
The customer didn't like that answer at all. Shocking.
Next, she started threatening the employee.
In a pretty stereotypical move, the woman tells the employee that she has him on camera and will report him to corporate. Then, she tells him she can't come inside because her daughter doesn't have shoes on. She very condescendingly adds, "Do you understand that?"
Yes, Karen. We think he understood just fine.
The friendly employee assured her that he totally got it and explained that she could place her order online and someone would bring it out. She didn't like that suggestion and said, "That's not convenient to me. It's your job to take orders and stuff and this is ridiculous."
Here comes condescending Karen …
Right after her daughter lets out a howl, the mom tells the employee that taking her order is, "a pretty good decision on your part." Panera Guy tells her — again, quite politely — that he doesn't need her attitude, and the video ends. What a cliffhanger!
The comments are wild and the TikToker doesn't have many fans.
The general consensus among the TikTok crowd is that the woman was totally being a jerk to Panera Guy. The video has 18 million views and 99,000 comments. That's a lot of love for Panera and hate for the TikToker's drive-thru 'tude.
"IM WITH PANERA GUY," one person wrote.
"That 'silence' 'longer silence' I just know he and his coworkers are clowning on you so hard when the mic turns off like that ," another comment reads.
"Im with him on this, i work fast food and it makes me irritated asf when the kid is screaming in the back and the parents just try's to talk louder," one person agreed.
"He handled this very well," another comment reads. "Proud of him. He even offered a solution, digital."
People feel like the Panera employee was trying to be part of the solution, not the problem.
"Btw hope the Panera guy sees the comments to show to the manager that people are on his side ," someone commented.
"Comments not what she was hoping for ," another person pointed out.
Yes, some agreed with the customer, but not many.
One person commented: "As a mom it's really hard having a child especially getting off and ordering inside. So idk why the Panera guy is making it such a big deal!!! ."
Yeah, we know. But, you still have to be respectful, right? If you're kid is causing a disruption, the entire world doesn't have to accommodate that.
There is an update!
But it's kind of a let down. The TikToker posted a second clip calling herself "Panera Karen" and stating that she was meeting with the area manager the next day. She said that he disagreed with the majority of the comments. She also said that she might go live. That didn't happen, and she turned off commenting on the second video. Why? Did it not go her way? Was Panera Guy promoted? Did they tell her to put shoes on her daughter?
In a third TikTok of pics posted only on the TikTok app, the customer claims, "The area manager was really great and felt really bad about the overall experience we encountered. He advised that additional training will be put into place to ensure this doesn't happen again."
She got a couple of bags of food for her trouble, but still no support from TikTok.
"This is so funny," someone commented. "I already KNOW the were laoughing at you and glad you were out of their face."
"I am a manager and I can verify that this manager only told you what you wanted to hear," reads another comment. "This is how they are all trained to handle Karen's."
"I did cusomter service for years," someone confirmed. "They laugh about you as soon as you are gone."
