First it was breast reduction advice, now it’s weight management tips, this time from a rude Panera Bread employee who didn’t like being confronted by an angry customer. Here’s what happened to Jeff’s wife when she tried to buy some chicken noodle soup the other day:
Here is the comment I just sent through Panera Bread’s automated website. It explains the situation. In all honesty, it’s all I can do not to go down there, and kick some major ass.
My wife went into the store, as she wasn’t feeling well, and I suggested soup. She waited 25 minutes on line, and ordered her chicken noodle soup. After paying, and waiting 5 minutes, she was then told that they were out of Chicken Noodle, and had, in fact been out of it all day! When she complained that a sign should have been posted, she was told “You could stand to skip a meal or twenty anyway” It’s bad enough that you can’t keep your menus up to date, but to abuse someone when they call you out on it is unconscionable.
(Photo: protohiro)
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@Dashrashi: Good lord, you’re picking at nits. At what point did I indicate I was talking about anyone other than that Erratapage person who made the original comment?
And my point still stands: You take the internet way, way too seriously. Have a sense of humor, broseph.
@UpsetPanda: Among people I know there is even more resentment, because when they first started working and I was in school, it seemed to both of us like they were making a ton of money. Now they are still making the same amount they were then, and I’m making 2x that. They got used to being the one with the money, so it didn’t bother them that they hated their job, because they made more money than everyone else. But now that those of us who went to school are working jobs we like and making money doing it, they aren’t as happy.
And before anyone attacks, I’m not saying you can’t make as much money or be as happy without a college education, just that within the group of ~10 people I’m talking about, that has not been the case.
@Razzler: I don’t find bigotry amusing. I’m sorry you do.
And your post was not written, diction-wise, to be specific to that person. In the absence of specificity, it’s fair to assume reasonable generality. That’s all I did.
@Razzler: My last comment didn’t show up. I will only say that A) you rather invited me to nitpick, so it’s a bit rich for you now to be all, “Hey, why the nitpicking?” and B) I don’t find bigotry something not to take seriously. I’m sorry you do.
Oops.
@Dashrashi: “I don’t find bigotry amusing.”
Fatty spotted!
Also, diction is not really an issue when it comes to the written word. You could have looked at the post I was responding to, but noooo, you just had to jump on me, didn’t you? DIDN’T YOU?! BIGOT! I’M TELLING MOM!
Millenias in action. yet again!
Oh wait … “absence of specificity, it’s fair to assume reasonable generality” … Dashrashi’s a lawyer*! That explains everything! The utter humorlessness, the stilted writing, the fact that he’s been here literally all day! My condolences, dude.
* Probably a fat lawyer
You know, I am really sick and tired of “Employees are rude” posts. Unless it’s corporate policy to be rude or do something unprofessional, it really should not be on a consumer site. The editors of Consumersist should be intelligent enough to understand that retail workers suck in general because they are mostly kids with no significant experience and training. These stories are just as tasteless as stories of Paris’ cooch. …Before someone says its not just kids, please write the word “mostly” 10000 times and then look it up in the dictionary.
@Dashrashi: “Can you find a place where I personally attacked you?”
Sure thing:
“You’re unnecessary, you’re not adding anything to the discussion, you’ve proven yourself incapable of doing so, and you clog up the works for people who ARE adding to the discussion. Accordingly, you should be bounced, as far as I can tell.”.
Oh, let me guess. That “wasn’t an attack”.
@Sherryness: “Can you take this elsewhere? You’re annoying those of us who want to stick to the subject.”
This request would carry a little more weight (like, any at all) if there’d been ANYTHING in your post that was “on the topic”…
@Razzler: Not that this is relevant, but a female law student with a BMI of 19. So your assertions that only fat people care about discrimination of fat people are way off-base. I just don’t appreciate bigotry, like I said. But I’m sure you don’t understand caring about people who aren’t exactly like you. Asshole.
And you were the one insisting on precision. Call it stilted writing if you want. I just give the people what they ask for.
@SWFL_Dan: Bud, those are all about your posts. You’ve been telling people that they are fat and jealous of you. You don’t see a difference there? Really? Seriously?
@Dashrashi: But I’m sure you don’t understand caring about people who aren’t exactly like you. Asshole.
Hey man, when you assume you make an ass out of you. I wasn’t assuming anything about who cares about fat people. But I do know from personal experience that they tend to be super-touchy, which you certainly are. If it quacks like a duck…
But hey, I’m a skinny female law student too (though I don’t obsess over it enough to know my BMI, you freak)! High-five, pardner!
@Razzler: Oh my God, you’re insane. So people shouldn’t be fat, but they also shouldn’t know their BMIs?
It sounds like you’re a little self-loathing about our chosen career. Sorry about that.
@K-Bo: Great extrapolation on my general point. I did have one friend who extolled her great financial freedom because she was in a career and I was in school, with no “real” sense of financial freedom because I didn’t take on a job during school (I was lucky and didn’t need to). I was really happy that she found a job she loved, but it got slightly uncomfortable whenever she talked about how difficult it was to make ends meet, and I was up til the wee hours of the night watching movies and bumming with my friends, and not having a care in the world. Now that I’ve graduated, I think we’re more on an even keel, though I’m financially better off than she is, even though she’s been working for four years longer.
@Dashrashi: “Bud, those are all about your posts.”
No, as you said, “absence of specificity, it’s fair to assume reasonable generality”. You said nothing about my posts, but stated “you” numerous times. Reasonable then, to assume you were attacking me directly. These are your rules I’m playing by here.
Now, what have I said about you that you seem to have taken as a personal attack?
I’m sure the story is a little one-sided. Maybe his (large) wife was a raging b*tch over the issue. But he wouldn’t include that tidbit, I imagine.
@SWFL_Dan: You seem to believe that anyone who doesn’t agree with you is just jealous of your weight loss. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’m 25, weigh 111 fully clothes with shoes on in the afternoon, and I still think “You’re a typical “I lost a bunch of weight so I’m better than everyone who’s fat and now I’m going to preach about it” type. Great that you lost, and more people should try the things you have, but I know people who work out every day and eat well, and they will still never be skinny. The majority of weight problems are behavioral, but not 100% so until you know which category the particular person you are speaking of falls into, don’t tear into them about being lazy.
@SWFL_Dan: You haven’t personally attacked me. You’ve personally attacked many other posters.
“You’re not adding anything to the discussion” is very obviously about your posts in this thread. Here’s what that’s not: an ad hominem attack. Here’s what’s an ad hominem attack: “Wow. Oversensitive much? Guess you aren’t having much success on your diet?”
Do you seriously not see a difference, or are you just being disingenuous? I’m starting to lean towards the latter.
@K-Bo: “The majority of weight problems are behavioral, but not 100% so until you know which category the particular person you are speaking of falls into, don’t tear into them about being lazy.”
Please, show me anywhere in this thread that I’ve “torn into” even a single person.
@Dashrashi: “Here’s what’s an ad hominem attack: “Wow. Oversensitive much? Guess you aren’t having much success on your diet?”"
Um, context? Did you go look at the post that was a reply to? No? Interesting.
Here’s the comment that statement was a reply to:
“@SWFL_Dan: I can tell for a fact that you’re a dick, but you probably wouldn’t want it pointed out, either.”
You’re right. I saw no reason to “discuss” the relative merits of the argument that after one post on an internet comment thread this person “knew for a fact” anything about me.
Now, if you’ll go back and look at the comments in order, there’s not a lot of doubt about which of my posts you tried to claim contained a “personal attack”, implying that it was an attack against you. Except that my comment was directed at my posts, not at you. Then you kinda stepped in it when you forgot that you’d made similar attacks, before I had. Oops
@Dashrashi: Oh my God, you’re insane. So people shouldn’t be fat, but they also shouldn’t know their BMIs?
It sounds like you’re a little self-loathing about our chosen career. Sorry about that.
Oh man, you’re a barrel of monkeys. I could say “I’m just teasing you, lighten up” but then the jig would be up and I’d have to find some other Dense Denise to prod with my annoying stick. Oh, shi–
Anyway, you find me a lawyer who’s not just a little self-loathing, and I’ll show you a bad lawyer. And if you’re not self-loathing now, you certainly will be in a few years. Check out the NY Times’ recent article about depression in the legal profession (incidentally the title of my new hip-hop LP).
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. This one time at Panera I was served a sandwich that was literally soaking wet. Like it had been left out in a rainstorm. When I brought it back to the counter to complain, the manager stared at me and said, “What do you want us to do about it?”
@synergy: They used to call places up back in the day. Nobody ever responded until after the story was up on Consumerist with a bunch of comments. I guess they just don’t bother now.
Mods? Acambras? Can we get an assist here?
@Dashrashi: I don’t think they’ve looked at this thread since it was posted. The title still says “Nsults”.
I don’t think there’s any recourse other than to ignore those that want this to be a discussion about what’s wrong with fat people and why we should hate them instead of a discussion about customer service.
@Rectilinear Propagation: I guess. It’s just obnoxious, though, and I wish they’d step in.
@SWFL_Dan: Go away. You have hijacked the thread long enough. It’s beyond irritating.
@SWFL_Dan: every single time you have said your fat then do what I did. Do you have any clue how bad it hurts someone who has no control to be told that their problem is their fault?
Panera here is overpriced and has nothing but processed food. I have seen the stacks of sandwiches in the back. They are pre-made as they are listed on the menu, thats why you can’t have substitutions. This is for here though, not sure about where everyone else lives.
Reading about Panera’s customer non-service makes me glad I haven’t bothered to contact them with a comment of my own.
The store where I shop has a sign above the order station which says that breakfast is served all morning. When I went in at 10:45 and asked for a egg and sausage sandwich, I was told they were no longer serving breakfast.
Apparently “all morning” means before 10:30 a.m. in the Panera universe.
Panera is a joke. I stopped going there because they were always out of something. Whether it’s chicken soup or a type of bread, or chicken for the sandwich… it’s just a horribly managed chain and I’m entirely unsurprised that that extends to the caliber of workers they employ.
@K-Bo: “every single time you have said your fat then do what I did.”
Eh? How is that “tearing into”? The CDC says the same thing. Every doctor in the country says that. Duh.
@pwillow1: “Do you have any clue how bad it hurts someone who has no control to be told that their problem is their fault?”
Hello? I was FAT. Have you ever been substantially overweight? Cause if the answer is “no”, then ONE of us is NOT in a position to know anything about it. Hint: the guy that USED to BE fat is NOT the one that isn’t in a position to know. Incidentally, according to the CDC website, for over 99% of obese people, it IS their fault.
@silenuswise: And thank you for contributing to my hijacking!
@erratapage: Eh. It was obviously wrong for the pimply faced teen to say what he did, and it wasn’t funny at all. But, please: obesity is not an incurable illness. No, it is the model of a completely preventable and curable condition.
Why do some people say “waits on line” as opposed to “waits in line”? You’re part of the line, not on top of it! I’ve never understood this.
a lot of Panera employees are too cool for school.
sometimes the attitude I get ordering a sangwich is closer to what I would expect if I was trying to get a walk-in appointment at CAA.
@soulman901:
I agree 100%! Panera is as soulless and corporate as you can get. Plus, the food is soulless and corporate too! I’ve tried everything there, and it doesn’t matter whether you’re ordering a turkey sandwich or a pizza or a bowl of soup — it all tastes exactly the same. Also, what genuis decided that every sandwich should be smothered in raw onions and pungent mustard?
Boudin SF is 1000% better.
@erratapage: i agree. that employee was rude and quite dumb. skipping meals only lower the metabolism.
@Razzler: we’re not talking about her weight because it isn’t a point of discussion than needs to be had. the point wasn’t that she needs to lose weight. the point was that some buttface kid (hopefully not an adult) said somthign very rude and insulting.
@modenastradale:
I agree that Boudin is superior, but unfortunately Panera is the best you can get here in white bread Des Moines Metro, Iowa.
@modenastradale:
Regional difference. Technically speaking, you’re not IN a line, either, you are FORMING a line by standing in front of and/or behind someone else.
@SWFL_Dan:
I’ve been fat since before I can remember, never had a thin day in my life. Whose fault is that. And why does a guy who’s paycheck I am contributing to get to comment on it?
@modenastradale: People in the New York area “wait on line.” It’s not more ridiculous than being “on a team.”
@MyCokesBiggerThanYours:
One of the biggest things Consumerist focuses on, if I’m correct, is customer service. No matter what level the poor customer service is coming from, it affects the consumer in general a great deal.
So was my mother the only one who taught her children that it’s not nice to insult people?
That person had no right to say anything like that. Not everybody was meant to be the same size and for someone to say that, it just shows how ignorant some people are. No one wants to be a stick figure anyway.
Okay I laughed but in hindsight that isnt something you never ever say to a customer nor is it really polite either.
@SWFL_Dan: “Please. The *vast* majority of obesity can be “cured” by diet and exercise.”
Perhaps, but unlike obesity, “douchebag” isn’t as easily curable, unfortunately for you and the people around you. You give ex-fatties a bad name. Fuck personal attacks, you really suck as a person. Eat your alfalfa sprouts and shut up, please.
Speaking of irony, you just don’t insult people like the employee did. It’s not a matter of being overweight or not, it’s about not being a jerk and verbally abusing someone about something as trivial as their physical appearance, whether you’re on the job or not. If the employee had made an ethnic slur towards the woman, would this even be up for discussion? They’re forms of prejudice that can anger or hurt people and they shouldn’t be tolerated.
To those that are putting the guy down for letting his wife stand in line: Are you for real? I’m no expert on wimmin however I know that they for the most part can get pretty grouchy when feeling blue. The guy probably tried to convince his wife to hold back and sit awhile while he stood in line. She probably told him to back off and leave her be. What’s he supposed to do? Pick her up and throw her over his shoulder, walk over to a table and sit her down? You seem to be missing the point of the damn article to begin with, and that is the employee was a fucking prick and if my wife was gloomy and she told me what the guy said….well, I just hope they wet the sponge if you catch my drift.
@BeFrugalNotCheap: I was thinking the same thing. It seemed like the guy wasn’t even there, anyway. But i know that if I was willing to wait and my boyfriend told me not to….I probably do it anyway. She’s a grown woman, she can make her own decisions. I’ve waited for 20 minutes in line at panera because the one by my house make some damn good sandwiches. i could have been done eating at Mcdonald’s in the amount of time it takes me to order at panera, but it’s worth it to me.
and to the poster who insists that diet and excercise solve everything…my little sister eats three times as much as me, never works out, and is a size 6. I walk three miles a day to and from work, every day- I go to the gym for Zumba, I eat a balanced diet, and guess what? I’m a nowhere near a 6. The ONLY way i could be would be to starve myself. My mom is considered obese, but she eats healthily, and much less than my sister…
I also have severe asthma that my doctor says was caused by second hand smoke exposure. It damaged my lungs while I was growing up, so i think telling someone not to smoke is a lot different from telling someone it’s not okay to be fat.
I doubt this happened as reported. “Waited in line for 25 minutes”? Come on. If there’s one exaggeration, there’s another…
@SWFL_Dan:
Excellent work… this SHS stuff is a joke really. I have seen better supported arguments in book reports written by third graders. Did one of your children compose that diatribe? It’s very cute.
So by your standards, it would be just fine for me to sit next to you in a resturant, and take a shit on the floor next to your table in the middle of your meal. It’s ok because you cannot prove that there is going to be any long term effects.
Unless it’s corporate policy to be rude or do something unprofessional, it really should not be on a consumer site.
@MyCokesBiggerThanYours: Of course it should! Who does the consumer deal with on a daily basis? Not the corporate heads. It absolutely matters how the low level employees treat the customers. One incident isn’t enough to condemn an entire company but if Consumerist gets a bunch of bad customer service stories from the same place that’s a good reason to think twice about doing business with them.