How dare you curse when I throw this at your head?!

[Despina83]

At my store the other day one of the lot attendants was out getting carts when a guy he'd never seen before pulls up, yells "Do your job!" and throws a half eaten Subway sandwich at his head, hitting its mark, and simultaneously flipping him off. The cart attendant was understandably pissed with bits off lettuce and tomatoes in his hair and on his shirt and yelled back, "Fuck you!" Guess what the waste of oxygen decided to do next? He parks his truck, goes inside, locates the guy's supervisor, and issues a complaint that he cursed at him. I heard he was given a verbal warning, but I don't believe he was actually formally written up. The cart attendant said he had no idea why the guy yelled "do your job", as he was grabbing carts right then. Who knows. I figure maybe he was really texting on his phone and the guy saw him and decided assault was the best way to handle it. Or maybe the guy was pissed because a stray cart dinged his truck, since after all, customers never leave carts outside of the corrals...

[notalwaysright]

Well, us retail workers aren't really people, so we aren't allowed to react like a person, right?

Throwing anything is unacceptable, I don't care what it is. And the employee shouldn't even have been given a verbal warning, IMO. Once he said "dude threw something which hit me on the head" that should have been the end of it.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I got the same talking-to when I muttered an S-bomb under my breath when the item I was carrying out for a customer fell and smooshed my finger. Customer complained about it later.

I was pissed off about it at the time, but now it's just amusing. A talking-to like that means less than nothing as far as the disciplinary process is concerned.

[bainsidhe]

Too bad the guy didn't file a formal complaint. You know, with name, number, and other fun details the police might find helpful when assault charges are filed.

[Monterey Jack]

Customer throwing item at employee and actually hitting them = A S S A U L T. I don't care how soft said item is...it could be a bag of marshmallows, and it still counts as assault. Receiving a verbal warning for swearing at someone for chucking a sandwich at your head (especially in a parking lot where other customers wouldn't hear it!) is completely unacceptable.

[mathnerd]

Too bad the guy didn't file a formal complaint. You know, with name, number, and other fun details the police might find helpful when assault charges are filed.

It could have been a fatal assault if it had happened to me, as I can go into anaphylaxis with just skin contact with tomatoes. And you bet I'd have filed a police report and forced the store to pull tapes, even if it meant my job.

[Evannah]

What a jerk! Thinking he can treat an employee like shit under his shoe, throw something at him and then complain when the employee curses. What did he honestly expect? For the employee to pick up the Subway and then come over to him and offer to polish his boots with his tongue? Seriously. Jerk.

[Captain Trips]

The verbal warning should have ended with "Oh, I didn't know that, I'm sorry. Do you want to press charges?" after you said "Yeah, I cursed at him - after he threw something at me and hit. Hard."

Any boss who continues with the warning after that is someone I wouldn't want to work for.

[Sheldonrs]

Sorry. All bets are off if someone throws something at me. And if my boss tried to write me up, that sandwich and my boot would be so far up his or her ass, they could taste both.

[taxguykarl]

What did he honestly expect? For the employee to pick up the Subway and then come over to him and offer to polish his boots with his tongue?

Why do I have the feeling that the 's answer would be Exactly.

Any boss who continues with the warning after that is someone I wouldn't want to work for.

Agreed, talk about throwing under the bus

[Jester]

Throwing anything is unacceptable, I don't care what it is.

I disagree. I rather enjoy it when my satisfied customers throw money down on the bar for me, especially if it's in large denominations. Now, if they start throwing money AT me, that's a bit more sketchy. Especially if it's of the coin variety.

That being said, I agree that throwing anything AT AN EMPLOYEE is unacceptable.

[carryonnow]

I think I would have conducted a "formal investigation" and had the dim witted sandwich chucker fill out the paperwork for a safety incident....with his name, address and phone number. Since the incident happened outside, I would definitely need to "photograph the scene" before allowing him to depart. Of course, the employee would have to provide a statement about the events.
Since this HORRIBLE incident happened in the lot, the police would certainly need to investigate to ensure that I have done due diligence and protected the interest of all parties.

As for the employee what suffered the indignity of being pelted with food, I would send that poor young fellow home...with pay for the remainder of his shift--because NO ONE needs to be embarrassed like that by a member of the public.

I think I would also request a no trespass order for the food chucker....not certain that I could ever bag his purchase without crushing the bread or breaking his eggs.

[Kagato]

snip

No offense meant, but you're kind of preaching to the choir

[Ironclad Alibi]

No offense meant, but you're kind of preaching to the choir

That's because no one else will listen to us.

[MutualAddiction]

Does your store have video cameras of the parking lot? (Most do.) This is an easily remidied situation. Either your coworker gets written up, or he has the ability to press charges.