This one Blew my Mind

[Jay 2K Winger]

Have you ever read the Psychopath Next Door? This woman sounds like she could be an illustration for that book.

QFT. I've read that book-- partly as inspiration for some of my character writing-- and she does seem like exactly the kind of personality described in the book.

[Caractacus_Potts]

At that point O told R to just put some balls in the soup cups and microwave them so she wouldn't have to wait. At the expense of our microwave, though. After they came out the microwave looked like we killed someone in there. I briefly went out there, opened the microwave door, exclaimed "MURDER SHE WROTE" (as a joke)

If you ever have to do this again wet a paper towel or a napkin and drape it over the top of the cup. Whenever I reheat spaghetti sauce (or anything that tends to splatter) in a microwave I do this. It prevents the "MURDER SHE WROTE" splattering effect and the following clean-up.

The only reason she got away with it as much as she did was there was no one waiting behind her. I'm sure if there were people waiting she wouldn't have done it because those customers would have been on her ass instantly.

Actually as a customer I would hope I wouldn't have to get on her ass as I would expect the employee would take me next and inform the woman she needed to get to the end of the line while letting her know that in the future if she has multiple subs she needs to let the employee know about all of them up front to avoid having to wait in line again.

[vikingchyk]

I think it would be worse to be on shift the day after the $5 footlongs ends. I bet you get dozens of people coming in demanding to know why their sub isn't $5 and WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT ENDED YESTERDAY!?

I vote for an extra helping of no sympathy this go around, since they got a whole extra day this month

[XCashier]

Have you ever read the Psychopath Next Door? This woman sounds like she could be an illustration for that book.

Is this the book you're talking about? They may have changed the title.

It looks interesting; I'll have to see if the library has it.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Is this the book you're talking about? They may have changed the title.

It looks interesting; I'll have to see if the library has it.

That's the one. I picked up a couple of nonfiction books (which is a rare thing for me) to have a little more knowledge into mental disorders for my character writing. One was "The Sociopath Next Door" (about sociopaths) and the other was "The Center Cannot Hold" by Elyn Saks. (about schizophrenia)

Both were interesting reads.

[TheTigress]

Last Saturday, I got Subway after the gym ($5 footlong is a blessing for me because I can finally get turkey or roast beef without having to pay more or go somewhere else with smaller sandwiches but cheaper prices), and there was a woman in front of me with 4 complex sandwich orders, and she took her sweet time pausing and hemming and hawwing.

God, I hate being behind the "sandwich bitch" who has to do the running for several all different, all complicated sandwiches.

Trust me, we as workers hate it just as much as the customers stuck behind them do.

I think it would be worse to be on shift the day after the $5 footlongs ends. I bet you get dozens of people coming in demanding to know why their sub isn't $5 and WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT ENDED YESTERDAY!?

For some reason I get a sadistic pleasure out of it. We have to deal with hell for a whole month so it's nice to be able to throw it back at them sometimes. However, we always warn them as soon as they say which sandwich they want that it's no longer $5 so we don't have to deal with the bullshit when we get to the register.

If you ever have to do this again wet a paper towel or a napkin and drape it over the top of the cup. Whenever I reheat spaghetti sauce (or anything that tends to splatter) in a microwave I do this. It prevents the "MURDER SHE WROTE" splattering effect and the following clean-up.




Actually as a customer I would hope I wouldn't have to get on her ass as I would expect the employee would take me next and inform the woman she needed to get to the end of the line while letting her know that in the future if she has multiple subs she needs to let the employee know about all of them up front to avoid having to wait in line again.

I usually put a sandwich paper over things that explode like that, but I think they were in too much of a hurry to do it. Next time anyone needs to microwave balls I'm insisting they put a paper over it.

If that was happening and I was making her sandwiches, I definitely would have told her to get her ass to the back of the line if she even tried to start that. I don't care how pissed off she would get.

I vote for an extra helping of no sympathy this go around, since they got a whole extra day this month

This.

[SailorMan]

Have you ever read the Psychopath Next Door? This woman sounds like she could be an illustration for that book.

At one time I was writing a mystery novel which included a serial killer as the chief protagonist, and read that particular book as part of my research. It was both interesting and scary... Not every psycopath is a killer, but they do manage to entertain themselves in ways that more, errr, normal people wouldn't.

[CatsLairArchives]

I cannot stop laughing!

Not over your story so much as the vision of what I would have LOVED to do as a customer behind the SC - involving a puppet and a can of silly string.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

If that was me I would say to the SC: "either you tell me right now how many sandwiches you are getting or this order is cancelled."

[XCashier]

If that was me I would say to the SC: "either you tell me right now how many sandwiches you are getting or this order is cancelled."

That's only if the manager is okay with it. Otherwise it could lead to the SC having a snit fit and the employee getting canned.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

I have a copy of "The Sociopath Next Door". It's an eye opener for sure...though it didn't really surprise me, as I recognized several people I've known over the years as sociopaths. Hopefully, SandBitch is the type who only does crap like that, getting her jollies by making other people mad...I suppose it's better than the ones who are violent.

1 out of 25 people is a sociopath, according to that book and some other studies I've read. Scary.

[Jester]

I don't think you are really seeing the positive part of this incident. You and your coworkers should actually really look on the bright side. No, not that she's "never coming in again." We all know that's a big steaming pile of dog crap.

What you're failing to realize is that this woman took great joy in being a complete cunt to you and your coworkers. I know, I know...in what way is that positive? Simple: This woman's life is so pathetic and lame that THIS is one of the ways she finds joy in life.

How empty would one's life have to be for THAT? Don't get me wrong, I have taken joy in other's pain and discomfort in my life, but it's pretty much always been people I didn't like FOR A REASON. Not some sandwich jockey at my local eatery. Especially if they are the ones preparing my food.

See? There is positive. You realize she has an empty life, she didn't get to be as horrible to you as she wanted, she didn't get you in trouble in any way, and she STILL has to go back to her horrible, pathetic, empty existence.

*sigh* I just love happy endings!

And to think I feel embarrassed just by my order for my favorite sandwich. >< Every time I ask for "lots of black olives", I cringe on the inside, lol.

But why? I never feel embarrassed when I ask for extra banana peppers and/or extra oil & vinegar on my BMT. Oftentimes, they don't put enough on for me, especially with the O&V. I politely ask for more, they put more on, no muss, no fuss, everyone's happy. Ditto if I ask for more mayo on my tuna, since half the time they don't put enough on. (Those are really the only two sandwiches I get at Subway lately....had the BMT last night and the tuna today.)

About the only time I ever got really pissed at a Subway employee was when I had to tell them what veggies I wanted twice, for EACH veggie. I.e., I'd ask for cucumbers, and she'd reach for olives. I'd ask for tomatoes, she'd reach for jalapenos. It drove me nuts. But I was still polite while correcting her, and didn't go off on anyone until I got home, and shared the idiocy and incompetency with my roommate Mr. Anti-Social, who is also a frequent Subwayer.

But other than that and a few other minor things, I can't complain at all about Subway. Some of their clientele, sure. And some of the employees at my local one aren't always the sharpest crayons. But I get my food the way I want it, I don't piss anyone off, my wallet barely gets dented....everyone's happy! It's a win win!

[emax4]

I have never worked at a Subway, nor am I aware how the assembly line goes, so forgive me if my solution is crap:

The woman decided to keep adding sandwiches at the register, and the cashier knew she was intentionally doing this. If a line of customers started forming, is it allowable to put all of the ready sandwiches to the side (or on the back counter by the microwave), and then ring up the next person in line, especially if the cashier is working alone at the front? The cashier could say, "I wasn't aware there was going to be a large order since you didn't mention it earlier, so since you're not in a rush (you can say that since she never did say she WAS in a hurry) I'm going to temporarily put these over here and help the next customer." Is that allowed at all?

I know from reading similar Subway stories here that if a sandwich is refused by the customer before it gets paid for, you guys have to simply throw it away. Is there a threshold to how many can be made before it costs the store money or someone gets in trouble? Anotherwards, if three sandwiches were made and SC wanted a 4th one, then the cashier advised the SC that he has to put her order on hold to accommodate the line of waiting customers, then the SC leaves without paying for anything and without its food, is it taboo that 3 ready sandwiches were thrown away?

If I were the SC, and my place in line (1st and current) was put on hold to take care of another customer, I'd be pissed. I could say, "there's no sign saying that I have to declare how many sandwiches I wanted" (but personally I know to tell the sandwich artist how many subs I'll want in advance). In return, the sandwich artist might think, "it's better to lose / piss off one customer and keep multiple customers (in line), than to lose / piss off multiple customers (in line) and keep one customer.", but how it get's expressed to the SC may vary.

It would be one thing if the woman generally didn't know to declare that she wanted multiple sandwiches before placing her first order, but since you said that she intentionally was pissing off the sandwich artist, she loses all credibility. When you said that she shot O the nasty face when O told the coworker to leave, that made it worse. I'd like to imagine what might have happened outside if R was walking through the dining room to the front door after clocking out, either in front of or behind the SC leaving...

Are Subways both corporate and franchised or all franchised? With the stores out there, I know this probably isn't the first time something like this has happened. I would ask your manager to inquire with the HQ or other stores if there's a policy on what to do when something like this happens, but throw away the fact that the SC was intentionally being an SC. See if you're allowed to put their order on hold if you have a line of customers growing, or if you can ring them up and force them to go to the back of the line if they want more subs. In addition, see if there's a maximum number of subs that can be made on one order if the customer doesn't tell the sandwich artist how many sandwiches they want ahead of time. Ex.: if they say "three", then if a customer is at the register, orders another sandwich, then a third one, then a fourth, the customer has to pay for the original three and get back in line for the fourth one.

EDIT: Something else I thought of: I've heard and seen signs at some Subways that instruct a person to end their cellphone calls before placing an order. You think the manager or owner would go for that? Hopefully if they've been behind an obnoxious person on their cell while waiting in line, they can sympathize with you and agree to putting up a sign. If they won't agree to the sign for the cellphones, see if they'll agree to a sign instructing the customer to state how many sandwiches they want upfront. It'll be a little insurance policy in the event when this happens again.

[wolfie]

Tand the other was "The Center Cannot Hold" by Elyn Saks. (about schizophrenia)

Ironic that this book seems to have a split personality - it's also the title of one of the "Great War" series by Harry Turtledove.

[vikingchyk]

Thanks for reminding me about yesterday being the last day of Februany. I went on my way home, had one for dinner, and have one for lunch today. AND I got my free cookie