I consider myself a patient man. HOWEVER, this is going to be my first “What Grinds my Gears” blog. With this being the case, there is some backlog of crap happening to me and stupid people I deal with. So, I ask you, do you want to know what grinds my gears? What salts my apples, if you will? Well I have a big issue with Karens!

Now, if your name happens to be Karen and you don’t yell at the cashier about store prices, and you don’t see a group of girls in tank-tops walking up Main Street and say, “Not leaving much to the imagination!” Then you and I are cool. No… I’m talking about the kind of people like the woman who banged on the Subway doors when I locked up for closing and was just trying to mop. Yeah, those kinds of people.

On the topic of Subway, many readers know I used to work at the lovely Saxonburg Subway restaurant. IT WAS INDEED NOT LOVELY! The amount of people that would come in and think the world revolved around them was disgustingly too many. I would have a woman come in regularly with a fake service dog that would tear around the store while her “disoriented” owner would order like 7 subs with all the ingredients in separate cookie bags. That being said, acting crazy does not necessarily equal Karen. Karen’s also come in male form. A Ken, if you will.

The line was trailing out the door but my coworker and I were flying through subs! This man who was about 3 people away from being served was not having it. He decided the he had enough of this sandwich oppression! This man decided to try to start a revolt. He spoke up in front of the counter, “HEY! This is ridiculous! We’ve been waiting forever! I’ve been standing here for 10 minutes!” He walked in MAYBE 5 minutes prior. “I want to see a manager because I think we all have something to say!” Now I’m not one to shame people based on style, but I was NOT about get yelled at by a guy who looked like the forbidden love child of Howard Stern and Shaggy from “Scooby Doo”. I also try to hold my tongue when it comes to rude customers. Today was not one of those days.

I looked at him and had to say “I’m SO sorry sir! What subs were you wanting today?:D” Then this man said he wanted 3 meatball subs. I got to look this …gentleman…. In the face and say, “Alright good choice! I will make that after I serve all these people who have been waiting patiently in line ahead of you.” BOOM! BOMB DROPPED! This guy didn’t say a single thing the rest of his miserable time in line.

Luckily, I don’t work at Subway anymore. I am free from the shackles that is the grossest and most underpaid job that I’ve ever worked. Other than a few under the table labor jobs, I’ve only ever worked in food service. So, for the love of God, please have some empathy for your local cashier, pizza delivery driver, and poor Subway employee. We are all just trying to survive. And thus concludes the first rant of “What Grinds my Gears”. Until next time, try not to cry before your shifts, and don’t be afraid to scold the next entitled Karen to cross your path.