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They said "You need to have your car at" and I cut them off and said "I am sorry did you just tell me that I need to deliver a car you are asking to borrow for no money"? They said "Yeah". I said "Oh, okay, just send me a retainer of 1/4 the price of the car and you can borrow it, I don't know you". She said "I don't have that much money". I said "Well I do, so who the hell in their right mind tells the person they are asking for a favor where to be and what to do"? She got really angry and explained to me "Who she was". Then told me "I can destroy your business in minutes with a negative comment". I couldn't stop laughing, I am an architect and normally work for corporations. She said "The people do as I demand and I have 90,000 followers". I said "Cool have every one of your followers send you $ so you can borrow my car" and then hung up. I got 4 emails from her loyal followers...4.
If you’re not aware, “Sir, this is a Wendy’s” is a meme of sorts at this point, most likely originating from The Office (season 4, episode 14). The official description of the meme is a catchphrase used essentially any situation where a person wants to deflect someone who’s annoying (exceedingly or slightly, doesn’t matter) with questions or comments that may or may not be bizarre or irrelevant.
This, by proxy, also extends to folks who are utterly confused by their whereabouts and that causes annoyance or trouble. It doesn’t have to be a Wendy’s. It does, unfortunately, most usually manifest itself in retail, as if that part of the corporate industry wasn’t already plagued by a very questionable contingent of clientele, the final boss of whom is the Karen. Or so it seems.
Over the years, the meme spread through Twitter, morphing into an Arby’s version for a bit, and being even further popularized by cartoonist SrGrafo in 2019 with their comic strip that references the now-popular catchphrase. Now I wonder if he did let him finish…?
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Bored Panda reached out to a former retail employee who also chimed in with a story. Redditor u/Effective-Ad-OFour used to work at a Target one summer and had a bit of a surreal experience (surreal probably on the part of the client, not the Redditor), when a customer walked into the store, filled up their cart with stuff worth over $100 only to be absolutely rejected at the cash register as they handed in their Walmart gift card. Needless to say, OP wasn’t thrilled to be putting everything back in its rightful places.
“I’ve worked a number of retail stores and I can’t say it’s a common situation, but my coworkers had stories like this. This is more common in places like Walmart where there’s a different customer base because of the cheaper prices and stuff.” explained OP.
“That was the only time something weird like that happened to me at Target. A coworker of mine said she was often harassed by a regular Karen who always asked something far-fetched every time she shopped there. She would ask things like if a particular blend of coffee was gluten-free, why does the pet food aisle have a strange smell and what does turkey meatloaf taste like. I never had the honor of bumping into this woman.”
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Lady comes in , trips over a couple piano stools In her rage filled stomp over to the counter , slams a receipt on the counter and immediately starts shouting, conversation was as follows :
She comes back in 5 minutes later and starts shouting whilst I’m helping an actual customer
“ WHERE DID YOU PUT MY RECEIPT ?! YOU STOLE IT DIDN’T YOU “
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We asked u/Effective-Ad-OFour if they, being aware of the context as a retail employee, had any idea why folks were doing this in the first place. They speculated that, in most cases, it was just personality quirks and that these were peculiar people who were prone to ask weird questions like that because it was their way of doing small talk and they just wanted to talk to someone.
“A lot of people also shopped after work. Usually the shopping then is more on auto-pilot, you’re deep in your own thoughts and can forget where you are and what you’re doing,” elaborated OP.
“I once followed a random stranger into a local bait shop thinking it was the drug store I get my prescriptions at without even thinking about it because of how exhausted I was that day from my 12-hour shift. Two seconds later, I realized a serious lack of drug-stocked shelves and the staff wasn’t wearing scrubs or lab coats. I immediately walked out internally embarrassed. I do sometimes think about the staff there wondering what just happened. It happens, you know.”
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“Oh? That’s pretty cool”
“I did a song for my dad that died a year ago”
“Awe that’s sweet of you”
It was a very silent awkward ride.
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I’m aware of the strain that living in compromised positions (medical or otherwise) can place on people. I am also aware that throwing juice is not generally rational, effective, or respectful. It just results in spilled juice, and that’s no fun for anyone.
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The original AskReddit post garnered nearly 21,000 upvotes (90% positive) as of the moment of this article, clocking in at 6,400 comments with people’s stories and responses.
Among the best of the best, we had everything from folks confused that a McD’s isn’t a Wendy’s and calling a radio station doesn’t actually mean you can book a hotel room with a rock star. The best one probably had to be that one time when a guy walked into a taxation company’s office, speaking Spanish. Immediately, the receptionist got a Spanish-speaking coworker to help out and after the talk, the coworker returned with a confused look on his face and asked if this was a practical joke being pulled on him because the guy had some medical emergency in the nether region and thought the first door in this apartment block was a medical center.
You can keep scrolling to read more “Sir, this is a Wendy’s” goodness. And once you’re done with that, we have more. Here. Enjoy. But before you do that, why not share your own stories and thoughts on anything here in the comment section below!