The only thing worse than dealing with a “Karen” at work is having one in your own family.
Such is the case for one woman who shared the utter mortification she experiences every time she goes out to eat with her boomer in-laws.
The woman explained why going out to eat with her boomer in-laws is ‘demoralizing.’
Sharing her frustrations on the subreddit r/BoomersBeingFools, the woman revealed that as a former waitress, going out to eat with her boomer in-laws is an excruciating experience.
“I feel mortally embarrassed when being associated with them in a restaurant,” she wrote.
Robert Kneschke | Shutterstock
“It all starts with the hostess. The hostess is seating you on a rotation to ensure servers get enough heads. It isn’t personal,” the woman explained. However, her mother-in-law has no comprehension of the seating rotation that restaurant hosts must follow and always makes a fuss about it.
“[She] makes it a point to go, ‘Well, why can’t we sit over THERE,’” the woman shared. “I chime in and mention that this is just where we need to sit for things to run smoothly. She hates this.”
The woman described her mother-in-law as a “Grand Karen” when it comes to dealing with restaurant staff. “No meal ever tastes good to her, and she sends food back or complains,” she wrote.
“She is also so rude to the staff, bosses them around, and does NOT greet them,” she continued. “Like, they come over, and she immediately says, ‘Yeah, I want this,’ and then makes it overly complicated and doesn’t want it seasoned.”
Ruslan Huzau | Shutterstock
The woman’s father-in-law isn’t much better.
“[He] thinks he can chat up the waitresses and feels insulted when they cannot sit down to join us,” she shared. “He cracks off-color jokes about wages or mentions how easy it would be to get a job there.”
Research has found that restaurant expectations vary based on generations.
When you think about it in simple terms, it makes sense. Kids, for example, would prefer a Dave & Buster’s experience or anywhere that offers video games, plenty of chicken fingers, and the opportunity to be loud and not have to sit the entire time.
So, in those terms, the same can be said about everyone from Gen Z to boomers. According to the National Restaurant Association’s annual report, older generations prefer a more traditional restaurant experience where the customer is always right, and everything on the menu is adaptable. Younger generations are more easygoing about their dining experiences and more willing to try new things.
Ultimately, it’s that simple.
Maybe that’s also the secret to an enjoyable dining out experience with boomers — choose somewhere that caters to their style.
The woman urged other Redditors to share their own boomer restaurant patron horror stories — and they delivered.
“I’ll never forget the time that my family and I were visiting Florida when I was a teenager. My dad berated this poor server because this particular restaurant didn’t give out complimentary bread, then asked for a manager and tore him a new one as well … over free bread,” one Redditor commented.
“My wife and I took her father out for a birthday lunch at a nice restaurant with my sister-in-law tagging along. He immediately went off the deep end because we weren’t seated the minute we walked in,” another commenter wrote. “Then he was causing a stir because the waitress didn’t take our drink order yet … we were sitting there for only three minutes, and it was a lunch rush.”
“I refuse to go out and eat with my mother,” a third user admitted. “Last time we did, it was at a steakhouse. She ordered the ribs. Then she goes on this nasty rant to the waitress about, ‘If you even think about bringing me out dry ribs, I will send them right back. Last time I was here, I got dry ribs, and I sent them back, and I will do it again!’”
Robert Kneschke | Shutterstock
Some boomers assume that the entire restaurant — and the world, for that matter — should revolve around them. When something doesn’t go accordingly, whether there’s not enough ice in their drink or they’re seated at a table too far away from the window, they often take it as a personal attack against them.
However, what many of them fail to understand is that restaurant servers, especially during a rush, do not have the means to grant their every request as soon as they make it.
With all of the job duties they have to manage, servers are trying their very best to make all their customers’ experiences a good one. They are not trying to ruin your life by forgetting to bring you an extra packet of ketchup or seating you at a table instead of a booth.
Just like all of us, servers are human above anything else and deserve to be treated as such. And we’re being honest with ourselves: many boomers wouldn’t last a day working the customer service jobs that they constantly moan about being “so easy.”
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.
