A user on TikTok has gone viral after posting a video of a Panera Bread employee refusing to take her drive-thru order because her child was screaming.
In a video with over 2.9 million views, TikTok user @leikerornot records an interaction with a Panera Bread employee. The video begins after the employee allegedly refused to take the TikToker’s order due to her child’s screaming.
“So you are going to refuse to take my order because my child was screaming?” the TikToker asks.
“Yes. I have the right to do that,” the employee responds. “You’re more than welcome to come inside, or you can place an order online and we’ll make it for you.”
@leikerornot What child doesn’t make noise? 😂🤣 #fyp #trending #panerabread ♬ original sound – leikerornot
The argument continues in this manner for over a minute, with the TikToker insisting that the employee take her order and the employee refusing to do so.
At one point, @leikerornot says she cannot enter the restaurant because her daughter is not wearing shoes. She also chides the employee for refusing to take her order.
“It’s your job to take orders and stuff, and this is ridiculous,” she declares.
Eventually, the employee says he will take the order if “your daughter doesn’t scream.”
“I think that’s a pretty good decision on your part,” the TikToker responds.
“Okay, I don’t need this attitude,” the employee concludes as the video ends.
While @leikerornot seems to have posted the video in search of sympathy, many commenters took the employee’s side.
“I’m sorry I understand the other side if I can’t hear you I’d rather you come inside instead of complaining,” one user wrote. “look at it from his perspective.”
“He probably couldn’t hear you. speaking from experiences those microphones are not good quality and background noise makes it impossible to hear,” a second commented.
“And if he messed up the order cause he couldn’t hear with the child screaming, then you’d be kicking off about that too. I’m with him on this,” a third shared.
However, some took the TikToker’s side, saying there were other ways the employee could’ve resolved the issue rather than refusing to serve her.
“He could say pull to the window,” one user offered.
“Yep so you say ‘Can you please drive forward so I can take your order? I am having [trouble] hearing you through the speaker with the noisy baby,’” another suggested.
For her part, @leikerornot claims her daughter’s screaming was not excessive.
“My daughter just turned 3. She screamed a few times. This was pretty unacceptable in my eyes,” she detailed in a comment. “Should I have brought her inside to disrupt dining?”
The TikToker also claims that she submitted several requests, but “Panera corporate has still not reached out.”
Further users said they could sympathize with both the TikToker and the employee.
“I understand both parties,” one wrote. “its sometimes really hard with kids and he is not paid enough to go extra mile but he is trying.”
The Daily Dot reached out to @leikerornot via TikTok comment and to Panera Bread via email.
