“Finish My Sandwich”: Subway Worker Shuts Down Rude Customer and the Internet Loves It

After entering a Subway, a woman left without getting her sandwich. Not because the restaurant closed or because they ran out of bread. Because the person working behind the counter thought she wasn’t worthy of one.

Charlie (@charlie_kincade), a TikTok user, was in the store at the time and recorded the entire incident. Since then, millions of people have watched it. A woman wearing a pink-and-white striped shirt demanded that an employee finish making her sandwich at the beginning of the video.

“No, I won’t finish it because you need to respect me,” was the employee’s straightforward reaction. The customer escalated the situation. “Well, you need to respect your customers. I’ll tell them you don’t respect your customers. Would you finish my sandwich?”

The employee remained silent. Rather, she asked Charlie what she wanted to order. A cold-cut trio was what she ordered when another employee greeted the next person in line as that sandwich was being prepared.

“Finish my sandwich!” the woman in the shirt yelled into a store that had just moved on without her as she waited there, growing more and more incredulous. She insisted that a supervisor be called, though no one did, and she eventually left.

The TikTok user captioned the post, writing, “I felt so bad for the server.” She added, “She was doing her job, and this woman started yelling at her.” Most of the comments were thrilled and disagreed with the “felt so bad” approach.

“Ms. Subway, that was the best ignore job I’ve ever seen in my life! She couldn’t believe it,” one viewer wrote. Another user wrote, “I used to be a fast food worker, and politely ignoring rude customers works every time.” They added, “It takes two to argue. They eventually just leave.”

Others pointed out that the employee had found a strategy that worked better than confrontation: after clearly stating her point once, she simply refused to engage in the argument the customer wanted. Nothing was left to escalate against.

Since the pandemic, there has been ample evidence of rude customer behavior in the food service business. According to Business Insider, a survey conducted in 2021, 62% of restaurant workers reported experiencing emotional abuse or disrespect from customers.

Another survey revealed that 39% of food service workers had quit specifically because of harassment and hostility from customers. In the video, the Subway worker did not quit. Charlie’s sandwich was finished by her.