Racist old biddy...

[Clover]

Not too long ago, I worked at one of the primary pharmacies available in the US. I'm always as friendly as possible with customers, and I've been hugged a few times, had one lady cup my face and tell me that I was the sweetest girl she'd ever met and not to ever let anyone take that away from me (seriously, she leaned so close I thought she was going to make out with me or something) and smoothed out situations that my managers could only stammer at with irate customers, and more often than not even if they came in fuming, they left smiling or laughing, that's just the sort of person I am.

However, I got one old white lady (the race was important here) come in who went to the coffee machines and got a medium coffee and brought it up to me, demanding the sale price. When I pointed out to her that the sale was on the large, not the medium, and offered to switch the cups for her because that way she'd actually get more coffee for less money, which seemed like a perfectly reasonable thing to do, she went off on me and started yelling at me that she didn't want the large. Now, here you might want to note I'm about medium-skinned (sort've a mocha color) with brown eyes and dark hair. When I tried to explain the simple solution to her problem to her, she started yelling again, accused me of being a 'job-stealing stupid wetback' and threw the boiling-temperature coffee on me and left without paying. My manager, an ex-military woman who thinks she's a drill sergeant, wouldn't let me go rinse off the coffee with cold water or anything until my lunch break, so I was standing there with burns all over my arms and chest (up to my neck) and couldn't do a damn thing about it.

So, to you, Racist Old Biddy, I must tell you that it's ridiculous to throw such a tantrum that someone actually gets hurt because you don't want to have a larger cup, even if that saves you money, but I also must mention this-

I'm part Cherokee and Blackfoot Native American. I'm pretty sure we've been here longer than you.

[Enjis]

Boiling hot coffee on you...thrown by a 'customer'...and the supervisor wouldn't let you get off the floor to take care of it?????
Holt spit! They should have driven you to the emergency room to be seen to! That should have had a 'accident' form filled out...and at the very least, that woman should have had the police called on her and been charged with assault!

Arrgh!

[reimero]

Boiling hot coffee on you...thrown by a 'customer'...and the supervisor wouldn't let you get off the floor to take care of it?????
Holt spit! They should have driven you to the emergency room to be seen to! That should have had a 'accident' form filled out...and at the very least, that woman should have had the police called on her and been charged with assault!

Arrgh!

This. x1000. You need to report this ASAP. Seriously.

[thehuckster]

I'd file a complaint with your manager. And OSHA. If you got burns from an old bitch (biddy doesn't describe her enough) like that, and your manager didn't even blink, then your manager should be reprimanded; first for not letting you tend to your wounds and get cleaned up, and second for letting the woman get away with it.

Throwing coffee at someone is assault and battery, and in some cases could cause injuries requiring a hospital visit.

[Eireann]

Man, stories like this make me wish I had been there. I'd have torn the woman a new one, called the police and reported her for assault, waited until the police came, and torn the manager TWO new ones for making you wait. AND reported the manager to HR. Corporate. The Vatican. Anyone.

[taxguykarl]

Man, stories like this make me wish I had been there. I'd have torn the woman a new one, called the police and reported her for assault, waited until the police came, and torn the manager TWO new ones for making you wait. AND reported the manager to HR. Corporate. The Vatican. Anyone.

Agreed. Especially the police and Corporate. This is inexusible behavior by both the supervisor and SC.

Please don't anyone defend this SC b/c of her age. After all, at what age do the rules that govern civilized behavior no longer apply?

[XCashier]

she started yelling again, accused me of being a 'job-stealing stupid wetback' and threw the boiling-temperature coffee on me and left without paying. My manager, an ex-military woman who thinks she's a drill sergeant, wouldn't let me go rinse off the coffee with cold water or anything until my lunch break, so I was standing there with burns all over my arms and chest (up to my neck) and couldn't do a damn thing about it.

Far too many employees don't realize that they have rights, including the right not to be assaulted and the right to necessary medical treatment.

OSHA should have been contacted, as should the Corporate offices of your company, and quite possibly the police. Your manager had no right to make you work while you were burned; you should've gotten first aid treatment, there should've been an incident report made, and if needed, you should've gone to the hospital.

Please, never let them walk all over you like that again. Learn your rights and use them.

[nuthing12]

You've definitely got a case against the store, get a lawyer. I'd have told that manager to fuck off, and then include her in my lawsuit thereby forcing her to pay for a lawyer out of her own pocket! Plus the satisfaction of getting that old lady arrested and thrown in with jail with other older criminals who also wouldn't think twice about scalding her with hot coffee in her eyes

[Seshat]

Anyone who has this happen to them:

Go straight to a source of cold water. Running cold water. Get the heat drawn out of the burn as the first thing you do.

THEN call emergency. (If I were your coworker, I'd be calling emergency, and as soon as I was off the phone with them, I'd be helping you get the burn dealt with.)

THEN tell the manager to fuck off.

If the manager tries to physically prevent you from getting the heat drawn out of the burn, call emergency. They'll probably send police as well as paramedics.

Scald burns like that can cause permanent disfigurement and disability. NOONE has a right to say 'you have to wait for your break to deal with it'.

[Food Lady]

I could repeat what everyone else said but I won't waste space. But I will say you CAN still fill out a report after the fact in the states. And if I were there to witness it, I would've been yelling "That's assault!" and blocking the SCs way to the door.

[tropicsgoddess]

OMG ......I really hope you got those burns treated. Does your job have security cameras? Maybe you could get that racist old biddy on tape and report her for assault.

[bainsidhe]

I want to be angry at this sucky customer, and I am. But that feeling is overshadowed by the total horror of your manager's reaction. Did you seek medical treatment? If this happened "not to long ago", has it had time to heal? Burns are easily infected, take it seriously, especially if it was all over your torso.

[EricKei]

If you're of an age where you live at home, speak with your parents first -- If you still have visible burns/scarring from this, consider going to a higher manager and explaining what happened, then tell them that you NEED to be sent to a doctor to check it out, at the store's expense. Be very specific about what the manager did to you. There is absolutely NO excuse for insensitivity and outright *incompetence* of that magnitude, from either the manager nor that SC.

[Clover]

I don't work there anymore, thank god. I'm currently self-employed as an artist, but trying to find full-time employment to help pay the bills.

Yes, it healed only a few days afterwards-thankfully they weren't very severe, it happened in the winter so I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, which helped protect me from the worst of it. I don't have any visible scarring or anything left from it, and while I probably could pursue legal action for it, I just don't think it's worth it at this point-I'm not there anymore, from what I've heard the manager who wouldn't let me leave to get some cold water either has been or is very close to being fired for mouthing off to a higher-up, and in general it's just not my problem anymore-but you can be darn sure I'm not letting anyone treat me like that again!

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

Not to mention that it's the sort of thing that Lawyers hear about and would stert dueling each other for the right to represent you in a court case against the manager and/or the store who hired the manager.

That is a very actionable offense and one that is very easy to win. Ambulance chasers cream their jeans over those cases.