Welcome to Entitled, USA

[WelshBloke]

From that point on (IMHO) it's defensive at that point. Responding to an assault with a defense shouldn't be charged.

It's not defensive, the unruly customer didn't cross the counter or advance on the server in any way. They threw some food at them, that's it. If you cant handle that without resorting to, possibly deadly, violence you probably need retraining and a non public facing job.

 

[mindless1]

I'd love it if I could defend myself by smashing a blender into someone's skull every time their retrofit LED headlights assault me while driving but the truth is, there aren't enough blenders.

 

[WelshBloke]

I'd love it if I could defend myself by smashing a blender into someone's skull every time their retrofit LED headlights assault me while driving but the truth is, there aren't enough blenders.

There was a little old lady at work last week that hit me with her stick because she woke up confused and thought she was at home. I clearly should have lobbed one of the dell desktops at her, they are crap anyway.

 

[BudAshes]

Next time don't throw burgers at people. Lesson learned.

 

[Exterous]

I'm guessing the blender was the closest item at hand the employee could return fire with. I'm also picturing an "acceptable response" scenario where the employee picks up the burger, weighs it, measures aerodynamic forces, calculates likely customer dodge response and then goes looking around for an item that most closely matches the assaulting projectile.

 

[brianmanahan]

someone throwing a burger at you, while idiotic, doesn't mean you can throw a blender at their face.

 

[lxskllr]

Fuck that customer. If I did that and got a broken face, I'd consider it a lesson. Don't start shit if you aren't gonna finish.

 

[Sonikku]

This is how JOKER happens.

 

[WelshBloke]

Fuck that customer. If I did that and got a broken face, I'd consider it a lesson. Don't start shit if you aren't gonna finish.

So you're saying that the customer should have thrown a chair back?
An arms race of random furniture?

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

It's not defensive, the unruly customer didn't cross the counter or advance on the server in any way. They threw some food at them, that's it. If you cant handle that without resorting to, possibly deadly, violence you probably need retraining and a non public facing job.

Look bud, the crux of the problem is someone here acted irrationally to begin with. The probability that the blender would be thrown prior to the actions of the customer is probably 0.000001%

The final point: You're arguing (essentially) that the problem at fault here was a worker that didn't take shit - when the reality of the situation is that it could have 100% been prevented if the initial violence wasn't completed by the raging bitch customer. Please for the love of god understand whom is at the ULTIMATE fault here.

I just hate this shit were getting into now where we are excusing the customer as if it is normal behavior that we should expect. That's just downright ridiculous. The action is what caused the reaction - thus if we want to stop the reaction we MUST STOP THE ORIGINAL ACTION. Not shit all over the reaction as if they were the original problem.

EDIT: If I wasn't clear enough - THIS IS 100% UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR from a customer. But for some reason - and it's likely from shit like this happening SO often - people here are practically defending the customer because they see this kind of Worldstar hiphop shit all the time. If you honestly want any hope for this country, you need to fault the person who initiated - not the person who responded to being assaulted. You are the problem by normalizing crap like this.

 

[WelshBloke]

Look bud, the crux of the problem is someone here acted irrationally to begin with. The probability that the blender would be thrown prior to the actions of the customer is probably 0.000001%

The final point: You're arguing (essentially) that the problem at fault here was a worker that didn't take shit - when the reality of the situation is that it could have 100% been prevented if the initial violence wasn't completed by the raging bitch customer. Please for the love of god understand whom is at the ULTIMATE fault here.

I just hate this shit were getting into now where we are excusing the customer as if it is normal behavior that we should expect. That's just downright ridiculous. The action is what caused the reaction - thus if we want to stop the reaction we MUST STOP THE ORIGINAL ACTION.

No ones excusing the customer, they were rude. They shouldn't have been physically assaulted to the extent that they had facial injuries that resulted in hospital treatment though.
The reaction of the burger chain employee was way out of proportion to what happened. That could quite easily have killed the customer, 4 inches higher and it would have been a skull fracture not a cheek one.

 

[sandorski]

This is why you need a Shotgun under the counter....a Blender is not an appropriate response to a Burger.

 

[lxskllr]

So you're saying that the customer should have thrown a chair back?
An arms race of random furniture?

It's simple, don't start shit if you aren't gonna finish. If I throw a happy meal at someone, I'd expect it to escalate to whatever, and I'd be over the counter choking the shit out of someone, or the reverse could happen... You deal with that by not throwing happy meals at people unless you're willing to take it to the conclusion. This was concluded by a blender to her stupid face.

 

[WelshBloke]

It's simple, don't start shit if you aren't gonna finish. If I throw a happy meal at someone, I'd expect it to escalate to whatever, and I'd be over the counter choking the shit out of someone, or the reverse could happen... You deal with that by not throwing happy meals at people unless you're willing to take it to the conclusion. This was concluded by a blender to her stupid face.

Not every altercation has to involve losing your job, dying or killing someone.

 

[balloonshark]

Some of the people in this topic shouldn't be permitted to be around a gun let along own a gun.

McDonald's has an entire bin full of food behind the counter. The employee had unlimited ammo at their disposal but they let their anger take over and threw a commercial appliance instead.

 

[WelshBloke]

Some of the people in this topic shouldn't be permitted to be around a gun let along own a gun.

McDonald's has an entire bin full of food behind the counter. The employee had unlimited ammo at their disposal but they let their anger take over and threw a commercial appliance instead.

A food fight would have been an hilarious outcome tbh! 😀

 

[rommelrommel]

The customer started a physical assault and the manager threw the first thing at hand in self defence. Sure, it shouldn't have been a heavy glass blender but when you start an assault the person defending themselves doesn't have to weigh things down to a nicety. Some consideration is given to lack of premeditation and lack of intent to cause significant harm. Had the manager gotten off one good lucky punch and broken a cheek bone we'd get the same outcome.

 

[WelshBloke]

The customer started a physical assault and the manager threw the first thing at hand in self defence. Sure, it shouldn't have been a heavy glass blender but when you start an assault the person defending themselves doesn't have to weigh things down to a nicety. Some consideration is given to lack of premeditation and lack of intent to cause significant harm. Had the manager gotten off one good lucky punch and broken a cheek bone we'd get the same outcome.

Have you seen the video? The manager is in no physical danger at all.

 

[brianmanahan]

let he who is without sin among you cast the first blender

 

[rommelrommel]

Have you seen the video? The manager is in no physical danger at all.

Well, in Canada or the USA you'd be justified to use force to stop an assault such as this. You don't have to wait for the aggressor to pick up the register and throw it. A judge might quibble with the amount of force used but given that it was an instant response to an ongoing assault I don't see the person being faulted much if at all.

And yes, I watched the video.

 

[Kaido]

I told you this is from personal experience. Throwing anything at a food service person is assault. Putting hands on the service person is battery.

This is it exactly. The customer attacked the employee.

Throwing a blender back wasn't appropriate at all, obviously, but the employee didn't exactly have time to sit down & mull over their actions. This is what cracks me up about online forums in general regarding any news story...people place armchair-judgement based on a time-based thoughtful response to the situation, not the immediate panic that happens. If someone beans you in the head with a drink box, very few people aren't going to get immediately angry & retaliate thoughtlessly.

"As me, walking away from the register, going to the back, she just started assaulting me from the back. She threw a chocolate milk and hit me in the head with it as I had my back turned. So I turn around. Here come the apple juice. Hit me in the face. All the Happy Meals and the brown paper bags. She just started going crazy," Johnson said. "So every action has a reaction. So while I'm getting assaulted, I just picked up anything that was right there and just threw it back at her."

A lot of people here also haven't had to work in retail, in the stressful world of food service, or with the public before. You deal with some pretty crazy people on a regular basis, and in today's world, you never know if it's going to escalate to physical hands-on violence, gun violence, etc. Throwing a blender was absolutely the wrong answer, but it was also in the heat of the moment, not pre-meditated. That employee lost her job because she was physically attacked & freaked out in response, which is a pretty normal reaction that human beings have to getting hit when unprovoked. And now McDonalds is going to get sued because of it, and they'll probably settle with the person who started the fight, instead of the customer getting disciplined legally.

Johnson said she didn’t realize she had thrown the blender until it was too late.

 

[brianmanahan]

If someone beans you in the head with a drink box, very few people aren't going to get immediately angry & retaliate thoughtlessly.

i've always been bad at retaliating for some reason, i dunno why. probably because i'm a loser but my brain usually won't let me do it.

in grade school i got beat up occasionally by a few brainless kids who hated me. if i fell over while trying to get away they'd usually get a few wallops in until i could get up and fend them off. came home with bruises and ruined clothes quite a few times.

so in the OP situation i can't see myself doing anything but calling the cops and trying to deescalate the situation, at least until they started throwing furniture.

 

[OccamsToothbrush]

It's not defensive, the unruly customer didn't cross the counter or advance on the server in any way. They threw some food at them, that's it. If you cant handle that without resorting to, possibly deadly, violence you probably need retraining and a non public facing job.

The unruly customer was put down before getting the chance to cross the counter. Europe should try that once in a while because appeasement and hoping things don't escalate has not worked really well for you in the past. Under OUR laws the customer assaulted the worker. Period. Anything the worker can do at that point to stop the assault and keep it from becoming a more dangerous situation without killing the customer is appropriate. You do not just stand there and allow the criminal to determine how far they want to take things. By the time you find out it could be too late. You end the assault when you have a chance to, the sooner it's over the better it is for everyone in the vicinity. And if the perp gets knocked the hell out by an appliance to the face, so be it. That's a win.

 

[WelshBloke]

If someone beans you in the head with a drink box, very few people aren't going to get immediately angry & retaliate thoughtlessly.

Being angry and retaliating thoughtlessly is exactly what I'm criticising. That's not what you aim for. What you aim for is a rational response and deescalating the situation.

A lot of people here also haven't had to work in retail, in the stressful world of food service, or with the public before. You deal with some pretty crazy people on a regular basis, and in today's world, you never know if it's going to escalate to physical hands-on violence, gun violence, etc. Throwing a blender was absolutely the wrong answer, but it was also in the heat of the moment, not pre-meditated. That employee lost her job because she was physically attacked & freaked out in response, which is a pretty normal reaction that human beings have to getting hit when unprovoked. And now McDonalds is going to get sued because of it, and they'll probably settle with the person who started the fight, instead of the customer getting disciplined legally.

I work in the health service. If you're defining getting a burger thrown at you as assault that requires a physical escalation of response then most of my elderly patients would be dead by next week.
The employee lost her job because that was not a reasonable response to getting a sandwich thrown at you.

 

[WelshBloke]

Under OUR laws the customer assaulted the worker. Period.

This would be why the manager is now unemployed, the chain is getting sued and the customer hasn't been charged with anything?