'AITA for not continuing to help a woman who didn't speak French because she was rude?'
"AITA for not continuing to help a woman who didn't speak French?"
Friendly-Revenue2440 writes:
I (18F) am Australian and just got back from visiting family in France with my mom. On the last morning there, while my mom was finishing up packing, she asked me to go down the road and grab us a coffee from the café.
When I walked in, there was a woman there who I’m pretty sure was American, though she could have been Canadian, I wasn’t sure about the accent. She was speaking very loudly and slowly in English, saying, “ALMOND. MILK. AL. MOND. MILK!” The barista was responding in French, “My phone! Just look at my phone!” while gesturing to his phone (I think he had a translation app open).
I walked up and said to the barista, “I speak English, can I help?” He said, “Yes please. This has been going on for far too long.” I turned to the woman and said, “Hi, I speak English. Were you asking if they have almond milk?”
She just stared at me blankly and said, “What?” I repeated, “Were you asking if they have almond milk in this café?” She turned to, who I assume was her husband, and said, “I know she’s speaking English, but I can’t understand a word she’s saying.” (Australian accents are sometimes hard for people to understand!)
I slowed down and asked, “Do you want almond milk?” She said, “Yes, could you tell him that’s what I want?” So I told the barista, “She’s asking for almond milk in her coffee.” He replied, “We don’t have that. We have milk or soy milk, that’s it.”
I turned back to her and said, “They only have dairy milk or soy.” She said, “Seriously? That’s it? Coffee shops always have multiple choices for milk. How do they only have two?” I just shrugged.
Then she said, “Can you tell him I want to speak to the manager?” I said, “No.”
She looked surprised. “No?!” I said, “No. I’m not going to stand here for twenty minutes while you argue with a manager through me. They have two choices of milk, that’s it. Pick one.”
She turned to her husband and asked, “What did she just say?” then turned back to me and repeated, “Tell him I want to talk to the manager.” I ignored her, turned to the barista, ordered my and my mom’s coffee, and stood off to the side. She tried to talk to me a few more times, but I put my headphones in, waited for my order, and left once I got it.
When I got back to Australia, I told my friends about what happened. They were split on it, some said she was being rude and I didn’t have to help her, while others said she was just struggling in a foreign country and it wouldn’t have cost me much to assist her. So I’m curious what others think: was she being unreasonable, or was I?
Here's what people had to say to OP:
giuseppe_botsford says:
NTA. You're a customer, not a free translation service for entitled tourists. The second she demanded to see a manager over milk, you were completely justified in checking out. Her problem, not yours.
Winternin says:
Nah, she didn't deserve help. She was stupid and extremely entitled, especially when she got to the "I want to talk to the manager" part.
amanda30uk says:
No what you did was right. What's the point in complaining if they only have 2 types of milk? Does she think the managers gonna run to the supermarket and get some almond milk for her.
Cursed_Angel_ says:
As a fellow Aussie I would have been a lot more rude to her than you were. An Aussie accent is not that hard to understand, she was being rude to both you and the employee.