'AITA for not continuing to help a woman who didn't speak French?'
"AITA for not continuing to help a woman who didn't speak French?"
I (F18) am Australian and just got back from visiting family in France with my mum. On the last morning there while my mum was finishing up packing she ask 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 but they could have been Canadian I'm not sure on the accent.
She was saying very loud and slow in English "ALMOND. MILK. AL.MON.D. MI.LK. ALMOND MILK!" and the barista was saying in French "my phone! Just look at my phone!" While gesturing to his phone (i think he had a translation app on his phone). I walked up and (this is basically the conversation) I asked the barista "I speak English can I help?" Him "yes please.
This has been going on for far too long" me to her "hi I speak English. We're you asking him if they have almond milk?" Woman- blank stare "what?" Me "were you asking if they have almond milk in this cafe?" Woman- turns to, who i assume is her husband and says "i know she's speaking English but I cant understand a word she's saying."
(Australian accent! Notoriously difficult to understand!) slower and really enunciating "do you want almond milk" her "yes could you tell him that's what I want" me to the guy "she's asking for almond milk in her coffee" the guy "we don't have that. We have milk or soy milk that's it"
Me to her "they only have dairy milk or soy" her "seriously? Thats it? Coffee shops always have multiple choices for milk? How do they only have 2?"
Me- shrugs. Her "can you tell him I want to speak to the manager?" Me "no" her "no?!" Me "no. Im not going to stand here for 20 odd minutes while you argue with a manager through me.
They have two choices of milk. Thats it. Pick one." Her- turns to her husband "what did she just say?" To me "tell him I want to talk to the manager" me turns to the guy and ordered mine and my mums coffee and stands off to the side. She tried to talk to me a few more times after but I put headphones in and ignored her, got my coffee and then left.
When I got back to Australia I was telling my friends about this story and they were kind of split about it. Some said she was being a Karen and I didn't have to help her others said she was in a foreign country and was having problems with the language and it wouldn't have cost me much to help. So was this lady being a bit Karenish or was AITA?
Here's what people had to say to OP:
amanda30uk wrote:
No what you did was right. What's the point in complaining if they only have two types of milk? Does she think the managers gonna run to the supermarket and get some almond milk for her 🤔
OP responded:
My thoughts exactly actually.
ColetteLong wrote:
NTA. You offered help, translated the core issue, and were instantly met with rude, entitled disdain from someone who was making a public spectacle of herself in a foreign country.
You are not a free personal translator on command for obnoxious tourists, and that husbands comment minimizing your accent was incredibly insulting and a clear signal they felt superior to you. You did the polite thing and then wisely let the entitled tourist deal with her own self-inflicted communication issues. Let them figure out their own damn almond milk.
cerealmermaidmood wrote:
NTA. You were literally trying to help a situation that had already escalated far past funny and into deeply rude, and she immediately treated you like a nuisance simply because you have an accent. The problem wasn't your accent; the problem was her absolute refusal to accept an answer she didn't want, displayed first toward the barista and then toward youa helpful stranger.
You don't have to tolerate being mocked by someone who, by her own admission, has such low cultural awareness that she brought zero useful language skills to a foreign country and then acts shocked a small French caf doesnt cater to her specialized American preferences. You should have just walked away the second she tried to mock your accent.
altruistic_ad_9821 wrote:
NTA and as a Canadian, I refuse to accept her as one of us, even if just for the fact that all our packaging is bilingual by law, so someone who loves almond milk that much should know at least how to say or write it in French. Plus we’re all “polite” to a fault, we’d be embarrassed to make that much of a scene 🙈
randomoverthinker__ wrote:
NTA! She wasn’t having problems with the language though, like at all. She didn’t even need you there, she had a phone, the barista had a phone, moreover the barista was more than willing to help her understand.
She was just too entitled and stupid to even try anything. I can’t imagine the close mindedness of someone not even trying to understand a different accent and not being ashamed of that. Hopefully she never leaves whatever small town she comes from ever again.
giuseppebotsford wrote:
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.