Nasty Note
Sitting in the parking lot at Chick-Fil-A, he couldn't wait to tuck into his hot nuggets. After he had demolished all 30 of them, he glanced at the receipt at the bottom of the bag and almost choked. On the receipt, under the "special instructions," was something that he obviously wasn't meant to see.
Realizing that their little in-house joke was a personal jab at him, he grew furious. Did they really think they were going to get away with this?
Hunger Pangs
Daniel Graham and his girlfriend were on their way home from a family visit in Flagstaff, Arizona when they both realized they hadn’t eaten all day. At that moment, the pair spotted a Chick-Fil-A.
They barely discussed it before Daniel pulled the car into the lot. They already knew what they wanted, but didn’t count on getting a little something extra.
Private Joke
While his girlfriend waited in the car, 22-year-old Daniel marched up to the counter and ordered 30 chicken nuggets and a large fries. His server Jordan told him there would be a short wait because they were busy, so Daniel felt a little miffed when he heard staff laughing in the back.
“If you’re so busy,” thought Daniel, “how have you got the time to goof off?”
Uncomfortable
Daniel wasn’t opposed to a little fun in the workplace, but it always made him feel uncomfortable when people that didn’t take their job seriously were preparing his food.
As soon as Daniel’s order was ready, he grabbed the bag and made his way to the car. His stomach was seriously growling at this point. He was so hungry, he didn’t even notice the people inside the restaurant staring at him as he left.
Chow Down
With all the giggling going on in the restaurant, Daniel felt a little paranoid that they had messed with his food. Was he rude to them? Had he given them a reason to serve up a spit sandwich?
He brushed off the irrational worry and didn’t even mention the experience to his girlfriend when he got back into the car and handed over the food. They both started eating, neither of them looking inside the bag very carefully.
Unexpected Discovery
Before long, the pair had made their way through the whole box of nuggets and quickly polished off the fries. Daniel couldn’t eat another bite. He balled up the paper bag and went to drop it in the parking lot trash can.
But then he remembered he needed the receipt for his personal budgeting - he’d been doing a good job of keeping on top of it lately. He opened up the bag... and found something else inside.
Not Receipt
Daniel had been to Chick-Fil-A a million times before, so he was quite familiar with what their customer receipts looked like, but this one was different. This seemed more like an internal communication that customers aren’t supposed to see.
And when he read it, he realized it had definitely been put in his bag by mistake.
‘Is This Right?’
When Daniel read what was written on the ticket, he couldn’t believe he was about to throw it in the trash.
He showed it to his girlfriend to make sure he was reading it correctly. He was. The Chick-Fil-A employee had accidentally dropped a note into the bag that should never have left the staff area. And it was about him.
Insulting Note
“You should go back in there and have it out with them!” insisted his girlfriend, who was appalled that a server would single someone out like that, let alone put the note in with the customer’s food.
But Daniel didn’t want to face the rude employees again. He had a much better idea to get his revenge.
Taking Action
Daniel carefully placed the note on his lap and wiped the chicken grease from his fingers. Rolling up his sleeves, he pulled his cellphone out from his pocket.
Logging into his Twitter account, he couldn’t help but feel offended and upset. He knew right then and there that he wasn’t going to let them just get away with this.
Followers
Daniel knew exactly what he had to do to teach the staff at Chick-Fill-A a lesson. It was far from over - in fact, this was only the beginning. It was fortunate that Daniel already had quite a large following on Twitter, and he intended to notify every one of them about what had happened.
He took a photo of the offensive receipt. But he never expected a response like this.
Outrage
Daniel sent out the tweet, accompanied by a picture of the receipt and a selfie of himself flipping the camera off with a rude hand gesture, making a point of showing off his favorite knitted sweater.
Several minutes passed in silence. Then, the responses began to roll in. But what could have been on the receipt that was so outrageous that it sparked such a furious Tweetstorm?
‘My Sweater?’
Daniel posted the ticket on Twitter, calling the restaurant out for their unprofessional behavior. Even though Daniel told the server his name, Jordan had decided to identify him by his opinion of his fashion sense, writing “ugly sweater” as well.
"It was NOT MY PLEASURE TO EAT CHIC-FIL-A TODAY," Daniel wrote, referring to the chain’s trademark sign off “my pleasure.” But he never expected his Goodwill sweater would become an online sensation.
Responses Pour In
Daniel and his girlfriend could never have anticipated a response like this. There were a lot of mixed feelings about the incident, and it left the Twitterverse divided. While some users complimented the sweater, others agreed with the cashier that it was ‘ugly’.
Some users even went as far as to criticize the size of Daniel’s order, but he quickly corrected them, explaining that the 30-piece nugget box was for him and his girlfriend to share.
Mixed Reactions
Despite all the mixed responses and comments, most users felt that Daniel’s reaction was completely justified. Many users agreed that the cashier’s rude comment was uncalled for and very unprofessional.
And then, Twitter users began to rally behind Daniel. They wanted to help with his crusade to call them out on a public platform. But would he get justice?
Going Viral
The tweet attracted 150,000 likes, 17,000 retweets, and 700 comments. "I'm not mad,” insisted Daniel, who eventually started to see the funny side. “But I am sad and I will take reparations in free chicken sandwiches," he added, hoping to get the attention of the manager.
But many commenters told him he was making a big deal over nothing, suggesting they were within their rights to call out his clothing like that.
Bad Service
Customer service is intended to be about providing good service to the customer. But in this case, the service Daniel was provided offended and saddened him - he didn’t appreciate the jab at his clothing choice at all.
But what could he do about it? Daniel didn’t have time to make an official complaint, he was too busy answering questions from users that were directed at his post.
A Million Questions
There were a lot of questions from followers and strangers. But most of them weren’t about what had happened, but snide remarks about the food Daniel had ordered.
But some, contrary to most responses, tried to explain to Daniel that the term ‘ugly sweater’ isn’t really an insult at all. And one woman posted a photo of her own that made Daniel laugh out loud.
Coincidence
As a crazy coincidence, it was a photo of a girl wearing the exact same sweater! But soon after, another notification popped up. And this time, it was from Chick-Fil-A. The manager of the branch apologized profusely for what had taken place and said that it had all been a misunderstanding.
He explained that the receipt that Daniel had gotten in his bag hadn’t meant to be seen by him - it was used by the cashier to call out an order or name. This cashier’s receipt acted as a cheat-sheet so that staff could easily remember the name of a customer… or, in Daniel’s case, a sweater.
Ugly Is In
“They‘re not wrong though,” said one commenter after seeing the sweater in his disgruntled selfie. Others pointed out that “ugly” isn’t even an insult for a fashionable sweater like that.
“OK, but ‘ugly sweater’ is what cute sweaters like that are called, sir!” a fan of his loud sense of style offered. Would you have been offended if a server dropped a note like that in your lunch?