I am now going to give you my number one choice for the worst customer. I can almost guarantee none of you saw this pick coming. So coming in at number one we have, Mentally Handicapped People. Now I understand that sounds like a mean and cruel thing to say, but please give me the chance to explain my reasoning.
First off, I am very sympathetic to those that suffer from any medical condition, especially those that suffer from mental disorders. I cannot stress enough that I am in no way picking on anybody, but after my time at the theater I have learned of the potential problems that they can present. This is in large part due to their lack of self control. I don't want to give any of my personal stories away yet, so I will tell you about two other cases I know about. One happened one day while my mom and I were at blockbuster.
We had picked out our movie and had gone up to the register to check out. The kid behind the counter fumbled with what he was doing and looked a bit shaken up. After taking a bit longer than he should have, he looked up at us and apologized for taking to long. He than explained that before we had walked through the door, a mentally handicapped guy had come in looking for a movie to rent.
When it was explained they didn't carry the move he wanted, the guy completely flipped out. The poor kid explained that he didn't know what to do and that he thought the guy was going to take a swing at him. Fortunately, they were able to get the guy out without anybody getting hurt. After hearing the kids story a sympathetic smile came over my face. As I went to grab the movie I said "It's OK bud, I know how you feel".
I can say first hand that it is SCARY when your a worker and a mentally handicapped adult flips out on you. You are worried that they may hurt you, someone, or damage something and you have little chance of talking them down. If you try to stop them using physical restraint, than you are looking at a potential lawsuit on your hands for touching them. The only saving grace is that the person they are with is able to stop them. Another case I heard of was a story on the radio.
Ironically, this story took place at some other movie theater. What happened was a family had gone to see a movie and brought along someone that was mentally handicapped. During the movie, people would come out and complain to the manager that the mentally handicapped person was interrupting the film by making noises. After taking so many complaints the manager gave in. He walked into the theater and told the family that they had to take their mentally handicapped family member out of the theater.
Of course the family considered this request to be extremely offensive. I don't know for sure, but I believe the family took legal action against the theater, which is why their story caught the attention of the media. So than of course everyone all of a sudden comes running to the mentally handicapped persons defense and they basically crucify the manager saying that he is a mean and heartless person for what he did. This of course led to him getting trashed on the air.
What makes mentally handicapped people such a dreaded customer is that it is nearly impossible to know what to do when something goes wrong. Especially when you know that if you make the wrong move, you may end up being the bad guy or girl because of it.
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