Customer Throws Drink Carrier and Splashes Smoothie on Store Owner's Face

An online debate continues over an incident in which a customer poured a smoothie on a cafe owner, claiming the owner was unfriendly. The victimized owner reported the incident to a media outlet with a recorded video from the time, and netizens who saw it showed mixed reactions, saying, "The owner's attitude may have made the customer feel uncomfortable" and "Still, throwing the drink was wrong."

[Photo by Yonhap News TV]

On the night of the 20th, Mr. A visited the cafe with a female customer and ordered three smoothies and one iced Americano for takeout. The owner, Mr. B, who had prepared the four drinks, was getting a four-slot carrier that could hold all four drinks at once. It is reported that the customers discussed at the counter whether to carry the drinks in two two-slot carriers or one four-slot carrier. Mr. B was busy with about 20 minutes left before closing and had four more orders pending, but claimed that the female customer brusquely requested the drinks be placed in the two-slot carrier.

In response, Mr. B threw the four-slot carrier he was holding onto the kitchen counter and came out carrying the two-slot carrier. Mr. A then questioned Mr. B's behavior, asking, "Is it okay to throw the carrier like that in front of customers?" When Mr. B replied, "That's how I feel," Mr. A threw the yuzu smoothie he had ordered toward the owner's face. Soaked in the smoothie, Mr. B immediately locked the store door and reported the man to the police.

In an interview with Yonhap News TV, Mr. B stated, "I couldn't show that I was busy, so I was waiting for the customers' decision, but it seems the female customer spoke in a brusque tone and used informal language." He also explained the reason for throwing the carrier, saying, "I didn't want to be overly friendly, so I just said 'yes' and quickly threw the carrier back to its original place to hand over the drinks faster." He added, "When customers pile up, I sometimes throw items or ingredients down quickly to get them out of the way," and "It was an action to minimize movement."

He continued, "There can definitely be misunderstandings, but if the customer had spoken, it could have been resolved easily," and said, "I want to say that service workers are not people to be treated badly, and I want the punishment to be certain."

The video quickly spread across various online communities, sparking heated debates among netizens. Some agreed with the owner’s position, commenting, "Do service workers have to always bow to customers?" "If you have a complaint, report it to headquarters; how can you assault someone just because you feel bad?" and "Violence is never acceptable under any circumstances."

On the other hand, some pointed out the owner’s unfriendliness, saying, "The owner’s response might have been uncomfortable," and "The owner’s behavior doesn’t seem like an attempt to minimize movement." This led to counterarguments such as, "Is unfriendliness the same as assault?"

The Suwon Jungbu Police Station in Gyeonggi Province announced on the 26th that they had booked Mr. A, a man in his 40s who threw a drink at the owner of a franchise coffee shop in Jowon-dong, Suwon City, on charges of assault.

Meanwhile, last year, 'Alba Cheonguk,' a part-time job portal, surveyed 1,652 MZ generation part-time workers who had experience or were currently working part-time. Eight out of ten respondents said they had experienced customer abuse. In a 2020 survey conducted by the job portal 'Alba Mon' targeting 2,279 part-time workers on 'experiences of abuse during work,' 75.5% responded that they had experienced abuse, with customers accounting for the largest share (68.6%) of abusers. This shows that 'customer abuse' is a significant hardship for face-to-face service workers.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.