No matter where we are in our employment life, one of the responsibilities most people have as part of their jobs is to interact with customers/clients in some way, whether it's on the phone, over email, via video conference, in person, or all of the above.

That goes double for frontline workers in the service/retail industries, many of whom are the first people a customer interacts with from that particular company.

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Obviously, in most cases, those workers want to make a good first impression, but some customers make that almost impossible to do, as was the case for one teenage car wash employee who was just going about her business in early February and trying to do her job when a jerk customer proceeded to roll down the window and slosh lemonade all over her.

The reaction from the employee prompted the video of the interaction to spread like wildfire: she took the full force of the water hose she was using and blasted the driver through the open window:

Anna Harycki, 18, became a viral sensation for spraying water from a powerful hose through the open window of a rude customer’s vehicle while working at an Indiana car wash.  

The 14-second clip opens with Harycki power-washing a white sedan when the driver suddenly rolls down her window and chucks a plastic cup of lemonade that splashes the teen.

Without missing a beat, Harycki instantly retaliates by aiming her hose at the woman’s open window and dousing her — before carrying on with her work as if nothing happened.

Watch:

What in the hell is wrong with people. I don't blame this young lady one bit. I would have done the same.
Teen at Indiana car wash strikes back after a rude customer threw a lemonade in her face. pic.twitter.com/wJdx7KLjZV

— Ann Vodicka (@DayDreamer68127) February 19, 2024

Even better news is that unlike the case with some managers in the aftermath of customers being rude to employees, the teenager's boss did not take a "customer is always right" approach, and banned the customer and their significant other from ever coming back to the car wash.

As I was reading about this incident, it brought to mind something that happened recently in front of me at a local fast-food restaurant. Mom and I were behind someone who was at the drive-thru window to get their food when all of a sudden there was a commotion between the customer and an employee.

I missed the first part of it, but Mom said the customer threw a drink lid at the employee. When I cracked the car window to hear what was being said I heard a lot of yelling coming from the car and finger-pointing going on. The car then sped off to the front of the store, and just moments later, while we were at the window, the people from the car were inside the store yelling at the employees and making a big scene.

I asked the woman at the window if she was okay (there was drink on the drive-thru window), and she sighed and said yes. I got the impression this was something they dealt with fairly often.

Every situation is of course different. Sometimes it's the customer who is in the wrong and it's the employee who is in the wrong (and sometimes it is both), but under no circumstances should it devolve into a situation like what happened to the car wash attendant and what happened at the burger joint.

Sadly, respect is becoming a lost art in America, but fortunately, there are higher-ups at companies who instead of having knee-jerk reactions to incidents will do full evaluations before deciding how to respond. 

In this case, the customer was not "always right" and was shown the door, while the employee took a creative approach to defend herself and in the process won the hearts and minds of video watchers for not allowing herself to be disrespected.

It's just too bad the woman in the car wasn't taken to court on an assault charge because some community service at the very least would serve her well.

Flashback: The Lost Art of Good Customer Service