As fast-food workers have been subjected to diverse chaos throughout the pandemic, a pair of McDonald'southward customers recently came to the defense of an employee.

In a viral TikTok video viewed over 85,000 times, the patrons watched as a family unit consisting of a man, woman and male child walked into an unspecified McDonald'due south restaurant.

The video, posted by the account @phillysohostile, begins with an interaction between the man and a female employee. He seems to be upset at the lack of service, somewhen causing the employee to walk into the back of the restaurant.

"You've been rude to her, she hasn't been rude to yous," one customer said to the human in line.

"Yous shut up and stay out of this," the man responded. Information technology caused the boy to become the man's attention.

A director then came to investigate the situation. The same customer who spoke out on behalf of the employee approached the manager, saying, "She hasn't done anything. He's being an a**."

McDonalds Hiring
In a now-viral TikTok, McDonald'south customers came to the assistance of an employee after some other client berated them. A "We Are Hiring" sign hangs in front of a McDonald's eatery on December 3, 2021, in Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty

The patron and the woman recording the video encouraged the McDonald's employees to refuse service to the family unit due to his behavior. The homo asked them if refusing service is part of "cancel culture."

Afterward more back and forth, including the two patrons encouraging the man to leave, the manager seems to mention the child in regard to the food order.

The man so walked abroad from the register and toward the patron, exchanging more words until the adult female convinced him to leave every bit other customers inside the restaurant looked on in silence.

"This is why people don't want to go back to piece of work for slave wages," the video caption said. "Who wants to deal with this blazon of hostile piece of work environment peculiarly when your boss don't even take your back!"

Others who commented on the video as well brought up the nonchalant attitude of the manager, who did not seem to deescalate the situation based on the video.

"Ugh, that manager is nearly equally bad every bit the customer," one person said.

"Amen!!!! How can anyone be okay with their coworker/employee getting bullied like that????" said the video poster. "If I was that manager I'd raise hell for my team!"

"[H]is son is disagreeing with his father'due south actions," some other person said.
Another comment pondered whether the verbally abusive man treats his partner in that mode.

This all occurred as the pandemic rages on, coupled with a worker shortage that does not seem to be improving based on various data.

A National Restaurant Clan survey from last September found that 78 percent of industry operators said they do non take enough employees to handle all business, while almost forty percent reported being at to the lowest degree 20 percent below staffing targets.

That included 44 per centum of operators voluntarily reducing their dine-in capacities, including more than threescore percent of fast-nutrient operators shutting downward portions of their dining area to customers due to a lack of staff.

Nonetheless, as noted in its 4th-quarter earnings study concluding on December 31, McDonald'due south sales increased 12.three percent globally and 7.five percent in the U.S.

Nevertheless, McDonald's CEO Chris Kempcsinski said following the visitor'south third quarter that staff shortages remained "very challenging" and that he expected a "difficult environment for the adjacent several quarters."

Information technology'south not just McDonald'southward, either. The U.Southward. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that the mean boilerplate hourly wage for fast-food workers is almost $eleven.80, which would equate to nearly $18,000 per year if an employee worked 30 hours per calendar week. That would still equate to poverty levels for many, notably those with children and without additional income.

Situations like those in the TikTok video, in which employees are berated by customers or even attacked with the intent of violence, are common in states like California—so much and then that the AB 257/FAST Recovery Human action is urging a change in philosophy from the top downwardly at businesses that include McDonald's, Burger King, Jack in the Box and other service providers.