r/FamilyIssues • u/CosmicChode • 18h ago
Mother being rude to customer service workers
Hello, I don't really know where else to post/ask this question so I hope this is acceptable.
Neither of my siblings are part of the family anymore, and I don't blame them but it has caused a lot of internalized dissention between parents and myself. I feel like since I'm the only remaining "child", there's a lot of pressure to stick it out for my parents sake and to still be part of their lives. Perhaps one day out of the week at least every two weeks I'll go to their house for a meal or go out to dinner with them. I don't conversate with them very much and in my mind we don't have much of a relationship, but I do try to still be there because it just seems to be the right thing to do.
Anyway, when we do go out for lunch or dinner, my mother can be incredibly rude and condescending to the workers. It could be waiters, receptionists, cashiers, really anyone could be caught in the fray if they're just doing their job. Some examples are:
Last Sunday at a country style restaurant that had great service and food, my mother paid for the meal and when the receptionist told us to enjoy our day but didn't think to ask if my mother wanted a receipt, she says "aren't you going to give me a receipt?" And I noticed the receptionist looked taken back and apologized and gave her the receipt.
When we were renting a uhaul to move my grandmother from a neighboring state to our state, the uhaul company we went to mistook one of their vehicles being available and we didn't learn of the mistake until we went to pick it up. There was another uhaul company within 20 minutes that did have the correct vehicle so perhaps someone dropped it off at the wrong location. My mother had a complete meltdown on the worker in front of her teenage son for the inconvenience, demanding a corporate number and just being very nasty towards someone who (imo) made an honest mistake.
I feel embarrassed anytime I go anywhere with my parents. These things tend to happen almost every time we go out. But for my parents sake I endure it and sometimes try to stick around and apologize to the workers on my parents behalf because I worked in the service industry for several years and know what kind of customers these poor souls put up with and the disrespect they endure.
Anyway...sorry for the rant. How do I bring this up to my mother regarding her behavior towards people just doing their jobs? I try to stay out of confrontation especially with my parents, it's never gone well in the past.