Waiting for food is rarely anyone’s favorite part of a shopping trip, but most people understand that larger orders take longer than a hot dog or a slice of pizza. Apparently, that logic does not work for everyone.
One Costco customer in Canada described watching a woman become increasingly angry because later ticket numbers were being called before hers. Employees repeatedly explained that orders were served when they were ready, not strictly by number, but she refused to accept the system.
The situation was especially ironic because her own order included multiple poutines, sandwiches, and pizza slices, making it one of the more time-consuming meals being prepared.
What began as a complaint about waiting soon became far more uncomfortable when she started dragging other customers into the argument. Scroll down to see how a simple food court delay turned into a public scene.
A Costco customer causes a scene after larger food orders take longer than simpler ones
Sometimes the smallest inconvenience reveals far more about a person than the inconvenience itself. The woman at the Costco food court was not facing lost money, terrible service, or even a forgotten order. Her large meal simply required more preparation time than several smaller orders placed around the same period.
Yet instead of accepting the explanation, she interpreted other numbers being called first as evidence that she was somehow being treated unfairly.
Her initial frustration is easy enough to understand. Number systems usually suggest a queue, so seeing 607 and 609 served before 601 could briefly feel confusing. Once employees explained that orders were completed according to preparation time, however, the misunderstanding had an obvious answer.
Continuing to argue, stomp around, and recruit other customers transformed ordinary confusion into entitlement. Her expectation appeared to become: because she ordered first, every other customer should wait until several poutines and sandwiches were finished.
Psychologist Bernard Golden, Ph.D., explains that entitlement can intensify anger because people develop expectations about what they believe *should* happen. When reality violates those expectations, they may experience the difference as personal unfairness or disrespect rather than ordinary inconvenience.
Golden notes that people with stronger entitlement tendencies can become especially reactive when circumstances fail to provide the treatment or immediate gratification they believe they deserve.
That helps explain the food argument, but it does not excuse what happened next. The most revealing moment was when frustration over an order suddenly became hostility toward immigrants. At that point, the issue was no longer Costco’s preparation system.
The American Psychological Association defines scapegoating as directing anger, frustration, or aggression toward another person or group and blaming them for one’s problems.
APA reporting on xenophobia has similarly noted that immigrants and minority groups can become convenient targets when people redirect broader frustration toward outsiders.
Counseling psychologist Hsiu-Lan Cheng, Ph.D., has explained how stereotypes that position certain groups as perpetual outsiders can make them easier targets for anger and aggression.
That distinction matters. Being annoyed about waiting for food is ordinary. Turning that annoyance into racialized or anti-immigrant hostility is a choice that harms people who had nothing to do with the delay.
The Costco employees handled the situation appropriately by explaining the system and continuing to serve customers whose orders were ready. Sometimes the healthiest response to unreasonable entitlement is not winning the argument. It is refusing to reorganize everyone else’s day around one person’s anger.
Here’s the feedback from the Reddit community:
These Redditors were more upset that Canadian Costco gets poutine than about the rude customer
These commenters joked about how absurdly entitled some shoppers behave in public
These commenters felt the customer should have been removed or publicly called out for her behavior
These users pointed out that arguing with staff only slows service and that order numbers are often misunderstood
Was the food court system genuinely confusing, or should the customer have understood immediately that larger orders take longer? Share the verdict below.
