When it comes to fast food, do two wrongs make a right? A man who was having a bad daybought 23 apple pies just to spite the 5-year-old boy and mother standing in line behind him at Burger King. That sounds like a mean thing to do, but some people think he was justified. According to the man, the boy was throwing a tantrum while his mother talked on her cellphone. And the man had a headache coming on.
We all have bad days. Was this case of apple pie hoarding justified? Did anyone learn anything from this episode? The Pie Pirate described on Reddit his ordeal with the mother and child behind him.
When behind me comes this woman yapping on her cellphone with a little monster of a child. This kid was out of control, screaming, punching his mother throwing around a gameboy whenever something didn't go right in the game. The mother didn't seem to pay any attention to him and his continued yelling of 'I want a F*cking PIE'.
The man says he politely asked the woman to quiet her child, and she immediately flew into a rage, yelling that he shouldn't tell her how to raise her child and to mind his own business. He turns back around and she continues yelling at him, then consoles her child, assuring him that she'll buy him an apple pie.
Finally, it's the man's turn to order. He asks for every single pie that's left. It comes to 23. He pays for all his pies, starts to walk away, and then hears the mother yelling, "What do you mean all the pies are gone? Who bought them all?" The cashier points to the man.
I stand there and pull out a pie and slowly start eating as I stare back at her. She starts running towards me but can't get to me because of other lineups in the food court. I turn and slowly walk away.
And now he's having a crisis of conscience, wondering if he's a bad person for doing such a thing. Because this is Reddit, the answer he gets is, "Will you marry me?"
I'm on the fence. When I first saw the headline, of course I thought he was just a big jerk. But then when I read about the child's and mother's atrocious behavior, I kind of got it. And then when I read how he spun the ending into comic gold, I realized: I'm probably a jerk, too, because that is hilarious. Shame on me for laughing out loud here at my desk!
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Don't get me wrong -- I don't think this man was justified in his actions at all. And I'm fairly confident that the mom did not Learn an Important Lesson from this incident. She just got angry. People like that are not receptive to learning experiences. If she could tell her side of the story, it would probably sound completely different.
Most of us would have just put up with the noise and commotion in our own silent, private agony, ordered our food, and left, relieved to be away from the awful pair. Doing harm back does no one any good. But I have some compassion for the man, and I can understand why he was moved to such a mean-spirited act.
Sometimes revenge is a dish best eaten piping hot while standing in the doorway of a fast food restaurant.
What do you think -- is this man a "bad person" for buying all the pies out of spite?
Image via Gregg O'Connell/Flickr