Montreal comic strip satirizing bad customers finds a following
Le Client est Roi takes aim at entitled restaurant behaviour
About 100 years ago Marshall Field's department store in the U.S. started using the novel slogan "the customer is always right" to differentiate itself from the competition – and workers in the service industry have suffered ever since.
Now some service industry veterans have teamed up with an illustrator to shine the spotlight on bad customer behaviour.
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Emilie Papineau, who worked as a waitress for 10 years, came up with the idea for the French-language comic strip Le Client est Roi, or The Client is King, with a friend who still works as a waitress — and would rather remain anonymous for that reason.
"A 'king customer' is the customer who thinks that everything is due to him and he's always right because he pays and he can treat you the way he wants," Papineau explained on CBC Montreal's Daybreak.
She said while some customers are arrogant, others are just plain picky.
"One wanted 'just a latte' — with three shots of espresso, one decaf, and vanilla syrup, but just half the dose and no foam," Papineau said. "They want everything to be very, very special just for them.
Her experiences are being dished out online through Facebook and a Tumblr blog.
Her illustrator, Sarah Chamaillard, has never worked as a waitress but can relate to the experiences in the comic strip.
"We've all been face-to-face with someone who doesn't appreciate you and feels entitled," Chamaillard said.
She said being exposed to these stories made her sympathise with waitresses more.
The trio dream of one day turning their comics into a book. So far, they are getting a healthy following with more than 2,000 likes on Facebook.
with files from CBC Montreal's Daybreak