During peak hours, most people understand if they have to wait longer to get their meal.
However, this food delivery rider was so upset with the long waiting time that he threatened to smash the stall.
The Incident
According to Lianhe Zaobao, the incident occurred around 7 pm on 12 April at a fried chicken stall in a coffee shop at Block 848 Yishun Street 81.
You’re probably aware that stalls usually see a large dinner crowd around 7 pm.
The food delivery rider was so upset by the long waiting time that he threw disinfectant on the ground.
Furthermore, he threatened to smash the stall daily from that day forward.
A stall employee, 37-year-old Ms Feng, told Lianhe Zaobao that the rider was waiting for a food delivery order of boneless fried chicken.
She explained that the stall needed time to process the order since it was peak period.
Furthermore, the delivery rider, whom she observed to be about 20 years old, started waiting for the order within a few minutes of the customer placing it.
She said that many other customers and delivery riders were waiting for their orders, but nobody else complained and was understanding of the situation.
In addition, even though there were six customers before the rider’s turn, they still prioritised the rider’s order.
However, after waiting ten minutes, the rider kept asking her why his order was still not ready.
When she explained that the stall was still preparing his order, he kept swearing and scolded her for not keeping to the ten minutes waiting time she had initially told him.
She ignored the rider and continued to prepare the order.
Suddenly, she heard a loud noise.
As it turns out, the rider smashed the disinfectant on the stall counter to the floor.
Ms Feng noted that the man continued to make a fuss even though there were many eyewitnesses.
Instead, he threatened to smash the stall every day.
Even after he received the order, he continued to scold vulgarities as he left.
A similar incident occurred on 10 March at a dessert stall at a hawker centre in Ang Mo Kio.
The stall’s owner, Foo Choong Lim, recounted the incident on Facebook.
His hawker assistant, a 65-year-old woman who is also his mother’s friend, was yelled at for not giving more bowls to a group of customers.
A lady customer purchased two bowls of dessert for $3.60 and asked for another empty bowl.
However, another person from the same group later asked for four more bowls.
The hawker assistant refused the request as the stall only had a limited quantity of bowls.
She offered to give the group takeaway containers for $0.20 if they really needed them.
Unfortunately, the scene turned ugly.
The group stood before the stall and yelled in Mandarin, “Nobody does business like this!”
This went on for a few minutes before they demanded the number of the person in charge.
Hawkers and stall owners are humans too.
Mr Foo wrote, “The main reason for me writing this is really to explain the difficulties we face in operating as a hawker.”
An article by The Pride noted the importance of treating hawkers and stall owners with respect, especially if Singapore wants to preserve its hawker heritage.
Thus, think twice before you get upset by long waiting times.