A barista, who used a hammer to smash the car window of a drive-thru customer, has defended her actions after a video of the incident went viral.
CCTV footage shows the customer throwing his drinks at Emma Lee, 23, owner of South Seattle coffee stand Taste of Heaven Espresso, after allegedly getting angry over the store's pricing. Ms Lee claimed he was complaining despite being a repeat customer.
The drinks splashed over the area before the disgruntled customer threw the cups at the window in the June 11 incident. Once the customer moved to get back into his car, Ms Lee leaned out of the drive-thru window and using a hammer put a hole in the customer's front windscreen.
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Emma Lee, 23, smashing the window (Fox13)The incident was on June 11. Defending her actions, Lee said: "Women are allowed to respond when there is danger in ways other than crying. This is something other women in the industry know happens."
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She said she was serving a man a 32-ounce coffee and 24-ounce water on Tuesday when the pair had a heated exchange about the $22 (£17) price. She posted a short clip of the video online but the encounter lasted around 15 minutes.
"For a customer to get out of a vehicle in any sense, but especially to threaten, argue, to do any of those things is so wildly inappropriate," she said. Her brutal response has divided opinions with some saying she went overboard. Others asked what she did to deserve getting the drink thrown at her.
Emma Lee, 23, is the owner of a Taste of Heaven Espresso in South Seattle (Fox13)"I think the conversation needs to change from, 'What did she do to deserve that?' To, 'Why did he think that was appropriate? And what response was he expecting,'"? Ms Lee said. "All women, no matter their job, deserve to be treated with respect."
Ms Lee called the police and, when officers arrived, they convinced the man to leave. She turned over the CCTV footage to Seattle police. She said: "I've talked to now three or four different officers. No one has said a single thing about what I've done. It's all been about let's try our hardest to keep him away."
Since Ms Lee posted the video, she said customers have made it a point to come to support the business. Seattle police said the man in the video could face a fourth-degree assault charge.
The angry customer throws the drinks (Fox13)In other drive-thru news, new AI technology introduced by McDonald's at some of its restaurants is being scrapped after customers and managers complained it was too inaccurate and expensive to maintain. The automated system, which was first introduced back in 2021, was meant to be able to take orders via voice recognition but it has been plagued with problems such as delivering incorrect food at the checkout.
According to insiders, who spoke with CNBC, issues with the AI have included not being able to understand regional accents and dialects. The system, named Automated Order Taker, was created in a partnership between McDonald's and IBM with the aim of speeding up and simplifying restaurant operations. In a message sent to restaurants across the US, the system will be closed next month.
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