Man asks if he can order ice cream after closing time, staff is clearly annoyed. AITA?

No one wants to be the rude customer who makes restaurant staff stay at work past their shift time. At the same time, if the doors are open, most of us are going to walk right in and order.

Reading a situation to gauge whether you're accidentally the 'bad customer' can be trickier than it sounds. Luckily, the internet, with all its bevy of perspectives, is a great place to learn to read these situations.

In a popular post on the AITA subreddit, a man asked if he was wrong for ordering ice cream and cake after closing time.

He wrote:

AITA for ordering after the staff told me they are still serving?

My girlfriend and I were baffled by this situation, so we wanted to ask Reddit. We were out for a walk, and on our way back home, we passed by a famous confectionery that was still open. People were getting ice creams and cakes, and some were even sitting outside. Normally, the place closes at 21:30, and it was around 21:40, so we weren't sure if they would still sell us anything.

We wanted to ask the staff if it's okay to buy something; we didn't even want to sit. In a polite manner, we asked, 'Good evening, are you still open? Can we order, especially for take away? 'The staff responded, 'Just tell me what do you want?' We ordered a small cake and an ice cream. As we were about to pay, we double-checked with them if this was okay, as they were looking at us weirdly.

The cashier didn't respond and showed the POS to pay. We took our order and sat down. While we were about to eat, I heard one of the staff members, who was leaving their shift (not wearing their uniform), looking at us and muttering about why people keep coming and why they're still sitting with other coworkers.

As politely as I could, I told him, 'We did ask; why didn't you say you are closing? We wouldn't have ordered in that case.' He then called us entitled AHs and left. That comment was quite funny since my girlfriend had worked as a server before. So, any thoughts on this?

EDIT 1: I for some reason forgot to write this down, after we asked for takeout, they did not respond, they gave us a plate for the cake and a cup for ice cream.

EDIT 2: They didn't give us a take out order they served the cake on a plate and the ice cream in a mug/cup.

People typed all of their feelings up in the comment section.

aliencupcake wrote:

YTA. You asked if you could order take away after their closing hours and then failed to take away your food and instead sat down, preventing them from being able to clean that area and possibly delaying when they get to leave.

Famous-Restaurant875 wrote:

YTA Never eat at a place after closing. That's the rule. Your server girlfriend should have known better...

Stormschance wrote:

How were the items served? As take away or stay?

Just thinking it might has been a simple misunderstanding. Or they’ve been told they’re not allowed to decline service and are just resentful. Either way really, NTA.

Pays_in_snakes wrote:

I've worked in restaurants for a while, and I have an unpopular opinion on this: NTA. Places should close when they close and be clear about it, it shouldn't be something customers have to divine for themselves. It's not difficult to stop taking orders at some point prior to when you expect everyone to be done eating and out of there.

the_owl_syndicate wrote:

YTA. It was past closing hours. Instead of respecting that, you put the servers on the spot (in what world do you think they will say no?) And then you are upset because they aren't jumping for joy that yet another customer decides not to respect the closing times. The people hanging out and creating the appearance that they are still open also suck.

thedudear wrote:

Honestly, f@#k the YTA comments. People need to learn self-advocacy. You're closed? Say so. F@#k subtle hints, beating around the bush, or begrudgingly complying, treating a person like trash because they asked politely asked you a very, very simple question making everyone's day miserable, leading to situations like this.

Down vote me to hell, if op was as polite as they said they were, I think this is horses#$t.

While most people agree that OP is TA here, there are some dissenters, which means we need more takes in the comment section to settle this.