Michigan Woman Went to a Panda Express Opening. Then Another Customer in Line Accused Her of ‘Robbing’ the Community
She committed the crime of being first in line.
Jenni (@jennikookie), who has recently moved from Michigan to Virginia, shared her excitement on TikTok for attending a local Panda Express grand opening. Despite her positive experience with the staff, she said one customer threw a baffling allegation against her—all because she was the first customer of the newly opened branch.
Jenni said she arrived at the Panda Express as early as 7:20 a.m. and sat on one of the chairs. Then the manager came out to ask Jenni why she was outside. She explained that she wanted to be the very first customer at the Panda Express. The manager was impressed that she came early and then asked Jenni for her name before going back inside.
Ten minutes passed, and Jenni claimed two boys arrived and sat at the front door of the Panda Express. Soon after, another customer, whom Jenni nicknamed “Karen,” arrived with her child and sat next to the two boys. The lady asked Jenni, “Are you a worker? Or are you in line?”
Jenni responded by saying she was in line. In her initial post, she was wearing casual clothing, not a Panda Express uniform. In hindsight, Jenni thought she should have spoken up, but she wanted to give Karen the benefit of the doubt. The woman later asked her where she was from, and Jenni decided to tell a joke. Jenni recently moved from Michigan to Virginia, and she wanted to make it seem like she drove all the way to the new branch for laughs.
“I’m from Michigan,” Jenni said. Karen allegedly did not take the joke well. “They don’t have Panda Express in Michigan?” the woman supposedly replied. But Jenni kept the joke up, making it seem as though she were a Panda Express superfan.
‘Robbing’ a community over Panda Express
More customers started lining up, and a friend came to speak to Karen. The friend claimed to know an employee, corroborating the idea that the kids came before Jenni. She instructed the kids to sit in front of Jenni. The kids followed the friend’s instructions, and Jenni didn’t speak up until a Panda Express worker went out and called her name.
She raised her hand, and the worker informed her that since she was their first customer, they had something special in store for her. Karen tried to object, saying that the kids were first, but the employee defended Jenni. At that point, Jenni said that both women were glaring at her.
“These people are out to get me. For what? Over Panda Express?” Jenni recalled, but it didn’t stop there. She alleged that Karen continued talking about her even inside the store. Jenni eventually reached her breaking point and confronted Karen.
“As a matter of fact, honestly? I do have a problem with you. You are robbing the Herdon community!” Karen allegedly replied. She continued, adding that she works for the community. Her son chimed in, saying she was a teacher. Unlike this woman from Colorado who had a shady comeback for her friend’s bully, Jenni said nothing to Karen. However, Jenni said that she was upset about being unable to stand up for herself.
Nevertheless, her experience was balanced out by the Panda Express freebies. As the branch’s first customer, Jenni received a limited-edition panda plush, a panda headband, a T-shirt, and free food. Despite Karen’s supposed claims, Jenni has not been reported for actual robbery at the Panda Express.
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