Man in Canada calls waitress 'lowly' & 'poor' after restaurant did not give free plastic bag

A video circulating online recently has sparked outrage towards a man who scolded a woman in Mandarin, calling her a "lowly person" and a "minimum wage worker".

According to HK01, the incident happened in a Chinese restaurant in Montreal, Canada, after the staff did not provide the diner a free plastic bag.

The diner, believed to be residing in the city, got upset and began hurling insults at the waitress with his voice raised.

Sitting at the table with his legs crossed, he pointed at her while repeatedly calling her poor and a "lowly person".

The waitress talked back, calling him an "idiot" and saying he should be respectful.

When she told him he lacked education, the man agreed.

"That's right, I lack education," he said. "But education and poverty are two different things. Poverty is for life."

He added that someone can educate him, but it is a different case for the woman, because poverty is for life.

This is a dispute that recently occurred in a Chinese restaurant in Montreal’s Chinatown, triggered by a plastic bag.

A young man, with his pants zipper undone, verbally abused a young waitress, saying: “You lowly person—poor—only working in a Chinese restaurant for minimum… pic.twitter.com/0vmqD6foAa

— Petrichor (@Jam79922967) May 6, 2026

Plastic bag ban

Towards the end of the video, the waitress said that the restaurant did not have plastic bags.

Another man's voice can be heard telling the waitress to give the diner a paper bag, and she replied that she had given one to him.

However, the diner snapped his fingers in the air and repeatedly asked, "How can there be no plastic bags?"

He finally got up and said he wanted to check if there truly was no plastic bag in the restaurant.

Since 2022, Montreal has banned single-use plastic bags in all businesses, including restaurants, due to environmental reasons.

Many commenters have criticised the diner for his disrespectful words and behaviour.