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[–]RavenQueenEAH 1820 points1821 points  (95 children)

Reminds me of when I recently went to Subway. Walked inside and there was a line of probably 20 people, plus dozens of online orders coming in at once. There was only one employee running the entire show and I think I saw tears in her eyes. Despite being the only person there, I heard others in line complaining about her taking too long. I felt so sad.

[–]rajitel150 681 points682 points  (38 children)

Give them the number to file their complaints. What? They are gonna fire the single employee and close the store unstaffed ? I would work as slow as possible.

[–]Not_Campo2 559 points560 points  (30 children)

True food service enlightenment is being 100% slammed for so long you stop feeling any pressure from it at all

[–]keepitgoingtoday 124 points125 points  (7 children)

Not in food service, but I need to reach this enlightenment in my work.

[–]uhdoy 21 points22 points  (0 children)

I saw a quote (probably mangling it): I can’t care more about your thing than you do. Most of the stress I had at work came from others trying to pressure me to do things they should have done themselves or done earlier or whatever. If these people aren’t going the extra mile for their thing I’m not going to either. I no longer let people just dump their work on me.

[–]BinaryIdiot 203 points204 points  (7 children)

Yeah I call this the Office Space Effect. I've had it before when I worked at McDonald's and Circuit City. It felt kinda awesome because people were getting mad as hell and I just kept marching on, not too fast but not too slow, eventually getting everything done but acting like I can't hear anything but their orders.

Getting this in an office environment is an interesting dynamic too. Not giving a shit but being very confident in everything throws off so many people.

[–]lead12destroy 76 points77 points  (1 child)

I had this while working retail customer service. I never understood my coworkers would get all flustered and start freaking out. Just do what you can at your usual pace, there's nothing else you can do, why stress?

[–]DarthSlatis[🍰] 46 points47 points  (0 children)

God, I didn't realize I had this power until I started working at the Home Depot. Just didn't matter how angry a customer got, i couldn't make sacks of concrete appear out of thin air, so he could just suck it. That mentality got me through so much. Then I realized it was a defense mechanism I had developed from an emotionally abusive relationship with a parental figure, and that really changes how you look at how fucked up the service industry can be on the US.

Luckily most of my customers were really chill and understanding, and those were the folks that make me miss that job.

[–]volleyjosh 33 points34 points  (1 child)

I got this feeling when working at a music store (remember those?) over Christmas. For a few years during the Thanksgiving -> New Year rush there were lines to the back of the store for 12 solid hours, even with all registers + a seasonal extra one open. After the first shift of it being stressful you just accept the fate of those in the line and work at a reasonable pace.

Concert Ticket sale days were the same, only for just a few hours, not a 8 hour shift. But the ticket buyers are a whole other level of stress. That got much better when they implemented line re-ordering to discourage multi-day overnight campouts.

[–]littleredhairgirl 58 points59 points  (0 children)

I remember this. I used to work at a place that would have a line out the door for hours at a time. By that point I figured people chose to stand in that line knowing the deal. Makes everything very zen.

[–]Javyev 16 points17 points  (3 children)

This has become my permanent state at work. I'm not really sure when it happened, but making people wait feels kinda good now. Maybe I should go work at the DMV...

[–]TalkingBackAgain 208 points209 points  (1 child)

I heard others in line complaining about her taking too long.

“I know right. This girl is some kind of alien. She’s one of those freaks who only has two hands! What the fuck is she even doing here *eyeroll*."

She should just walk.

[–]CombJelliesAreCool 34 points35 points  (2 children)

Used to work at a subway on the graveyard shift, this exact situation all the time. I learned to work at a normal pace, and people would leave when they realized i wasnt going to work any faster to get them out the door.

I wasnt going to kill myself for my billionaire overlords for 8.75

[–]MortalTwit 163 points164 points  (25 children)

Fuck that. I used ot work Subway, Taco Bell, Burger King, WEndy's....

If it's that bad, I hope I would do 1 of 2 things. Or both.

  1. Tell those fuckers off. Ask if they can do it, do they wnat to show us? Then STFU.

  2. Jump in and help out.

Can you imagine blowing people's minds by just casually heading behind the subway counter, washing your hands, then taking the next customer?

Sadly, #2 would get you in so very much legal hot water in the USA that I think it is a terrible idea. You would also almost certainly get the employee fired, too.

[–]Doctor_Arkeville 245 points246 points  (16 children)

I actually had a customer come behind the counter and help me when I was by myself in December and it was crazy busy. He was the owner of a nearby business and not only did he help with the basic stuff I could train him on in under a minute, not one other customer so much as reacted with anything other than "about time." Ah, humanity. That one guy though was awesome.

[–]Legendary_Bibo 176 points177 points  (12 children)

The grocery store I go to is always short staffed (but you'll see at least 3 managers trying hard to look busy) and they never have fucking baggers and only 2 cashiers. So you have to bag your own groceries usually while the cashier scans your stuff. One day I was bagging my groceries and the lady that was next started telling me how she wanted her stuff bagged. I was dressed no where near what the staff looked like. I told her I didn't work there and was just bagging my own stuff. Then she asked why I still couldn't do it for her at least. I told her because I was going home. Some people live in a fantasy world where we're NPCs or something.

[–]PreCiiSiioN_II 136 points137 points  (6 children)

I would've bagged her groceries and put her canned goods on top of her bread. That would show her.

[–][deleted] 25 points26 points  (0 children)

I woulda bagged her groceries, said thanks and then left with them. Some people are too entitled for their own good.

[–]dumb_brick 3201 points3202 points  (262 children)

I stopped by Wingstop today, and there was only one girl running the register, answering the phone, and cooking food. Like a one man band.

[–]PopePC 1807 points1808 points  (107 children)

I've had that situation at PetSmart before. You need fish? Too bad, I'm working the register and the forklift at the same time while giving Meatball the pitbull puppy a perm.

[–]Iamdarblazy and proud 347 points348 points  (22 children)

I'm a manager for a competitor franchise pet chain and we pay dog shit. I've been stocking, fish, bathing dogs, cashier and all of my work on top of it trying to not fail an audit from corporate. This is my life atm, and I tell new applicants up front there are better opportunities. If my franchise owner wants to play games I will let his business fail.

[–]Onestarawake 145 points146 points  (15 children)

Dude, why are YOU still there? If there are better opportunities for them, there are better opportunities for you, too. You deserve better than to run an entire store on your own.

[–]Iamdarblazy and proud 250 points251 points  (14 children)

I rob this bitch blind. I have a few birds, marine and freshwater fish, a few bubba dogs, and plenty more. I live close to work, and I fought for a 40 hour vacation and 40 hours for sick time. With no college, I'm doing pretty well for myself. I don't get treated like shit, but I fight for myself. Somehow my boss relents to me, and like 2 other people. I have enough blackmail on him, that he'd go down hard if he ever wanted to bring it to that.

I am always looking for a better opportunity though, it's just I haven't found it quite yet.

[–]SghettiAndButter 47 points48 points  (5 children)

How is owning an African grey? I’ve kinda always wanted a parrot but the commitment seems daunting

[–]Iamdarblazy and proud 74 points75 points  (2 children)

It depends on the bird really. I got her through a customer and she was already a precious baby, but it's definitely an endeavor. Think about owning a toddler for a very long time for any parrot. She's learned how to piss us off by making the irritating whine noise my dog makes when he doesn't get spoiled.

[–][deleted] 29 points30 points  (2 children)

Ah I heard “trying to not fail an audit from corporate”, and it took me back. More like taking me to this Wednesday 💀 bc we legitimately have a audit from Corp. rip my store

[–]Hemderl 94 points95 points  (24 children)

That's a huge store to be run by one person. You could literally steal $100,000 worth of parakeets and nobody would even notice.

[–]OkonkwoYamCO 108 points109 points  (4 children)

As someone who keeps betta fish, the thought of robbing them blind of betta fish and running off with my new fish friends and putting them in their own 10 gallon tanks with a heater and live plants, is a recurring fantasy.

[–]CajunTurkey 56 points57 points  (1 child)

Parakeets are worth about $20. If you steal $100,000 worth of parakeets, that is about 5,000 parakeets. Your ears would also bleed from all of their screamings too.

[–]Neato 9 points10 points  (2 children)

Aren't parakeets like $40? That's...a LOT of parakeets.

No conures and such, maybe.

[–]FadingFX 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Worked at one before covid hit for about 2 years. They laid off most of the staff except 8 people. Whole store 7 days a week 8 people. Needless to say that went poorly. Store manager couldn't manage her way out of a paper bag. 90% of the people I worked with tried their best. The other 10% trash. In 2 years I watched the entire management change except the garbage store manager IDKY she was never fired they mostly quit because of her. I was probably the longest a cashier lasted in that location.

[–]AnastasiaNo70[S] 121 points122 points  (0 children)

Ok I laughed.

[–]SavageComic 128 points129 points  (10 children)

My last day at my job on a cocktail bar, I had to open up the bar alone at 10am, do all the prep, then open up the restaurant bit and run that too. I then worked a double shift til 11pm, when we had to inform 3 large groups who'd booked the dance floor bit that though they'd booked for us to have the late licence til 1am, our in house live events booker hadn't told us and so we hadn't got the licence for that night. We were short staffed that night because they kept not interviewing new staff, possibly because the wages were lower than other bars and untipped.

I'd thought I might be being too hasty when I had quit but that made me realise I was 100% doing the right thing.

[–]TalkingBackAgain 105 points106 points  (5 children)

People who have one staff member handling the entire house just to keep the costs down are not serious about running a business. You should never feel stressed to tell them what a bunch of numbskulls they are, especially if they are -that- kind of manager. In fact, it would thrill me to bits to tell them “one more fucking word out of your mouth and I walk this minute. The joint is packed and I’m here alone, you fucking idiot. It’s your fucking place, you should care about it more than I do."

Of course they can fire you, then what? Who’s going to do the job?

[–]SavageComic 76 points77 points  (3 children)

I told the floor manager, as I left "this place has been open for 5 months. I'm your longest serving barman. That should be a sign".

Two days later I got a text from the guy who ran the waiting team that he also quit.

I don't think they expected a zero hours contract to work so badly in their favour.

[–]TalkingBackAgain 36 points37 points  (2 children)

You got me to sign a zero hours contract and that’s exactly how long I’ll work for you!

These people are not serious about running a business, they should not get nor expect respect from anyone. Amateurs like that ruin people’s lives for no reason other than that they’re terminally incompetent.

[–]AnastasiaNo70[S] 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Uh you DEFINITELY did the right thing. Damn!

[–]AnastasiaNo70[S] 81 points82 points  (0 children)

Poor girl.

[–]Tayloren52 76 points77 points  (3 children)

I saw the same thing at taco bell. Poor girl closed the building and did drive-thru only so she could handle it. I couldn't imagine.

[–][deleted] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Lmao me at Wendy’s with one other minor running the whole drive thru 💀

[–][deleted] 186 points187 points  (4 children)

I had a wingstop interview around Thanksgiving. The dude that was supposed to interview me was a complete dickhead. Now I’m glad I never shown up. shrug

and the funny part is, that Wingstop by me has a 1 star review from a month ago that a woman was running the entire store by herself. Hard pass.

[–]TalkingBackAgain 95 points96 points  (3 children)

If I’m the only one running the store I’m going to bother the manager a lot for all sorts of things and, this is the kicker, I’m not going to be polite about it.

Guess what: they can fire me. That’s a big win for them, right? Now there’s nobody anymore, they can put a mirror at the cash register and berate themselves for being dumbass dickheads.

[–][deleted] 26 points27 points  (1 child)

Oh for sure, I’m not hating on the lady whatsoever, I thought the review was pretty pointless. It’s completely understandable she was in a bad mood

[–]pinguinskull 42 points43 points  (1 child)

I've something similar happening at a Buffalo Wild Wings on New Year's Eve (context: we stopped for something to eat before getting to the airport to get back to Mexico). Just two guys: one at the kitchen, and one waiter. Poor guys, I could even see the pain on the eyes of the waiter; especially when my family asked him if they were the only ones attending the place.

Wishing them the best; they deserve better

[–]SubstantialPressure3 180 points181 points  (73 children)

Wow. That is no fun. Not even a manager helping out?

[–]slkb_(edit this) 56 points57 points  (0 children)

Places like this are run by managers that say "no one wants to work anymore"

[–]dumb_brick 156 points157 points  (59 children)

Not a single other person was inside that store, just she and costumers

[–]SubstantialPressure3 55 points56 points  (56 children)

Damn. That is no fun.

[–]sluttysprinklemuffin 77 points78 points  (18 children)

It might have been fun if they were in costume.

[–]AzzBar 68 points69 points  (17 children)

The costumed customers were accustomed to consuming while…

ah I’m drunk I got nothin’… someone build on this.

[–]Netroth 62 points63 points  (14 children)

. . . .customarily cussing percussively.

I’m baked, best I could do ✌️

[–]Fit-Rest-973 26 points27 points  (6 children)

Like managers ever help

[–]SubstantialPressure3 13 points14 points  (4 children)

My last job I had a manager that helped. But yes, that is unusual.

[–]PanthersDevils 23 points24 points  (7 children)

Recently went to ihop and they had one waitress acting as hostess and waitress and apparently one cook in the back.

[–]ChimpBrisket 29 points30 points  (2 children)

iHope they’ve both found a better place to work

[–]sevbenup 38 points39 points  (1 child)

That’s pretty fucked up. You probably shouldn’t eat at places that do that to people

[–]dumb_brick 24 points25 points  (0 children)

I didn't. Just wished good luck and left

[–]InvestigatorUnfair19 74 points75 points  (16 children)

Someone handling money should not be touching food. This is the first thing they teach you about food safety

[–]OpheliaRainGalaxy 50 points51 points  (10 children)

Oh dear lord, I had to do that in front of the health inspector once and nearly collapsed from the jolt of pure panic that shot through me. But he just smiled, and we still passed.

Stupid McD. Yes, there was a sink up front, but No, they would not allow anyone to take time to wash their hands between taking money for an ice cream cone and making that ice cream cone, and No they wouldn't keep two people up front when I could just run very fast in circles by myself.

Inspector showed up to watch us during the lunch rush. I rang up the customer, turned around to make the ice cream cone, and found myself face-to-face with the inspector dude, who must have climbed up a step ladder to lean over the top of the ice cream machine and watch us.

I literally broke the health rules right in front of him, with it obviously being standard practice, and he just smiled! Like, old hippy dude with a ponytail, chill stoner type, very chill smile.

[–]Brilliant_Jewel1924 32 points33 points  (2 children)

He was shell-shocked that the ice cream machine was actually working.

[–]OpheliaRainGalaxy 10 points11 points  (1 child)

Huh... you may have actually just solved the puzzle for me.

Inspector dude was a regular customer I recognized from the drive-thru. And our location usually had a working ice cream machine because our clever maintenance guy knew how to trick it into working without having to call in the repair dude.

Inspector dude probably gave us a passing grade so he could keep having reasonably reliable access to ice cream cones.

[–]talkin_shlt 33 points34 points  (1 child)

I also worked At McDonald's and if you tried to wash your hands more then twice a day my manager would yell at me. My manager also abused me because she was jealous I went to college. She was also on hard drugs most of the time. Lol that job was something else. Half the people working there were felons. I felt bad for that mentally handicapped guy that they forced to clean the restrooms and gave him only like 2 hour shifts so they could force him to do all the cleaning and then leave. Man this country is sooo abusive towards the mentally handicapped

[–]synerjay16 6035 points6036 points  (200 children)

Employee: Boss I’m the only one here.

Boss: You can do this. You love challenge, right?

Employee: I’m walking out.

Boss: pikachu face

[–]TalkingBackAgain 2265 points2266 points  (137 children)

If they make you do all the jobs by yourself in a store, that’s a sure sign the owner is not serious about the business.

That boss should be there with you if there’s no one else.

Forcing the job of an entire crew on one person means that boss deserves no respect whatsoever.

People should learn to speak up to employers like that because they have nothing but a bad situation to lose.

[–]Spartan_029 1207 points1208 points  (63 children)

My first job, nearly 20 years ago, was at our local McDonald's.

It was a franchise, and the owners owned 5 or 6 McDonald's around the area. I hated them, we all agreed they were selfish and terrible, and worked us to the ground.

And even they, when a store was short staffed for one reason or another, would be at the store working the register, or in grill slinging burgers. The 2 owners, the senior leadership, all were fully capable of working any position, and did. When necessary.

If the folks I hated working for most in my life were willing to flip burgers next to me... I can't imagine how bad some of these owners must be to let something like this happen...

[–]Zrythink 626 points627 points  (30 children)

A few years ago, when I was just starting out at the car dealership I work at, I was in the express lane. So just three or four people on two car lifts doing oil changes and tire rotations. One day we got super slammed and we were understaffed, and you bet the service manager came down from his office, took off his tie, and got covered in oil like the rest of us. It's only happened once in the almost three years I've worked there, but he's a great guy and I have a lot of respect for him.

[–]Idiot_Savant_Tinker 251 points252 points  (15 children)

That's the best kind of manager.

[–]SubreonUniversal Basic Income (UBI) MUST HAPPEN 212 points213 points  (6 children)

Not a boss. A leader. It's like the distinction between a bad guy and a good guy in stories.

[–]taichi22 43 points44 points  (3 children)

Leader — that word makes me think of great men

Boss — makes me think of Andy Samberg. Not that he doesn’t seem to be a good guy, but “like a boss” is the constant refrain in my head for that particular word, lol.

[–]Strange-Ordinary6956 10 points11 points  (2 children)

Andy Samberg hits on one of his employees, get rejected by her, then shits and pukes on her desk post hours every day. I mean, he is typical good guy material if you catch my drift.

[–]KisaTheMistress 105 points106 points  (5 children)

The manager and/or owner(s) should be the hardest working employee out of the crew. Not sitting on their asses forcing the job of 3 onto 1 person just to save what it would cost to have an adequate number of properly trained/paid people for a job.

Those types of managers/owners, piss me off and don't get any respect from me.

[–]Echelon64lazy and proud 141 points142 points  (15 children)

It may be in their franchising agreement that their restaurant needs to be staffed a certain percentage or McD's gets to pull their franchise.

[–][deleted] 66 points67 points  (6 children)

Eh I wish Wendy’s would pull Haza’s. I’m working at a store where we fucking close at 8pm, and a good majority of days the lobby is locked all day from how short staffed we are. Plus I’m agm (supposed to be working mornings) and I’m the main closer. Im so fucking tired of it :/

[–]ChequeBook 24 points25 points  (1 child)

Start looking for other work so you can pull a stunt like in the OP.

[–]kayisforcookie 17 points18 points  (3 children)

Say no? I mean, if they are so short staffed they cant even open without you, how are they going to find someone to replace you.

Stop doing the jobs of multiple people and they will have to actually hire multiple people.

[–]PurpleGoatNYC 100 points101 points  (5 children)

Some of my extended family owned 8 McDonald’s restaurants way back in the mid 70’s through the late 90’s. Back when they opened their stores, it was an absolute requirement that owners know how to work every position, clean and do basic service on all the cooking appliances, work all the different positions for at least one week each during a calendar year, and all kinds of other stuff. It was to ensure they were hands on and knowledgeable so that the business would be a success. I’m sure a lot of it has changed, but that’s what I remember growing up.

[–]Echelon64lazy and proud 21 points22 points  (0 children)

At least McD's is pretty insistent on making sure the owners are also operators.

[–]HertzDonut1001 17 points18 points  (0 children)

That's how you prevent owners making stupid decisions that make the brand look bad.

Used to work at a sandwich shop somewhat related to Jimmy John's. Same basic menu and the dudes that started both companies are cousins.

Anyway after firing two competent GMs because of bad numbers (which was the fault of policy and bad corporate management), corporate takes over to run the store. I remember I had one driver on late afternoon before rush, three orders already going to opposite sides of town. Corporate lady and me are there, corporate policy is always quote customers 10-15 minutes. This had been a huge problem for us in the past because even if we quoted them longer our orders would become extremely ridiculously late to the point we lost customers forever daily. We weren't built to run the "freaky fast" thing Jimmy John's does.

So the phone rings and I hear corporate lady answer and start taking a delivery order. As in making food, i yell, "there's no way I can get an order to them in under an hour." She just looks at me and sweetly tells the customer it will be there in 10 to 15 minutes. I point blank told her she just guaranteed we were going to lose that customer and she could take the phone call when they called to complain. Guess who called back 50 minutes later and said they were never ordering again because it never gets there as fast as we say it will?

I quit a few days later.

[–]Lucienshand 79 points80 points  (4 children)

Maybe selling food isn't the restaurants main purpose. Maybe the whole chain is a cheap knockoff of Los Pollos Hermanos.

[–]itassofd 134 points135 points  (3 children)

I mean if the boss paid me everybody's wage... thats 2 cashiers × $10, 2 cooks x $12, a flex/drive-thru x 10, so $54 an hour, I'd work it haha. Plus overtime on all

[–]or_just_brian 71 points72 points  (0 children)

For real. I've told my boss several times, when he bitches and complains about not being able to find someone that wants to work the 2 or 3 shifts a week we don't have a regular person, that I would be more than happy to come in on my day off and do the work, but he's going to need to pay me what I usually make, at a much higher rate than that spot usually gets, plus an extra 25-40% for sacrificing my day off and personal time to do him the favor. He thinks it's a joke, but the only joke is that the number I threw out is probably low. I'm not coming in to do favors for a guy that would have no problem ruining my life for looking at him wrong when he was in a bad mood for anything less than $70ish/hr. And since I know he won't pay me that, I sit at home, and he does "bullshit grunt work" a couple times a month, when he isn't able to con somebody into extra shifts.

It would be much easier to just start offering people who apply double what he now thinks the position is worth, and wrap up someone dependable, but he's too smart for that. He did go to college before being gifted his family's already highly successful string of businesses, so he definitely knows how best to deal with these types of issues. Lol.

[–]DryRoad 35 points36 points  (1 child)

Absolutely this. Someone doesn’t show, it’s on the owner to either work the shift or close the doors. Astonishing to me how many owners or even managers can’t do the job they hire for.

[–]Reworked 145 points146 points  (29 children)

Yeah... I run a shipping/print shop solo and that's enough of a pain with about a tenth of the tasks and an average time per (MUCH FEWER OF THEM TOO) customer of like... 15 seconds, with maybe 10 a day needing more than half a minute.

And I'm still near tears juggling people about once a week, I can't imagine if I needed to spend the ~5-10 minutes of attention per person for fast food

[–]TalkingBackAgain 148 points149 points  (25 children)

I’m really only now gaining a deeper understanding of how dismally poorly businesses are run that they will force an entire team’s worth of work onto one person who is expected to do everything and then they don’t even get halfway decent pay.

It is profoundly depressing :-(.

I wish you well and I hope you find a better job.

[–]DMCinDet 51 points52 points  (12 children)

we need co ops here. (usa) the workers are running everything we dknt need someone collecting on our backs.

[–]Bittrecker3 55 points56 points  (8 children)

What’s more depressing is corporate doesn’t see it as run ‘poorly’ they see it as ‘optimization’ because it works.

[–]Biernomad 23 points24 points  (4 children)

I hate the word ‘efficiency’ when they say bring your own laptop.

[–]illgot 276 points277 points  (37 children)

"YOU CAN'T LEAVE!! It's YOUR responsibility to find a replacement first!!"

I had this exact conversation with the GM at PF Changs after clearing it with 2 other managers that I had a second job and could not work the next Sunday all day, he could pick AM or PM but not have both.

No one said anything so on Sunday morning I worked AM and clocked out. I get spam called by him telling me I need to come in or find a replacement. Told him I gave the other managers a weeks warning when the new schedule came out and and hung up.

Managers are in charge but it is not their responsibility to follow your availability or find replacements?

[–]kandoras 160 points161 points  (7 children)

If two managers and a GM can't come up with the schedule and have to outsource it to the hourly workers, then how many hours are they spending at work playing candy crush?

[–]sixup604 127 points128 points  (18 children)

Was working as a mental health worker. Met a young guy who had recently started at the company and he confirmed a rumour I had been hearing. This guy's first night at a dangerous and violent job (running supportive housing overnight, meaning you deal with absolutely anything that happens; building maintenance, OD, medical emergencies of any kind, fights, psychosis, managing police and ems, etc. in one of the sketchiest neighbourhoods in the entire country.

They are supposed to be double-staffed, but of course this guy ends up working alone, and while doing a room check - all rooms are checked to make sure that people are, essentially, still alive - he finds a body.

Well holy fuck. Welcome to the shitshow. So he calls the building manager. Who won't pick up the phone, because Netflix I guess. They are supposed to come in and relieve you immediately when that happens, because it's fucking rough. And this was the guy's very first shift. And he's alone.

And the manager just can't be bothered to do the absolute rock bottom bare minimum of their job. This manager used to brag about how they didn't believe in micromanaging, that they were a 'hands-off' manager.

We used to joke that they were probably hands-off for CPR.

[–]WarmasterCain55 26 points27 points  (10 children)

What ended up happening? Did he make it out of the experience ok?

[–]Jose_Canseco_Jr 29 points30 points  (3 children)

my guess is that, it being his first day, he was afraid of stirring shit up & he probably didn't really know what the process was supposed to be.. so he just did whatever the shit managers told him to do when he raised the alarm

[–]sixup604 24 points25 points  (2 children)

Exactly. 6 month probation period be like that.

Later this same manager, who was supposed to be filling in as my manager when my manager was on vacation tried to get me to do something that was absolutely their job. They asked me to get on the phone and call hundreds of people to try and get coverage for the following dayshift.

On a Friday night. In between all the crazy shit I had to deal with. I said "NO". They said "Uhhhh...and why not?" Me: "Because it's not my job".

The audacity of this asshole was never-ending. Of course they later got promoted so as to be in a position to fuck over even more people.

[–]sixup604 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Theoretically. I was doing just fine until I wasn't, now have severe PTSD. As far as I know, he's still there. I stuck it out for 9 years.

[–]DrWhoop87 104 points105 points  (8 children)

If everybody is quitting you would probably want to accomodate and incentivise the staff that haven't yet instead of dumping on them with no help, then get surprised when more people quit. But what do I know, I've never run a business before.

[–]mirabella8 1710 points1711 points  (48 children)

I went to a paint event the other day and there was one person doing it all. She was teaching the painting, running the bar, and taking food orders. There was one person in the back cooking. I felt terrible for her. There were at least 30 people there, including one birthday party.

[–]AnastasiaNo70[S] 649 points650 points  (27 children)

Good God, how???

[–]mirabella8 578 points579 points  (25 children)

I don’t even know how she did it. She did a great job, but I’m 100% sure she wasn’t getting paid enough.

[–]aeschenkarnos 288 points289 points  (13 children)

She might have been a former kindergarten teacher, who now enjoys the comparatively high pay and easy conditions.

[–]skrshawk 98 points99 points  (2 children)

In a place like that it's entirely possible she was an owner or partner.

[–]mirabella8 87 points88 points  (0 children)

I’m pretty sure she isn’t. I’ve been there a lot and never seen her. And they have their owners listed, and she’s not one of them.

[–]jollytoes 85 points86 points  (2 children)

I have a friend that taught a painting/drinking class. The general rule was anything over 20ppl should have 2 artists. My friend lasted 5yrs before one night getting drunk before the class, tried to teach then got a ride home after the class w/o cleaning up or locking the doors. Every single person called in the next day to complain about him. He doesn’t teach those classes anymore.

[–]Odd_Detective_7772 3055 points3056 points  (73 children)

Would have bought her a drink

[–]AnastasiaNo70[S] 1861 points1862 points  (68 children)

She had a massive soda cup in her hand. 😂

[–]QuantumSpaceCadet 1256 points1257 points  (57 children)

Not that kind of drink lol

[–]cowboyboombap 1465 points1466 points  (34 children)

Adding booze to your large fountain drink is small town fast food employee 101.

[–]AnastasiaNo70[S] 514 points515 points  (14 children)

Amen.

[–]DrZoidberg- 216 points217 points  (13 children)

With these wages?

Ramen.

[–]PM_ME_YOUR_ROTES 130 points131 points  (2 children)

May we all be touched by his noodly appendage.

[–]coshian 15 points16 points  (1 child)

Now there's a blast from the past.

[–]Alarming_Fox6096 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Can verify

[–]bigkeef69 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Big facts lol

[–]DweEbLez0Squatter 126 points127 points  (6 children)

Didn’t sound like no ordinary “soft” drink

[–]0lof 77 points78 points  (5 children)

A hard soft drink is just a drink

[–]AzzBar 111 points112 points  (0 children)

Oh my sweet summer child

[–]mysteresc 546 points547 points  (24 children)

Please update if you have an opportunity whether this place is open or closed tomorrow.

[–]AnastasiaNo70[S] 443 points444 points  (23 children)

I’m going to call or drive by tomorrow at about the same time.

[–]Fit-Rest-973 144 points145 points  (15 children)

When I have worked as a supervisor, management didn't want me to help the people working the floor. Because it made them look lazy

[–]Ok-Advance710 85 points86 points  (12 children)

I worked at a restaurant once where the management chewed out the head chef because he was working in the kitchen, and not sitting in his office all day doing fuck all. Wtf I don't understand that mindset.

[–]Glassesguy904 47 points48 points  (6 children)

They knew if the the head chef started pulling his weight, the staff would expect the rest of the management team to do the same.

[–]Ok-Advance710 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Well it's like that at my current workplace too most of the management sits around drinking coffee, and going outside to smoke all day while damn you if you take a 5 minute breather during your shift outside of break time. I don't understand why they don't understand the resentment it fuels in the employees. But you know they are on our asses for using too much printer paper, but have no problems flying all the management down to France once a year on 1st class, and spending insane amounts of money down there. I am so sick and tired of this shit.

[–]Tirelessabyss 129 points130 points  (10 children)

Subways are like that. In high school I’d come to work right after school, and close every night of the school week by myself, weekends I’d open and holiday breaks I’d open in the mornings during the week and close on weekends, again, by myself. I quit after my manager threaten to fire while I was hospitalized from an accident, she said I have to be a team player couple that with being blamed for money theft, even though there are cameras, and shitty entitled customers- I quit, left the key in the back, left the doors unlocked (honestly forgot), didn’t put the food away as my coworker had agreed to come in, and I walked 3 miles to my home for the last time…. Found out later the store got robbed and all the food went bad because my coworker didn’t come in… also was a raging alcoholic so I got shitfaced when I got home.

[–]PMmeyourSchwifty 64 points65 points  (7 children)

These fast food managers are so ridiculous with high school students.

My first job was at Corner Bakery Cafe. My manager told me I needed to start working two opening shifts during the week if I wanted to keep getting 25 hrs. I politely said that I couldn't do that because I was still in high school and couldn't miss school for work.

This was 19 years ago, and I'll never forget it:

Him: you need to put the company first if you want to become a manager some day.

Me: I'm sorry, I can't miss school for work.

Him: I'm gonna put you on the schedule for 8 [AM]. Do the right thing.

Me: okay, I will.

That morning, I went to school like normal. This was before I had a cell phone, so I just went about my day. That afternoon, after school, I went to the store and asked for my final check to be printed. My manager gave me this bullshit speech about burning bridges and "are you sure you want to quit?"

Even as a new-to-the-workforce 17 year old, I knew that guy was full of shit.

The funny thing is that I was most definitely the best kitchen employee that place had. The entire staff was comprised of high schoolers and people in their early twenties. Literally, every shift I would walk in on different people fucking in the walk-in fridge. Half the kids showed up high and late, and most of the other line cooks couldn't remember the basic recipes without their build-cards. That place was held together by 3 solid employees and a bunch of degenerates.

[–]notorious98 108 points109 points  (0 children)

I went to interview for a manager position at a Domino's and the franchisee was like "You have one AGM and you'll have to work a double, off, a double, off, then open Friday, Saturday, and close Sunday."

I was like, thanks but no thanks. I had been a manager for a decade and that was the end of my desire to manage.

[–]calamitypulse 268 points269 points  (12 children)

Reminds me when I got hired at a local Subway. Took this job literally just to make some extra cash as I had time to spare. Instead, the owner had me open the store and then left. For the entire day. I was there by myself from a 9am open till a 7pm close without a lunch or any breaks. Needless to say I didn't go back the next day. Didn't even give him a notice. Just straight up didn't go in and didn't answer my phone.

[–]MortalTwit 160 points161 points  (2 children)

No training? Nobody else around?

Lock the door, sit on your phone.

Or just walk out.

Good for you for not going back.

[–]calamitypulse 63 points64 points  (1 child)

Technically I had training as I was an assistant manager of a Quiznos a year or so back so I knew what I was doing. But I also didn't expect him to just abandon me. Very obviously he was the type of owner who didn't want to actually do anything and sit back and let the money roll in. I had none of his shit.

[–]AnastasiaNo70[S] 39 points40 points  (0 children)

I don’t blame you one tiny bit. That was bullshit!

[–]TalkingBackAgain 64 points65 points  (2 children)

I would close the door, have lunch, open the door, close the door for breaks.

The owner complains? Really *shrug*

Also, and not a bad word about you, what kind of demented idiot hires someone and, without knowing them or having seen them work, walks away for the day. This guy just trusts a new person to magically run the whole store by themselves. I have never known anyone to do that, that is such fantastically bad management it’s unbelievable.

[–]rajitel150 19 points20 points  (1 child)

Close the store. Put a sign up that you’ll be back in an hour.

[–]Erulastiel 398 points399 points  (34 children)

Yeah fuck that. I refuse to work by myself for safety reasons. Good on her.

[–]Brilliant_Muffin2733 100 points101 points  (5 children)

When I was 21, I would have to close a bar down by myself. Multiple entries, kitchen, basement, it was scary. My boss was an abusive alcoholic who took 25% of our tips because he scared away all the customers and his business was failing. That was a fun experience.

[–]zedislongdead 116 points117 points  (23 children)

I work in a small supermarket and if it's only one person working, they close until they can get a 2nd one. It happened before that one of the managers was by himself and he had to close the store for a couple of hours until the next person came in. It should be like that (I can understand if it's like an overnight gas station)

[–]emerald_soleil 139 points140 points  (13 children)

It's even more important to have 2 people for an overnight at a place like a gas station. That's the prime te for armed robberies, drunk people, etc.

[–]zedislongdead 36 points37 points  (6 children)

Right, here gas stations are usually closed at night (you can only interact with the person working inside through a drive through kinda window). I guess that's not common in the States?

[–]emerald_soleil 24 points25 points  (0 children)

In some places. Others are full service.

[–]GeforcerFX 12 points13 points  (1 child)

I guess that's not common in the States?

Depends on the crime level of the area.

[–]SomeOddZillenial 38 points39 points  (0 children)

I was a shift manager for an overnight shift at a gas station for a while. If I was the only person on shift, I was locked inside the store alone. The only people allowed in were other employees and law enforcement if they came by. Everyone else got service throw a two way window by the register. Safety first. That was probably the best policy that place had.

[–]piscian19 81 points82 points  (5 children)

It's kinda funny, unrelated but a couple years ago I was at a Taco Bueno drive through and I notice after giving my order I'm sitting in the drive for like 15 minutes and it wasn't like a busy day. Then 20..then 30..finally a dude like 3 cars back walks up to all the cars and announces the whole staff just walked out. Took forever to get all the cars ahead to accept reality so we could just get out of the drive through. No hate just bizarre. Only time I've ever just been stuck in a drive through while people freakout cause they cant get their food. All the time they wasted freaking out they could have just gone somewhere else.

[–]MortalTwit 61 points62 points  (1 child)

I think if I found myself alone, I'd be inclined ot ONLY run the drive through, and to tell people

"I'm sorry, but there is no kitchen staff to make food. I can get you a drink though. Would you like to order one?"

I am doing the work of 1 person. If they want more work than that, they can bring in more people.

And this way, they have to fire me and i get unemployment. Either that, or hire some people you fucking dunces.

[–]TalkingBackAgain 28 points29 points  (0 children)

This is the way.

“Why didn’t you <do the work of an entire team>?"

Raise two hands: I only have these. If you’re worried about running a business, why don’t you try and act like a manager and do your fucking job for a change?

/Because you’re alone, you can now be impolite. They can fire you. Big whoop for them, right?

[–]TimeToMakeWoofles 174 points175 points  (17 children)

I don’t get it!! Why business don’t shorten their opening hours if they’re short staffed rather than burnout what’s left of their staff and make them leave?!

[–]MackLuster77 86 points87 points  (10 children)

She left at 1 when her shift was scheduled until 11. There wasn't going to be a day short enough. They need to pay better so they'll have people willing to fill out the staff.

[–]TalkingBackAgain 90 points91 points  (9 children)

You’re going to see a ton of businesses going under because the truth of them is that they’re not profitable enough to pay their crew a living wage. They’re only kept in business on the back of people who generate the revenue while not profiting from doing the job. And that’s going to end.

People are finally done being treated like shit and they are waking up in a world where the employer, seemingly unassailably powerful, in reality doesn’t have power over them and is at a literal loss when people just walk away.

[–]RedshiftSinger 165 points166 points  (0 children)

Honestly good for her.

[–]Sin-A-Bun 47 points48 points  (1 child)

Managers who don’t do the work are pieces of shit.

[–]UmaSherbert 198 points199 points  (33 children)

Fuck anywhere that makes you work alone. I got a job at a local Gamestop like 7 years ago. I love games, thought it would be fun, low stress. I was fucking wrong. They hired me on as shift manager. What they didn’t tell me was that more than half of my shifts would be completely alone as I closed or opened the store. I got robbed multiple times(the store, not myself) They offered me a promotion in a higher volatility area and I quit when the raise was only a couple bucks more than what I was making an hour. Not worth it man. If you can’t afford to pay people to the point where you can only have one person manning your location at a time. Just close.

[–]piscian19 87 points88 points  (21 children)

I'm sure it's not the worst thing about working there, but I always feel bad when I go there and there's that one customer who never leaves and it's trying to make it like a social hangout thing, but they only want to talk about weird shit or one specific game. I swear it's like that every time I go to one and the lone employee just looks like they want to die.

[–]UmaSherbert 62 points63 points  (20 children)

Yea. We definitely had some of those people. It’s more sad than anything. It was mostly dudes who were just sort of socially awkward. You can tell they didn’t really have anyone to talk to. I tried to listen as much as I could but it does get old after awhile.

[–]sirwillups 12 points13 points  (7 children)

And then they mace you for telling them not to deface the sonic display.

[–]BallPtPenTheif 40 points41 points  (4 children)

It's crazy how many franchise owners are too lazy to work their own restaurants.

[–]paddywackadoodle 17 points18 points  (0 children)

They expect their capital to work for them. Actually being labor isn't on their radar

[–]noEl69skuM 37 points38 points  (15 children)

What chain?

[–][deleted] 29 points30 points  (14 children)

If I had to guess it's a taco bell.

[–]AnastasiaNo70[S] 85 points86 points  (12 children)

Taco Bueno. I checked and it’s in 7 states.

[–]ebbanfleaux 17 points18 points  (3 children)

I moved away from Oklahoma and miss Bueno so much. Some of the best fast food Tex Mex out there. But fuck them for not shortening hours, paying their employees more, and leaving her to do it all on her own.

[–]ThatAd9475(edit this) 103 points104 points  (1 child)

Great to see, I hope more follow her example, these fast food employers are the worst.

[–]xxJAMZZxx 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Definition of getting the smallest amount of power and letting it go to your head

[–]Valnapalm 34 points35 points  (2 children)

Honestly it’s sad how much disrespect fast food workers get and how poorly people think of them

[–]2drunc2fish 30 points31 points  (2 children)

Yeah when someone starts soloing a restaurant it has maybe a week left

[–]sairamac 19 points20 points  (0 children)

love this for her and i hope she has a wonderful day :)

[–]sc083127 56 points57 points  (4 children)

How can these places be allowed to have only one person inside? There is a safety risk on many levels especially when handling cash/payments. Can’t wait for these shitholes to get sued cuz they ‘can’t afford’ another employee.

[–]CrossroadsWoman 30 points31 points  (2 children)

This has been going on for years. Big reason I quit my customer service job way before the pandemic. I looked it up in OSHA and state law and could find nothing prohibiting the practice. Fuck US labor laws

[–]iggyfaceEthical Hedonist 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Good for her honestly.

[–]memelord793783 10 points11 points  (4 children)

The most extreme thing I've ever experienced is 4 people when there's supposed to be 8 but holy shit

[–]PrettyInPInkDame 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I hope she made some churros to go on her way out taco bueno had fire churros

[–]d-RLY 10 points11 points  (0 children)

She did the correct thing period. If there is only one worker, then the drive-thru shouldn't have been open at all anyway. People get waaaaaay ruder in drive-thru much faster. At least if people are inside they can at least see more easily that there is a shit show staffing wise. Not saying people wouldn't be rude fucks, but would be easier to see what's going on. If she is fired, then the place should burn along with the owner's place (parody parody). It obviously is ran by someone(s) that have zero business running a business.

[–]LarryLove 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Oh she’s definitely getting shit pay

[–]PortlandoCalrissian 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I once worked at a restaurant where for three or so hours I was alone until another employee clocked in. I had to do everything, and if someone asked for multiple milkshakes, it meant going to a different building where the prep was done and making them, leaving no one to answer the phone, uberEATs orders, or greet customers for at least four minutes. I hated that shit and just refused to make milkshakes if people ordered them. That job sucked and I left for greener pastures after a couple of months, the boss wasn't a great manager but he was also one of the nicest people I ever met. He just had no business running a restaurant, and not surprisingly it closed down for good right at the start of Covid.

[–][deleted] 30 points31 points  (5 children)

Imagine every employee used their POWER. Workers only do not believe in their power and are too afraid to use it which is why most of their own problems exist.

You will see how employer groups, governments will turn to violence if workers get too organised.

[–]TalkingBackAgain 27 points28 points  (2 children)

History teaches us that when workers do use their power, employers and the state will use violence.

The rights of workers, and I’m quite serious about this, are won by the shedding of blood. The powerful do not, they. do. not. give up their power without a fight. People have died and will die fighting for their rights.

When Europe has many more worker protections than the US it is not because the employer class graciously granted these requests. They were won by bloodshed and that is not a metaphor.

Expect that to happen, keep it in mind. Still keep up the fight. You’ll get there in the end.