Dodgy off-book leave policies are something that you just come to expect after a while of working in the restaurant or retail world. From the first time you go to book leave and are met with the strong insinuation that maybe you shouldn't be taking any leave at all, giving you reasons of being too busy or too understaffed to possibly afford to be a “man down," you're going to be feeling that old resigned feeling of knowing that this is going to be that kind of place. The reality is that you're…

At a certain point, ordering a specific dish without the vital components that make it that specific dish in the first place becomes pretty pointless. For example, if you order a cheeseburger without cheese, it's just a hamburger; and if you order eggs benedict without hollandaise sauce , that's just poached eggs on a bun; and if you order a Ceasar salad without anchovies, you're just going to get a few lettuce leaves and croutons on a plate.

Even if your work, knowledge, and contributions make you irreplaceable in your organization, your employer is never going to admit it. For one thing, they probably aren't even going to be aware of it until long after you're gone. They probably think that there are dozens of people out there who can do exactly what you do. For another, if they did admit how valuable you were, they know that you'd likely want to be paid fairly for that fact—and that's just never going to happen. No, it's better t…

Our small flat during college housed six girls. Although we had a great relationship and enjoyed sharing our home, laundry day always seemed to bring problems. To be honest, we all wish we had thought of this strategy while we were in college. Now let's get back to business: everything seemed to be going OK until OP decided to utilize the laundry facilities downstairs. OP discovers that her clothing has been left wet and strewn on the floor when she returns to the common area precisely sixty mi…

There's nothing more confusing in life than someone who refuses to accept that withholding a part of their order actually makes it a different order. It's like when someone orders a cheeseburger without cheese but refuses to accept that all that does is make it a hamburger. Similarly, if you're ordering eggs Benedict without Hollandaise sauce, you might as well just be ordering a poached egg on a bun. Making an issue of that fact really just betrays your lack of ability to think logically. So,…

The wider world of the internet is filled with stories of ill-mannered customers, making life unnecessarily difficult for the humble working-class customer service rep who had the misfortune of serving them. Still, it's important for us to take a step back and realize that, while it may be nice to root for the everyman, we can't blindly assume that the workers themselves are infallible. There are entitled people on all sides and from all walks of life—and there are certainly plenty of people wo…

Entitled people often don't realize when they're disrespecting someone. Lost in their own world and wrapped up in their own tiny lives, self-important folks don't realize how their actions are affecting the people around them– especially those of us too polite to clap back. However, once in a blue moon, entitled naivety can punish someone without conflict.

It's not uncommon for those in petty positions of power to vastly overestimate the reach of that power. Whatever the words of the message, the point this manager is trying to convey is clear: we know that you need us more than we need you, so we're going to see how far we can manipulate the conditions of your employment in our favor and you're just going to have to deal with it.

One thing's for sure: there's no greater relief than quitting a bad job, especially when you already have another one lined up and ready to go. Everyone, at one point or another, has dreamed of doing this—preferably in explosive fashion. One day, walking and just letting your honest feelings fly before walking out —never to be seen again—while everyone is still sitting there stunned and processing what has just occurred.

The best part of managing or owning a business is that you're the master of your own destiny; success or failure rests primarily on your shoulders. The worst part of managing or owning a business is that you're always going to be at the whim of petty delusional customers who, for some reason, any reason, may at some point perceive that you've wronged them in some way, even if the result they're upset about is directly a result of their own actions. Still, they'll leave reviews and maybe even ma…

It can be incredibly difficult and frustrating working in customer-facing roles where your managers refuse to face up and take accountability on behalf of the operation they are managing, instead throwing the lowest-level workers under the bus for things well out of their control. When you're an honest, well-intended person, it can take an unfortunate amount of time to realize that not everyone is wired to be honest and well-intended and that there are, in fact, people trying to take advantage…

Karens have the uncanny ability to identify, single out, and berate people who work customer service jobs, accosting them with wanton fury regardless of whether or not they even happen to be working at that time—or are even employed by that place at all.

When this restaurant worker was running late for their shift, their manager reached out to ask if they were coming in, probably not realizing that the simmering heat of anger that had been bubbling below the surface was about to boil over. After a series of unmet promises, unrealistic expectations, and even being cheated out of pay, this restaurant worker was more than happy to call it quits. The reason they were late to their shift in the first place was that they had actually been interviewin…

"Comfort equals laziness" is an attitude that is pervasive throughout certain industries, with the idea that a comfortable employee is an unproductive one and that relative comfort is somehow offputting, prompting employers in these industries to treat their workers with cynicism and hostility.

Service industry workers live hard and die by the same credence, having long ago had their garden of farks scorched by an onslaught of unruly customers, temperamental chefs, and unreliable restaurant managers . They're a hard, complex, and colorful bunch, often seeking reprieve from their demanding careers in all the wrong sorts of places. But it's one of those lifestyles that feels good until it isn't, and when the bottom card gets pulled out of the house, and the entire thing comes crashing d…

We often hear stories online from customers who are acting unreasonable and unruly, like what you might call a “Karen,” and we tend to take the employees narrating these stories at face value. But what about the times when the roles are reversed? What about situations where a customer is simply making a reasonable request, only to be met with a harsh response from an employee? At what point is it okay for a customer to get a little bit frustrated when their issue isn't receiving any attention f…