This waitress wanted to share a story about a family interaction at her job, but commenters took the customers' side! The OP has a few memorably cringe lines. If a waiter ever handed me water and in the same breath told me about how it had “came out of the dinosaurs years ago. [It's] just filtered super well," I'd hesitate to eat there. What a weird thing to say about a fresh beverage! Perhaps one of the worst ways to make water sound appetizing is to remind the customer of how water filtration…

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…

Who said complying with the rules can't be a little fun? One employee told their story of their coworker's malicious compliance when their bosses started demanding they label every little thing. Food service workers have a lot to juggle. This person, u/Dra5iel, shared that they and their coworker both worked at a restaurant chain. Along with prepping food, cooking it, plating it for customers, and cleaning up, back of house staffers have enough on their plates already (pun intended!). When the…

These people had a sneaking suspicion they weren't going to like their new job . So they quit ASAP---many of them quit right after their first shift. There are a lot of clues that can tell you if a company is a good place to work or not. For example, if you go through the interview process and the steps are clear and the company is communicative, that's a good sign. But imagine you show up to an interview , and there are dozens of other people there. Hmm, that's the first sign. Then, you and al…

This boss had no idea what he was doing, and the hordes of hungry customers don't care about poor management, they just want food. There are lots of industries where people are low-paid and treated poorly. Food service is perhaps the hardest of these. Unlike retail, your customers are guaranteed to be hungry. That means they're going to be less patient and eager to tell you about any mistakes you're making. They really don't care about the employees or anything else, because all they want is th…

Some folks want to mess around and find out, and this waiter was happy to oblige. Entitled people are everywhere, and this person shared that while waiting tables at the Jersey Shore , these folks made their presence known. The OP spotted them by who has the fakest tan . The OP, u/iamjayjayisme, knew that as a waiter, they had to let the entitled diners get away with whatever they wanted—tips were on the line! For waiters and waitresses, dealing with entitled people is just part of day-to-day l…

These lawyers found a clever workaround to a bagel issue. U/Ars-Torok shared an excellent malicious compliance story about the time they worked as a chef. Chefs start their work days while most of us are still in bed. This dude started his workday at 4AM , and only had to work until about 10AM. You never really get used to working nights, but that shift sounds so ideal. Even if you have to wake up at 3AM, you'd finish work and still have the entire day to do whatever you want! Plus, I'm sure yo…

I never knew that checking the bathrooms before you eat at a restaurant was a “thing” until today. That's because these chefs, waiters, diners, and one health inspector, all gave their opinions on the sketchiest things to look out for while eating at restaurants.

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…

Usually, immoral irrationality and disrespect towards others go unpunished, making those perpetrating that behavior to be more encouraged since, well, they got away with it already. Occasionally, though, the universe will react in kind and drown them in a karmic ocean of their own making. In these instances, the world feels like it is in balance, with just deserts having been served in ample portions. Working in customer service, you'll seldom get to see this play out, with the irrational getti…

If you mistake salt for sugar in your recipe, it's no big deal. But if a chef does it while making a five gallon soup recipe, there's going to be some problems! Help yourself to a serving of these funny stories from chefs who were humbled by their own kitchen mishaps. We're all human, we all make mistakes every now and again. There are just some jobs where this is more acceptable than others. For example, if you're a FailBlog writer, it's okay if you make a mistake or three. Now, if you're an o…

This grocery store is going through changes, and its employees are not happy about it. A working environment is really defined by your bosses. You can have the best workplace in the world, but if management is poor, people won't stick around. This grocery store is going through something like that right now, as one employee, u/bugme143, explained. This employee had been working at the same store for quite some time, and it seems like their managers saw potential in them. They allowed the OP to…

How much trouble is it worth going through to avoid paying for a couple of leaves of lettuce? Is it worth a run-in with the police that could possibly see you arrested and sent to prison, all because you didn't want to pay $9 for your salad after complaining about the toughness of your steak? From there, you'll be forced to plan a daring means of escape. By day, you'll see yourself unwittingly participating in and then dismantling the operations of the corrupt warden running the prison while sp…

Having good working relationships with coworkers is important and can contribute to a thriving team and business—but it's important to know where the line is—or else it can be incredibly easy to accidentally jump across it with a two-footed leap… especially when you have no common sense about how to communicate with other people respectfully. It's not uncommon for coworkers , especially in the service industry and retail, to be incredibly close, bonded through mutual suffering and long, unforgi…

How many people working in customer service, retail, or the service industry have had to deal with this exact same scenario? The closing time was 6 pm—it's now ten after—and there are still customers in the store. You're not allowed to turn customers away—management has forbidden it—still, customers continue to pour in. This same thing happens often, and management insists that every last customer be able to order, forcing you to stay late well past scheduled closing… Yet, every time you try to…

Yes, the schedule. The cornerstone, the Monolith, of shiftwork… Obey the schedule—lest you find yourself at odds with some angry shift manager who quotes its existence at you like scripture. Managers love a good schedule, and they also like complaining about that schedule and blaming the schedule for all of their problems—even when they're the ones who made it. If they schedule you for a shift you couldn't normally work, all of a sudden, it's “It's on the schedule,” “I've posted the schedule.”…