“The first restaurant I worked at was one of the coolest jobs I could ask for. I made quite a bit of money from tips. Unfortunately, the two cooks tried to make it a living nightmare. Our restaurant is connected to the town’s only bar, and the two cooks felt that they were allowed to go downstairs as much and as long as they wanted to drink on the job with friends. This meant that I was expected to both serve every table by myself AND cook everything in their frequent absence. Bringing this up to the cooks would result in them crying right in front of everyone, for no good reason. I discussed this with my boss numerous times, but nothing was ever done. Finally, I had enough.
We had a slow day and one woman came in by herself to order a cheeseburger with fries. I cannot stress how much I poorly made this burger. I bring it out to her, as if everything is normal, and didn’t even fully turn around before I hear behind me, ‘WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS?!’
After examining the burger, I apologized greatly for the ‘cook’s’ behavior, and said that ‘she rushed through your order so she could go drink downstairs with her friends’ (which she actually was doing right then). The woman got up, marched downstairs, and proceeded to tear a new one out of the cook who was supposed to be working. The woman then came upstairs and tipped me 15 dollars for being, ‘The nicest waiter she had ever met.’
Not even a day later, the two cooks had their hours SEVERELY cut (after the woman talked to my boss) and were told that if they ever did that again, they would be fired. Apparently, my word didn’t mean anything to my boss, but whatever. They got what was coming to them.”