Fired Up!
MVWJ was right before my current job, which happens to be My Very Best Job. I worked my way up in a barbecue chain restaurant. I started out as a cashier, then a server and was eventually a cook/meat slicer. I loved this job at the beginning. My boyfriend had recently lost his job and since we had two kids to support I threw myself in, working 50 to 60 hour weeks, usually double shifts. In the morning I would serve and then change clothes and be in the kitchen at night. The owner was a family guy, the managers were all younger and pretty cool. Like I said, I loved it. That was before they asked me to become a manager. I was so excited they had asked. I’m the type of person that does my absolute best and was just happy that someone had noticed how far I would go to be a team player. Picking up shifts if we were short, sometimes managing to do two jobs at one time, being the first girl to learn how to run the slicer and being amazingly fast in the hot, smoke-filled kitchen! I started working more and more. Once you become manager you are on salary so I was working 60 to 70 hours a week and barely ever saw my kids. I was committed to this job!
The boss’s son was a big party kid. He had just came home from college and was thrown into being general manager of the store. He would often come to work drunk and or late. One time he even came in and slept on the desk in the office because he was so hung over. He would be late opening the store, hired all his drinking buddies to work there and he stayed in the office his ENTIRE shift. I mean he would literally sit in there and watch the security cameras and call us up front to complain or ask one of the other managers to do something for him. The front end manager was a complete nightmare. She couldn’t write up a server schedule to save her life and we always had to find people to cover shifts because she would give everyone off if they requested it because she couldn’t tell these young college kids no! They all learned that pretty quickly and would suck up to her constantly for better shifts. But, I still loved it. I thought I was doing a really good job, I was always tired, called in on my days off constantly, always worked longer than scheduled, was actually scheduled as a cook most nights to conserve labor costs. I thought I was an appreciated member of the team and loved working hard for the owner.
In the end he fired me for coming into work on time and sick. I didn’t call in at 8am and leave everyone in a bind. He fired me because I spent too much time in the office on this one shift because I felt so sick. Two years of working like man for him, forgoing my family and my kids. I was in shock and wasn’t able to articulate anything when he called me into the office and fired me in front of all the other managers! I just stood there with my mouth open. I still want to find him and hurt him. Fucking ungrateful jackass.
Something doesn’t add up here. While I certainly wouldn’t want you coming in sick and contaminating the food being served to customers, I wouldn’t fire you for that or because you appeared to be slacking off on one occasion. If you were as good a worker as you say, certainly you would be given a warning. There has to be something else going on here. I wonder if the real reason you were fired had to do with friction between you and the boss’ son or the front end manager.
I see what Jeff is saying. If you were so good and got fired for nothing, you should have tried to get something. I’m just glad you didn’t cry. I’m so sick of all these MVWJ stories ending with a girl crying. Kudos.
Once again, we get a clear illustration of what you get when you martyr yourself for job… NOTHING! Was it worth it?
I think there is a limit to how much they can put in the submission so that might be why. My guess is that she was showing up the owners son so he had to fire him? i don’t know. ..
Jeff, you are either incredibly naive or have never dealt with a shitty boss before. He doesn’t “have” to give her warning, though he should’ve. I’d bet money that it had something to do with her showing up the son by not being a lazy slob. Sometimes good workers get the shaft for no reason; you weren’t there so you have no right nor ability to judge, so stop being a jackass.
Agree with Xandraya on this one. While I, sadly, almost want to say that the OP should have known better, they still should not have fired her like that. Also, they don’t have to warn you in many states. And so many employers complain that their employees aren’t hard working. I’ve heard too many stories of hardworkers getting fired because they either got sick and/or one of the managers didn’t like that they were showing them up.
It seems like the good workers do get the shaft because they never cause problems and the employer kinda assumes they will do everything and not complain. Sad but true. OP probably got fired for doing much better work than the son.
Xandraya – Sounds like this one hit a little too close to home for you, but you’re being ridiculous. “You weren’t there so you have no right nor ability to judge” – hell, that would pretty much rule out any of us commenting on any of these stories. You seem to be comfortable making judgments on situations that you weren’t present to witness, so I turn your last comment back to you: Stop being a jackass.
Everyone stop assuming everyone else is a jack ass and relish in your own jack assery.
The manager’s son did
Ahem, I mean owner’s son. I am sure the OP’s son missed his mom.
I think it would be cool if there was one for “worst in-laws”
It sounds like an awful job, but one thing about this story troubles me: “Two years of working like man for him” in the last paragraph. Is the submitter foreign or merely unfeminist? I don’t even understand this statement.
I don’t get why she worked so damn hard at a barbecue restaurant? I’m not saying it because she’s a woman, I’m saying it because she’s a parent to two kids that she claimed to have barely seen. Why work harder than you have to? I came out of this story thinking OP had kind of retarded priorities. Yeah, I know, she needed the money, but if she needed the money, she wouldn’t have done more than she needed to do. Part of the story reads like OP was using the job as an escape from her family life or whatever.
Mindy-
I think it’s a typo and should be “working like MAD.”
Eh, the OP sounds young. Young people believe the crap the system feeds you about hard work getting you somewhere. Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn’t.
Xandraya is right =/ I’m leaving my current job (this is actually my second to last day) because of a shitty boss. I love the work I do, I love the customers I support, and I am going to miss a lot of things about that–but management here is a nightmare, and everybody seems to notice and appreciate what I do except for the people in charge of promotions and paychecks. Convenient how that works, huh? Too few companies these days actually invest in their employees and know the value of experience and holding onto people who are intelligent and have a strong work ethic. I think the company I am going to is better… God, I hope so.
I’ve worked in a lot of kitchens, and it is indeed rare to see a girl operating a slicer. Come to think of it, I can only remember one female that was salty enough to clean out grease traps and the like. So if the OP is being truthful, she was indeed a rare gem in the business.
I love how the tone drastically changes in the last paragraph. Hell hath no fury, eh?
Buh? Honestly until recently I’d never seen a man on a slicer(other than myself). I must live in a parralel universe.
My absolute favorite part of this story…”I still want to find him and hurt him.”
Brilliant : )