So this happened over 20 years ago and I still think about it every now and then and thought I would share it here. I was in the early 20’s at the time and pretty naive and didn’t really stand up for myself in the workplace at the time.
I interviewed for a pizza chain that used to have a lunch buffet and a dine in restaurant. If you know you know. So during the interview even though I don’t think I said anything wrong I could tell that the manager we will call her Sarah didn’t like me. It was just a vibe and for some reason she instantly disliked me. I’m a very friendly person who always tries to be nice to everyone so it didn’t make much sense why she hated me. But needless to say I figured I wouldn’t get the job. And at that time I didn’t.
Fast forward a few months later and I was still on the job hunt when Sarah called me and offered me the job. So I took it of course. When I started working there I still had a feeling that the manager didn’t like me even though she didn’t really say anything that proved it. Over the next few months I worked very hard, did everything I was asked and things went fairly smoothly. In retrospect I know realize she had been giving me extra tasks to complete than anyone else.
So the day when things changed was a Saturday night and I come into work finding out I’m the only waitress on the floor due to 2 waitresses calling off. And immediately I was inundated with a 14 top and a few other tables. Sarah was one of the only people there too apart from a driver and the cook and she didn’t take a single table. Instead she comes to me when I’m getting drinks and demands that I do a few mundane cleaning tasks which definitely shouldn’t be done during a rush. I politely told Sarah I would be happy to address that after I dropped off drinks and took the order for the 14 top.
Sarah stalked off then and I continued taking care of the customers. Not 20 minutes later after I rang in the order for my big table she calls me back to the office. And proceeds to scream at me. Sarah said “if I tell you to f——— do something then you f——— do it!” And she says a whole other set of expletives as she presents me with 3 write ups for not dropping everything and cleaning when she asked me.
Now I was a naive 20 something but I knew enough to know just how unprofessional she was being and I refused to be talked to that way. So I didn’t sign the write ups and told her I quit and walked out. She screamed at me some more but I stopped caring. My 14 top (the nicest people) said they hoped I was okay. I apologized to them and left.
So after I quit I was reached out to via email by the district manager and I emailed him back telling him what happened. He thanked me but I didn’t hear anything else. But I did notice something else.
Sarah had a very distinctive old van that was incredibly ugly and she was always there the same time every day. I drove by the restaurant several times over the next few weeks and never once saw her van again. I like to think she was fired for being an awful person but I will never know for sure. That was one of the worst job experiences I ever had and it feels good to talk about it here. Thanks for reading