I worked at a bbq restaurant for a year and two weeks ago they fired me out of the blue. It felt like I was finally freed but also completely screwed over. I’ve worked in food service in all capacities for 5+ years and I’ve been pretty confident in my ability to perform well because its all I’ve ever known. So this position I worked wasn’t even that demanding but for some reason none of the work I did was good enough for the owners.
I got a 6 month performance review and it went horrible. I was told that I wasn’t pulling my weight and I wasn’t focused, and denied a raise. I was completely caught off guard because they’ve never stepped in to guide any wrongdoing that I did.
I had a major surgery last year and took a 3 month leave of absence. When I was cleared to return to work, I had to have a meeting with the owners. I had a very temporary health restriction They were hesitant to let me return ‘in fear of me not pulling my weight’ (again) but ultimately I returned and did my job exactly stated on my job description.
Fast forward to two weeks ago I had a family emergency that caused me to miss a day of work and I made sure to return to work the next day. While I had a lot going on, I didn’t let it affect my work and I felt that my work was done well. No complaints from customers or colleagues. That same day I had a brief but meaningless spat with one of the owners over me very briefly pulling my phone out while we were preparing to open in an hour and all task were completed other than very minor touch ups. It wasn’t very heated and I assumed that it wasn’t that bad because I immediately corrected myself.
At the end of closing, I was told to stay back and they sat me at a table in the restaurant and proceeded to tell me that I’m ‘not a star player’ and that ‘I can’t leave my personal life at the door’ and they can’t have any weak links’ and ended saying they wanted to part ways. I’m truly at a loss as to what the hell happened. I genuinely enjoyed my job for the first time in a while and I thought that I was doing fine because literally no one said otherwise.