Before we begin…. I'm in crisis and very emotional right now, and this just happened a few hours ago. I probly am missing a few details and everything is out of order and jumbled up. I just needed to get this off my chest. Thanks.
I recently had a family crisis and it was all put on me suddenly. Ive had an enormous amount of pressure on me the past few years and I've been able to cope… Poorly but enough. Until I broke today.
Let me give some background first actually. I work in a resturant that has been struggling to keep staff due to poor managment. But I've honestly never worked in a resturant that didn't have messed up corrupt management. So I assumed it's normal and acceptable. Of course I try as much as possible to leave shit at the door when I go into work. But it's difficult.
So since we have staff shortages I've been asked to pick up host, serve, food run, bus, and bartend shifts because we don't have enough staff. My position is supposed to only be bartender. I accepted taking these other shifts thinking maybe I'll get atleast some kind of recognition or something. All these shifts are over time / outside of my availability. I've been called out of class / events and other personal time to cover these shifts to help out the team. It's been about a year and this month it's been extra busy so I've been working 7 days a week. I'm so exhausted, so maybe that's why I've over reacted? But today I couldn't handle my personal issues and of course a stupid Karen came in and absolutely triggered me. It was in the middle of service and I couldn't hold it in anymore. I ask my manager if I could go home. (Infact I'd been to the hospital the day before this happened due to mental issues and I wasn't even supposed to be working…. But we are short staff so I couldn't take the day off). He forced me to tell him in detail what was wrong and I broke down and cried and told him everything. His only response was about how inconvenient it was for me to be having problems on a weekend when we didn't have someone to cover my shift. I responded by telling him I needed support mentally and was not healthy. He kept asking how he was supposed to get Saturday night covered. I walked out in tears and before leaving he wanted to make sure I was not going to leave the from the front of the resturant and told me to leave out the back alley way.
The company has had previous suicides, rapes, sexual assaults and so much more messed up shit and hr / managment does nothing about it. Hospitality is rough. But I've stayed because this seems to be the norm and other people just brush it off and the money is great! I've worked at many other restaurants and this is kinda always the case, but this place is the worst I've ever witnessed.
Omg and covid. Staff who were covid positive were made to work and got everyone sick. Managment didn't care because we were to busy to sent home sick staff. They also let anti vaxxers / sick guests come into the restaurant because they only care about the money.
I'd also like to mention that our location is falling apart. There is grey water gushing out of the drains in the bar randomly thought the night, right were we make drinks and do prep. It smells horrendous and there is no plan to fix it. The door is broken and there are leaks everywhere. Everything is falling apart. But the company is pouring money into a new fancy resturant and disregarding the ones who made them money in the first place. The work environment is absolutely aweful, I can't believe our “high class” guests don't see this. It's almost funny.
So I have a friend who is willing to make a claim against the resturant on my behalf. Other ex staff are potentially willing to speak out about things that happened at the resturant as well. I'm scared because maybe I'm just burnt out and this is normal ? No one else has done anything. If they don't like it they leave. But it's been 4 yrs of this torture, I've even been to therapy because of work and take meds in order to tolerate and perform at work.
I don't know y'all. What do you think ?