Or I witnessed the last 2 of them (one being my mother).
Apologies if this does not belong here.. and apologies for my lack of eloquence. I'm in my phone and near trembling out of anger or anxiety, I'm uncertain.
We went shopping at a store that requires us to show our membership card before entering or purchasing. We saw an employee stationed to watch shoppers show their card to allow entry, but we noticed this man was sweating profusely, gritting his teeth, looking like he was about to pass out.
He had a sling on and I thought he got injured at work.
Before I asked, however, my mother was ahead of me “Are you okay? You look terrible. Shouldn't you be resting at home?”
Employee: (I swear, he looked like he was about to cry) “I just had surgery yesterday and my painkillers wore off”
Me thinking wtf: “Shouldn't you be at home recovering then?”
At that point, 2 more shoppers who was let in after us stood by, also concerned. The whole world could see he wasn't in good shape.
Employee: “I had a note, but my boss said there was nobody else to cover (which I'm sure is a lie).”
As SOON as he said that, my mother and one other shopper power-walked to the customer service desk. “Where is your manager?” I heard her ask, followed by giving them an earful like generic karens, but for wellbeing of another man. Threats of calling corporate and the local news (why must you add that..?)
Lowkey, I was a tad embarrassed at the attention my mother was drawing in, but I couldn't wrap my head around the idea of forcing someone to work when they recently had surgery.
At the end of our shopping, my mother went back to the front, seeing the man was no longer there and basically interrogated the new one.. short-staffed, my behind…
Mom: “Your manager did send him home, right? Not fired? He will be back when healed?”
Employee 2: “Yes, he was sent home to rest.”
It turns out my mother, and the other shopper were 2 of the 6 who complained to the manager on behalf of that employee in the last 2-3 hours (2 hours of writhing in pain???).. the threat was what prompted them to act immediately. .
Honestly, I spent the next 2 hours thinking about him. I was not surprised at the exploit (is that the right word?), but at the same time it still boggles my mind how others treat those below as less than human.
Btw, my mother's name is Karen, so I made a small jab, “Oh you went Karen mode for the good fight~”
I applied for that job too… time to withdraw my application.
Edit: it just occured that he might have reddit. Man, if you see this, I hope you're okay. And I hope whoever forced you to work gets worse than what s/he deserves.
Edit 2: Comparing the behaviors of the situation to “Karen,” was definitely not a smart move on my end, lol. I couldn't help but to think of all the negative Karen situations and thought “Oh, is this a Karen thing but for the good things?” ;