So I (28m) work at a restaurant mainly as a server, but also sometimes as food runner, and host. After 3 years there (it’s now been over 5) I was given the position as a key manager there but I hated the job and made more (almost double key manager pay) as a server. I know every job there inside and out and can do them all usually better than anyone else and if not, I’m still a top performer. This isn’t me tooting my own horn, this is a compliment I get often from the gm (who I worked with when she was just the bartender there), and other senior employees who have been there as long as I have or longer. When I am on the clock, I put my best foot forward. However I ALWAYS make sure I get my break, even on slow days, because I know I deserve it and after hours of running myself ragged mentally and physically I like to have some time during the work day where I don’t have to be concerned about something I need to do and can just relax and read my book or be on phone etc. I don’t mind doing a lot of work because as a server, theoretically the more work you put in the more in tips you can make (whether that be mental work or physical) so I think it can be worth it.
The annoying thing is a lot of my coworkers always brag about how they never take their breaks and usually have a slight attitude when I say I’m going to take mine and the managers often times “joke” with me while I’m on break and ask something similar to “are you back from break yet???” which has made me start sitting in my car on breaks. It’s just so frustrating that they are all so convinced that we shouldn’t really need the breaks and that taking them makes me somehow not as great as an employee.
All of that being said, I have been with this company for 5 years and am on great terms with the CEO, ive been on great terms with every general manager we’ve had since I’ve been there (the managers at the other locations know who I am because management seems to talk positively about me to them too), and the owners know who I am and greet me in a friendly way when they are actually at the restaurant. My issue is this ingrained “work yourself until you physically can’t anymore” mindset, a mindset that is also pretty common in the Hispanic population here in the USA (I work at a cuban restaurant and as a half Cuban, I think they hold me to their standards).
I don’t hate my place of employment but I did want to rant about this.