Notice: This is a throw-away account. All the names used in this post are fake, and also excuse me for my bad English. I'm from South Korea.
3 weeks ago, I (20M) started a new job at a new Italian restaurant in Kansas – USA. The restaurant hired around 20 people with rotating shifts. All of which were teenagers between 16 and 19 years old. The work was pretty chill and the food was decent. My fellow employees were okay, some of them were a little bit immature, but overall they seemed like good people. My manager and manager's assistant were polite. Everything was good except the fact that every single person at that business lacked experience. Including the management.
One day, I was walking to the front of the house coming out of the kitchen. I noticed a very angry customer standing at the cashier. I talked to the customer and they said that they had been waiting for 15 minutes at the cashier and nobody was taking their order. I saw one of my coworkers standing in front of the cashier and doing nothing. At that time, I was taking two pizzas out of the oven and folding them (something that has to be done on the spot, otherwise, the dough of the pizzas will get cold, and the pizzas are going to be thrown in the trash). So I told my coworker to help the customer. My coworker (let's name her Emma) said that they don't know how to use the cashier machine. (be aware that we were all trained how to use the machine properly). This is how the rest of the conversation went:
Me while taking the pizzas out of the oven: Okay, who else knows how to use the cashier machine?
Coworker: I don't know, I think Peter knows how to use it.
Me: Okay, where is Peter? why isn't he in his position taking orders?
Coworker: I don't know
Me: (In a frustrated but not loud voice) okayyyy, can you go look for him, or for someone else who knows how to use the machine, like, do something.
Coworker: why are you angry at me?
Me: I'm not, I'm just frustrated because of the situation, forget about it.
By the time I finished the pizzas, the customer was furious. I ended up taking their order, apologizing, and talking to the management about the incident, I didn't mention any names though. This is because I was interested in improving the place, not getting someone in trouble. and as far as I know, the management made sure that all the staff knows how to use the cash machine. ( I hope they do now 😉 ).
2 days later, I was doing pizzas with a girl, let's name her Sally. And another girl (let's name her Nina) came to our spot and said that the pizza peel was dirty, (it had cornmeal and flour on it, as it should be) Sally said that this is how it's supposed to be, it is not dirty. The rest of the conversation went like this:
Nina: If I was a customer, I would have wanted it cleaned.
Me: Thank god you are not a customer.
Sally ended up bursting out laughing. And Nina seemed bothered but she didn't say anything and went away. I didn't try to upset Nina, it was a light-hearted joke.
The next day I went to work, and the manager's assistant called me and told me that I was fired (in a very gentle way, she didn't really say “you are fired”). No warning, no notice, no anything. I literally thought that it was a joke. So I asked if she is being serious, and she said “unfortunately yes”. I asked why, and she said that I was not a good fit. I asked her in a smart way to give me a more specific reason, and she said that I have to be nicer to my fellow coworkers and that I have a toxic personality. The rest of the conversation went like this, word for word:
Me: what do you mean? can you elaborate further please?
Manager's Assistant: well, you have to be careful when talking to other coworkers. You can't say “do something”, you have to say “can you please do something?”
Me: Okay, did I raise my voice, use curse words, become hostile, or do anything similar?
Manager's Assistant: not exactly. But 3 coworkers complained to the manager and said that they don't like you.
Keep in mind that the rest of the coworkers (around 16 individuals) would say that I'm a very helpful person, and they don't have any issues with me. But the manager still decided to fire me immediately. The manager's assistant apologized to me and said that it was not her call and that she is not okay with it. But she can't do anything about it. (I also know that the manager's assistant likes me, this is because she knows that I do a lot of work, and I do it properly with a friendly attitude).
I just wanted to share what happened with other people, and get this off of my chest.
Thank you for reading.