I was working at a slowly failing restaurant around 1999-2000 New Year’s time. They had planned a huge extravagant dinner for a hefty reservation price, paying us handsomely, with bonuses, for working New Year’s Eve.
As New Year’s eve approached they were not seeing the expected reservations, started reducing promised pay, and even fired a favorite general manager, replacing them with a terrible co-worker who everyone hated.
A couple of days before New Year the new terrible GM called us all in for a team meeting telling us the reservations were way below expected, recanting on the promise of extra pay, and even told us people were “Jewing us on the price”.
My manager and team LOVED me. I worked hard, was always early to work, took on extra shifts, and even moved up from bussing to waiting in record time. I’d planned to work the New Year’s Eve shift because I had a lot of respect for my team, even though I hated the new GM.
After the meeting, I was held aside and the new GM told me I had a bad attitude and that it would not be tolerated. I need to improve my attitude or would be let go. I never had any bad reviews before this interaction.
I never talked back, shook my head yes, and was very polite the entire time of the scolding. I left the office, walked to my manager, and said this is my last day, I would not be returning for New Year’s, and walked out the door.
Luckily I already had a second job, asked them for more hours, which they immediately gave me, and enjoyed partying because it WAS 1999 with my friends.