warning: stupid rant
So I got fired. For something really dumb.
I worked as a hostess at a nice restaurant inside a hotel. The hotel often had events and I would occasionally work them as a server. The other day there was a wedding, but as I was just barely recovered from a nasty illness (I got mono and strep at the same time), I wasn’t working the event, but doing hosting in the restaurant. The event was happening directly outside the restaurant doors, in the lobby area. It was a slow day at the restaurant, so I was sort of wandering in and out of the host area and through the event (just because, sort of picking up loose plates and cleaning). In the center of the lobby area was the banquet table, stacked to the gills with charcuterie-style food (tea sandwiches, fruit, cheeses) at the beginning of the event, but now, two hours in, was looking rather bare and picked over, I grabbed a bunch of grapes and a cheese. To preface, I had previously been chatting with another worker and joked that I was just waiting to see how long it would take before I could go snatch something from the table, and she laughed and told me she was pretty sure that’s what we all (the workers) were doing and that there wasn’t any cameras pointed at the table. I continued about my work day as normal, and at one point I grabbed another bunch of grapes. I thought nothing of it til a couple hours later when my boss (or at least I think he’s my boss…I know he’s a higher up though) told me to gather my stuff and come with him. He took me downstairs to his office, and another lady i knew worked for the hotel but didn’t know her name came with us. He told me they had seen me on camera taking food of the banquet table, to which I admitted yes, I did that. He then told me that was a first and last offense, and a fireable one. and so I was fired. I left calmly and politely, but I was discussing it with my mother later and… they’d never actually explicitly told me we weren’t allowed to eat off the banquet table. I mean, common sense says yea, we probably shouldn’t, but it was never ACTUALLY mentioned. It seems kinda nasty. Also, I’d previously had conflict with the man who fired me when I was trying to ask off because I was sick (at the time I didnt know how sick) and he told me I’d need a doctor’s note, although my manger mentioned nothing of the sort. I’m starting to think that he suspected I was going to be a pin for the company and was looking for an excuse to fire me.
All in all, shitty environment, but I made really good money and I’m currently smacking myself in the face repeatedly for losing it over something so stupid.