I’m sorry for the long post, also English is not my first language, forgive my mistakes.
There’s this pizza restaurant in the neighborhood that’s owned by a Greek family of 3 elderly siblings (68m the prep cook, 66f, 60f) very affordable place, has been there for half a century. I (30m) am from out of state and worked there for 8years.
After 3 years working there, the place closed for renovations for a couple months during that time I started playing lacrosse and worked at a couple other restaurants; lacrosse it’s a very important part of my life the people i met there saved me from my mental health issues, and my best friends, people i consider family and have been there more in my life than my current family(story for another time), so i dedicate a lot of my time to my friends and my team, I’m even in the board for the team and I am the happiest person alive because of my friends.
When the restaurant opened doors again, my boss (60f let’s call her Anna) called me to come back and work for them.
Anna matched my pay per hour from the other places and I came back, little did I know her previous right hand would only work part time and eventually leave, and her son (31m) is not reliable, so someone had to step up (first mistake)
I was working 50-60 hours a week, I was the only one who had the certifications for whenever we had health inspectors coming in, as well as me being the one doing the schedule, alcohol inventory, managed all the computer aspect of the restaurant, like POS(point of sale), clocking in/out times, reports, and price of the food also created the new menu, new items, and was the one behind fixing everything that broke. Basically if anything happened I was the go-to person. I was their restaurant manager without the salary and the name, so technically I was just “another cook”
People would come to me with all their problems. problems with the computer, to food quality, anti Karens safety, and staff problems, but whenever it was time to tell someone to do something they would be “you’re just another cook not my boss” and they were right. Also Anna hated that I dedicated time to lacrosse, she would be like “you would save money if you stopped playing lacrosse and worked more hours” and I would tell her to mind her business because it’s the only thing keeping me alive right now.
Anna would boast to people how I was her right hand, and how I was like another son to her, which would piss me off because of I was like part of the family I would be making as much money as their family or to at least afford living somewhat comfortably. Now that I look back she was a horrible boss, and only saw me as a doormat, I spent 4 years after the renovations where I couldn’t afford a vacation, nor I was allowed to take one, I would request time off I would be told no, things got so bad that my doctor and my therapist talked together and wrote her a letter claiming that the overwork and stress from work are having serious effect on me physically and mentally and that I had to work less hours and take some time off to relax, which is how I could finally take my first vacation in years and traveled to NYC for the first time.
For a couple decades they didn’t pay overtime until the year before I left because I’m guessing Anna’s previous right hand have called the department of labor because he used to work over 60 hours a week before the renovations. After that she started paying the legal time and a half after working 40 hours per week.
Last year, my previous car died, so I had to buy me a new car and the check was barely paying my bills, i tried working more hours, but the stress was so much I could barely handle it, I was only eating my free meal I had from the restaurant, which would be breakfast and lunch, only because Anna’s sister allowed me because she took pity on me, so as long as I cooked breakfast for their brother every morning I had breakfast too. I talked to Anna and all she gave me $1 raise above everybody else and pull me out of the payroll for a month and pay me in cash, that still was not enough, i had it, I couldn’t handle the disrespect from my coworkers, the stress of being the go-to person, and the audacity of just getting $1 more above my coworkers when my responsibilities were bigger and i was the one to blame if something went wrong. After 8 years and all the responsibilities I carried, I was getting paid $15 per hour.
Then luckily my work permit and green card arrived last March, and I got me a second job as a restaurant supervisor, less stressful same pay, less responsibilities, but the company that owns the restaurant were shady so eventually I left; After a month in that job I looked for another, my current job, I’m more valued at this place, I am respected, I started at the bottom but now I’m one of the chefs/manager and I’m even looking to buy a house next year.
When I gave my 2 weeks to Anna she was furious, I told her I don’t mind coming and helping out whenever she needed, but she told me how ungrateful, how she treated me like family, and how could I do this to them? And thanks but that they don’t need me; her siblings hugged me wished me the best, and cried as I told them that I will come and see them that I still loved everybody.
After I’ve left I got in contact with my ex-co-manager and she told me that things are not the same, food quality, speed has fallen, they haven’t gotten beer in over 3 months (last time I placed the order) and that the computer system is crashing, they went back to clocking in with an old school machine that punched holes in a card, and that Anna’s sister stopped caring about the place, doesn’t talk anymore, and barely cooks. Anna’s son had to step up and he takes too long to do things, he still texts me and asks me to help him out placing orders, fix things with the computer and things like that. I stop by every now and then and Anna is cold as usual, her sister tells me “when you decide to come back we have your spot for you” which I always answer with a hug, and the brother always hugs me when I come.
When I did my taxes this year I found that Anna tried to fuck me over with the taxes from last year, which I knew she was gonna do because I know how petty she is and she likes taking revenge, but I was ready for it, went to my accountant with paystubs, bank statements and instead of paying $2000 I paid only $300 that I owed for the month I was out of the payroll, my accountant was like “wow, she really tried to screw you over”.
Now I feel sour, my mom is telling me to let it go and just forget about it, but I wanna take revenge
AITA for wanting revenge on my boss?