Grill That Guy For The Answers

In the kitchen I worked in, whoever was on the big grill was considered “in charge” of letting people leave. Typically, the fryer station was the last to leave and the one who closed the kitchen with the grill cook.

I was working a double on the salad/nacho station. I had been in before opening, and I worked through lunch — which SUCKED in summer with all the salads we had. I got to go home for three hours and then came back to clean up my station, which had gotten destroyed over the afternoon, and cooked the dinner rush.

I got my station all cleaned and put away and asked the grill guy to check it over so I could leave.

Grill Guy: “Looks good, but you’re not leaving. You’re closing tonight.”

When I protested, he flipped out on me.

Grill Guy: “I can go to the manager if you don’t want to do your job! I’m sick of people being slackers!”

I stayed and closed. I was furious, but my wife was pregnant, and I wasn’t about to lose my job over a power play.

I did, however, use the next day to go back to my previous job. (I had only left because my roommate talked up this job and convinced me to switch.) And I managed to get my job back at the same pay.

My next shift was another double, and [Grill Guy] pulled the same s*** again, so I took my two-week notice that I was going to turn in at the end of the night, crossed out the two weeks, and changed it to end of the posted schedule (four days). I wrote “Thank [Grill Guy]” next to the change and turned it in. I only had one more shift, and it was a normal lunch shift during the week; I worked it and never looked back.