Step Up And PAY YOUR EMPLOYEES ENOUGH TO FEED THEMSELVES
I’m the guy who submitted this story. This takes place in another retail store before the “dark ages” came. It was a depot for things you might need in the home, you could say. One thing that happened on occasion was that someone would bring in food to share. Having benefited from this several times, I decided to bring in two pizzas on my day off — nothing super fancy, just a pepperoni and an alfredo cheese on store-bought pizza crusts.
I arrived and dropped off said pizzas in the break room, mentioning to some of the crew I met en route that, yes, the pizzas were for everyone. I walked into the break room, and several people immediately perked up at the scent of pizza.
Employee #1: *Jokingly* “You gonna share those, [My Name]?”
Me: “Yeah, it’s for everyone. Leave some for the others, but take a slice.”
Employee #2: “Awesome!”
I accepted the thanks given and went to use the restroom for all of five minutes tops. I came back and both pizzas — even the alfredo, which I wasn’t sure about — were completely gone. One guy at the table was finishing his slice.
Me: “That was quick.”
Employee #2: “I swear I didn’t eat all of it! A bunch of our crew swarmed in here when you walked out!”
I somehow doubt this guy could scarf two whole pizzas by himself without getting violently ill, so I took him at his word and tossed the disposable pans. Sure enough, I was thanked by enough people about pizza to support his claims. This made me feel good, but at the same time, I was worried.
I repeated this experiment several times when I could afford it. Two bags of fun-sized candy? Gone in minutes, like a swarm of locusts had descended. Fast food nuggets? One of the managers took several plates up to the front for cashiers, and some of the loading team came to get some — seven minutes total. A dozen or so pears from when my parents had a particularly good harvest from one of their trees? Ten minutes.
This is not a virtue signaling attempt or anything. It merely confirmed what I’d feared: not everyone there was getting three or even two meals a day. I can only hope they moved on to better things.
