Support Your Understaffed Staff Or You’ll Be Staffless

We were really understaffed in the deli where I work. It was so bad that there was an understanding that if we got backed up, we could call over the PA for a manager since they were all technically trained in every department.

One day, I was working alone with an older Eastern European lady, who was just done with everything. It was busy, and we got backed up really badly. My coworker went stomping over to the phone, set it up in PA mode, and yelled into it.

Coworker: “If someone doesn’t come help us, I’ll quit!”

Managers materialized from every direction and came running as I (and the customers) just stared at her in disbelief.