Working in the food industry isn’t for the faint of heart! These restaurant employees share the ridiculous reasons they were cut from their jobs after the first week. Maybe it was for the best, right? Content has been edited for clarity.
The Sketchy Schedule Change
“When I was a teenager, I got a job at McDonald’s.
They told me I started on the 14th of the month at eight in the morning. I agreed and submitted all of the paperwork for background checks. It wasn’t a formal type of job with an offer letter or anything, so of course, I didn’t have a start date in writing. However, I did write my start date in my planner right there at the end of the interview after verifying with them. This would be ‘my’ big mistake.
I got a call from a manager I wasn’t familiar with before my start date at eight in the morning. They asked why I wasn’t at work, and what my whereabouts were.
I replied, ‘I’m at Disney World, why?’
The manager replied, ‘Disney World? You’re supposed to be at work. I don’t want to hear any excuses!’
‘I’m not giving any excuses. I understood my start date was supposed to be the 14th at eight in the morning. We verified this in my interview,’ I responded.
‘Well, you’ve been mistaken,’ the manager rudely said, ‘You need to be here in fifteen minutes, or else you’re fired.’
‘How do you expect me to get from Florida to Wisconsin in fifteen minutes?’ I replied, voice shaking. ‘My family vacation lasts for a few more days. All I can do is beg my parents to catch a flight back later today or tomorrow.’
The manager hissed, ‘No, not good enough.’
The manager didn’t believe I was actually in Florida, even though I was offering to cancel my biannual family vacation and spend $300 to change my flight to come home early. They thought I was lazing about in bed in Wisconsin, just refusing to come in for whatever reason. I thought offering to come home would be enough to keep my job, but apparently, I was wrong.
At this point, I was in tears in the middle of the ‘happiest place on earth,’ in fear of losing my job. My father and uncle noticed me crying on the phone and asked what was going on. I was crying too hard to answer, so they grabbed the phone and asked who it was.
The manager explained the situation, and my dad and uncle told them some very un-Disney words and hung up on him. When I finally caught my breath, I told them I had to get home right away.
My dad replied, ‘You don’t have to work for this crummy job.’
I began panicking because now, I didn’t have a summer job.
My uncle asked, ‘Why don’t you come work for me this summer instead?’
Then, we went on Peter Pan’s Flight, and 15-year-old me was happy once again.
One week later, I got another call. This time, it was from the person who interviewed me.
They asked, ‘Where are you at?’
I responded, ‘A manager called me last week and fired me.’
The interviewer replied, ‘What? You haven’t even been to work yet. How could you be fired? You haven’t even had a shift with him!’
I said, ‘I know. He called last week and said I was supposed to be in, and if I didn’t arrive in fifteen minutes, I would be fired.’
‘But you weren’t even supposed to start until the 14th,’ the interviewer said, confused.
‘I know, I tried to tell him, but he insisted and fired me for a no-call, no-show on my first day,’ I told the interviewer.
The interviewer replied, ‘I’ll tell you what. Come back in, and I’ll talk to the manager who messed up the schedule and fire you.’
I politely declined. As if I wanted to work under someone who already hated me for no reason. I thanked him for the offer but told him I had already accepted another position.
I still couldn’t believe I was so upset over a job at McDonald’s.”
The Lousy Line Cook
“I was fired the first hour of being hired once.
I was looking for a job. I went into a local chain restaurant. I met the manager, shook his hand, and asked for a job. We had great chemistry. After a brief chat session, the manager told me I was hired and to come back on a certain date about a week from this day.
I waited a week and came in on the date I was told. I was in a great mood and ready to work. Especially because I was broke after going another week without work.
I met my trainer, and she brought me new hire paperwork and a work shirt. I put on the shirt and started filling out the paperwork. While filling in the spaces, I looked up. Behind the kitchen line, I noticed a guy from high school that was a huge bully to me. He punched me more than once, would call me out in the hallways, challenged me to fights, and generally spoke terribly to me.
This was almost five years after high school, so I barely cared. I waved at him and smiled, thinking we were about to start working together. Honestly, I was kind of excited to have someone I recognized there, even if he was rude in high school. In response to my wave, he just scowled at me and walked away out of sight.
I didn’t think much of it and just kept working on my new-hire paperwork. Not even a minute or two later, my trainer walked up and said, ‘Yeah, I’m sorry. But actually, we aren’t looking for new people anymore.’
My mouth was agape in shock as I replied, ‘But, I have been waiting for this job for a week now!’
The trained just kind of shrugged and said, ‘Sorry. Oh, and I will need the shirt back.’
I was furious at this point. I looked up, and the bully from high school reappeared behind the line and smirked with his arms folded. I couldn’t help but think this was his doing.
I began grabbing my things while telling the trainer, ‘No, you’re not getting the shirt back. I am taking it since you guys made me wait a week for it anyway.’
‘Dude, you can’t keep it,’ the trainer replied with growing aggression.
‘Take it from me, witch!’ I shouted at the top of my lungs.
I stormed out, accidentally knocking my chair over in the process.
I ended up deciding to move away from town a week later, so it was probably for the best. Oh, and I kept the shirt.”
“I Was Glad I Never Went Back”
“I wasn’t fired really, but I would’ve been fired if I had stayed there any longer.
Just a note beforehand, I had Tourette’s syndrome, and it could get triggered by pretty much anything. Common triggers included smells, emotions, and even chemicals in foods.
Well, I got a job at a local pizza place and everything went fine in the morning. As my first day went on, I noticed my Tourettes were starting to act up more and more and figured it was from the smell of all of the oil and grease back in the cooking area. You could hold the ticks back, but it took a lot to focus on it.
I let my manager know this when I was interviewed, and she told me it would be fine. As the day continued, I had to focus more and more on holding my ticks back so I didn’t feel like I was annoying everyone at the restaurant. It got to be harder and harder to keep up with everyone else while working. My manager kept yelling at me for falling behind, even though I told her flat out this could happen.
At the end of the shift, the manager told me, ‘You need to change your attitude if you want to keep working here.’
On the drive home, I thought about just quitting while I was ahead and figured I would wait one more day to see how I performed. I ended up in a ditch while driving, and decided it was a sign to quit.
I was glad I never went back.”
The Coffee Shop Conundrum
“I worked at a coffee shop doing everything from being a cashier, working in the kitchen, and being a barista. Another coworker and I were working the night shift during the last day of my first week of work. The coworker had an interview with someone about a scholarship and he cleared time with the manager to take the interview after closing time.
Our manager said, ‘As long as everything is cleaned at the end of the day, I don’t care.’
So, I took on all of the cleaning duties of the entire shop while the coworker was in his interview. I went to take out the garbage, and the dumpster was about four blocks away. Unfortunately, the bottoms fell out of the bags and coffee grounds spilled everywhere.
I walked back towards the shop and walked by the patio where the coworker was doing his interview. I had a notepad, so I left the coworker a note about how I had just cleaned everything inside, but there was a mess outside by the dumpsters he would have to clean. I thought it was fair since he hadn’t done any cleaning duties this night. I gave the coworker the paper, he nodded, and I left.
The next day, the shift manager called me and said I was fired for not doing closing duties and not picking up the trash. The stupid interview coworker took credit for cleaning everything and said I told him I had already cleaned up the trash.
I explained my side of the story to the manager, and he checked the tapes and verified I told the truth. I was still fired because apparently, I should have still cleaned the trash myself.
This job sucked, anyway. If I were the owner, I would have fired both of us.”
“The Manager Had The Nerve To Ask When I Was Coming Back”
“I walked out during my first week of work.
I was hired at a McDonald’s in South Florida. If you didn’t show up to work fifteen minutes before your scheduled shift, you were considered late. One day, I showed up ‘late’ for a shift, despite arriving ten minutes early. At this particular location, the shift managers clocked you in and out, and employees weren’t allowed to do it themselves.
A few hours passed, and I asked the shift manager, ‘Did you clock me in? I don’t recall seeing it done this morning.’
The manager laughed and replied, ‘Clock you in? No! You were late, so today, you work for free.’
I laughed in her face, walked out, and called the regional manager. He said he would investigate, but the regional manager was friends with my manager, so nothing ever came of it.
On the next pay date, I showed up to turn in my uniform and pick up my check. The manager had the nerve to ask me when I was coming back to work, as walking out didn’t mean I quit.
I was glad when I finally quit working there.”
“I Couldn’t Believe I Got Ghosted By A Pizza Place”
“Years ago, I started working at a popular pizza chain that was pretty well known on Chicago’s south side. I should have known from the get-go the job was doomed, as there was no sort of application process, or anything formal about the way they hired me.
When the restaurant hired me, I explicitly told the two managers multiple times about how I was still in high school. My first shift was to start at 5:30 in the evening on a Thursday. The managers walked me through the process of what my duties were as a busboy, and everything was going fine until I looked at the clock.
It was 11:30 at night. I needed to leave.
I found the manager on duty and asked, ‘When will I be able to leave?’
She responded, ‘You’re not leaving yet. You’re scheduled to work until four in the morning.’
I replied, ‘No, I can’t. I have school in the morning, I told everyone this.’
Annoyed, the manager said, ‘Go finish cleaning the party room, then you can clock out.’
I cleaned the party room, went to clock out, and asked the manager, ‘When will I get my schedule for the rest of the week?’
She replied, ‘Oh, no worries. We will call you about it tomorrow.’
The next day rolled around, I went to school, then went home. Around six in the evening, I still hadn’t heard from the manager. So, I called the restaurant and asked to speak to the manager on duty. A different manager answered the phone, and they said I would have to wait until Saturday to see the new schedule. Still, I never heard back from them on Saturday.
I never called back, and I didn’t even go to collect my check from them for those few hours until tax season when I received paperwork from them. Even when I went to collect my check afterward, the managers claimed they ‘couldn’t find it’ and would give me a call about it.
They didn’t fire me. Instead, they just never called back.
I couldn’t believe I got ghosted by a pizza place.”
“I Quit Right Then And There”
“My first job was at Golden Corral. My boss was a sketchy man, and I felt like I couldn’t trust him from the get-go.
I worked at the front register. I asked customers how many people would be dining at their table and what size drinks they wanted. The company made almost all of its profit margin by selling customers larger drinks since the buffet was a set price.
My boss told me, ‘Ask customers what size drinks they want. No matter what size they say, give them an extra large drink. If they get mad, just apologize and tell them you’re new.’
I didn’t feel comfortable scamming people with guilt, but I did it for about twenty minutes.
Then, the sweetest elderly woman came in and requested a small drink. I gave her the extra large, and she went to pay with my coworker at the other register. The woman was a regular and she knew the process.
The woman got out her exact change and was told by my coworker how her total was more expensive, as she had an extra large drink. The sweet elderly woman made eye contact with me, and I could tell she didn’t want to throw me under the bus. She dug around in her purse and paid for the drink.
I felt so guilty, I quit right then and there.”
The Maddening Bar Manager
“I was hired as a bartender, a job in which I had plenty of experience to do.
During my first shift, the manager assigned me to fill up helium balloons for their New Year’s Eve party, along with one other girl, rather than mixing drinks. Whatever, I would do what I was asked. Hundreds of balloons later, my fingers were nearly severed from tying off the stupid things by hand. When I was finished, the manager told me to go on home.
I didn’t hear anything about my next shift, so I called the owner after a couple of days to find out when she wanted me back in.
She replied, ‘All of the balloons YOU filled up came down from the ceiling way before midnight. If you can’t even fill up a stupid balloon, I’m not going to trust you to make drinks.’
The two tasks were unrelated. I didn’t understand how she determined which balloons I filled versus the other employee.
My fingers hurt just thinking about it.”
“It Was One Of The Worst Jobs I Ever Had”
“The restaurant owner was looking for bar staff who could hit the ground running, I told him I didn’t have much experience behind an actual bar, just a limited one at race events.
The owner replied, ‘As long as you are good at your job, I don’t mind.’
The owner gave me three shifts, and I texted on Sunday to find out what shifts I had the following week.
He replied, ‘Oh, I asked somebody to tell you not to come back. Tell you what, I’ll give you another chance though. You can take two more shifts.’
I thought to myself, ‘Alright, whatever,’ and returned to work on Monday. When I got to work, I noticed the normal staff didn’t show up. I got everything prepped just between myself and the cook.
After my two shifts, the owner told me not to come back because I wasn’t experienced enough. It took me a month to track the guy down to pay me. He stopped answering my calls so I used a different phone and got him, so he was actively avoiding me.
It was one of the worst jobs I ever had.”
Taco Bell Troubles
“I worked for two weeks at a Taco Bell on campus. The manager hired me on the spot and had me come in the next day. I showed up and clocked in. The manager gave me a brief thirty-minute tutorial on how everything worked. Then, she told me to clock out for fifteen minutes until their labor caught up with sales. So I clocked out, waited, then came back in.
The manager then put me on the line during a rush, but I was a little slow. She got angry and told me to do some dishes. After about five minutes of this, she made me clock out again for another fifteen minutes. I came back and did more dishes and ran the deep fryer for the rest of the night. Every twenty or thirty minutes, she had me clock out and take a break.
I was scheduled for a six-hour shift and took an hour and a half of breaks. This was a common theme over the two weeks I worked there. The plus side? I took home my pay in free, custom-made Taco Bell each night. Honestly, I began to think I was an illegal employee.”
“I Had No Idea I Even Did Anything Wrong”
“I worked at a fast food restaurant when I was in high school. It was my first job ever, so I had to learn to keep up with a fast-talking boss. She had told me I could take home food after my shifts, but I forgot what food she specifically meant. I wasn’t allowed to take home pre-packaged food items.
After a shift one evening, I grabbed a bag of chips and tossed them in my bag. My manager noticed and asked if I had paid for the chips.
I replied, ‘No, I thought I could take them home.’
She snidely replied, ‘You need to pay for them.’
I didn’t have any extra money, so I put them back.
The next day, I got a call from my manager. She fired me for stealing. At the time, I was only 17 years old, so I was kind of dumb and sheltered. I didn’t know what a job environment was like or how businesses were run.
I was just a kid and I didn’t blame the manager for firing me, but man, I had no idea I even did anything wrong.”
“I Quickly Realized The Managers Were Taking Advantage Of Me”
“I did some ‘trial’ serving shifts at a restaurant to see if the owners would like me. I was a good server and a very good worker. The restaurant was new, and I quickly realized the managers were taking advantage of me. I wasn’t earning tips or getting paid because I was training with someone who had only been working there for a few weeks, too.
The restaurant had a lot of health code violations. When my trial period ended and the managers told me they weren’t hiring me, I called the health department and reported them. To this day, I still never figured out if anything came of it.”
Unpaid Restaurant Rent
“When I was in college, I worked part-time at Quiznos for about a year. I and a newer employee were opening the restaurant one morning by ourselves. Suddenly, a cop knocked on the door before the restaurant was fully open.
I let him in the building, and he asked, ‘Who is in charge here?’
I hesitantly replied, ‘I guess I am. I have worked here longer than my coworker, and our manager isn’t here right now.’
The cop then handed me a piece of paper and replied, ‘I need you to give this to the owner.’
After he walked out, I read the paper. Our owner owed 75k in rent! He didn’t pay rent for over one year. Two days later, I got a call from another coworker who told me the restaurant had closed. Luckily, I knew it was coming and got a different job a few weeks later.”