# Today, someone in the restaurant business called in sick. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 16, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376 "2011-12-16T03:58:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/41 "2011-12-16T14:25:49Z")
> [@Amblydoper](#): > > Yea, I didn’t expect sympathy from any of you, and I could careless if most of you didn’t get the point of any of that. Ah, you do have my sympathy. I understand you are blowing off steam and you have a bitch of a job. Honestly _my_ job usually is low stress and I remember after my parents divorced and I was living with my mother, how wrecked she’d be coming home from a waitressing job she had. Ever since that time I’ve always tried to tip well even if service is off a little bit, because I know how worn down people in your industry can get. Hope you make it through your hell day intact. But since I currently have a full-blown miserable case of the flu and have been off work for three days now ( and will almost definitely miss a couple more ), I have to slip in a little love for those who call in sick for legitimate reasons. Sometimes there is no getting around it. But I’m sure you know that too. ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/42 "2011-12-16T14:44:41Z")
I am always grateful for good servers in restaurants because I know that I don’t have the patience to do it. And I always tip well, am courteous, and am not a particularly demanding customer (forgot to leave the tomatoes off my sandwich? no big deal, I’ll remove them myself and it won’t affect my tip one bit). That said, I’m having a hard time getting behind you on this pitting. If the customers stopped coming, your long-term problems would get worse, not better. IMO, this rant would’ve been better directed at the management who sets pricing and staffing so that you’re on such a razor-thin edge that one person calling in sick doesn’t make things unbearable for the rest of you. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/43 "2011-12-16T14:54:14Z")
> [@kiz](#): > > And no, people who have never worked retail nor food service have any fucking clue what I’m talking about. You have to experience it to understand it. The OP and I will be on the sidelines laughing our asses off because NONE of you would have any fucking CLUE as to what to do. Uh, my wife and I both have retail experience. What we got out of it was thinking, “Geez, time to get out of retail.” Time to stop ranting about a profession that’s on such razor-edge profit margins that one person getting sick or having a family emergency or whose car broke down or what ever ruined the whole operation, and go to college to get better jobs. And, we did. Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/44 "2011-12-16T15:04:50Z")
I wasn’t aware of how slim the profit margins are in the restaurant biz until I was talking to a friend of mine who opened a brew pub. He was grumbling about petty theft in his kitchen and told me that if somebody walks off with a prime rib roast, his profits for the week are gone. He had to be there constantly to make sure that sort of thing didn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/45 "2011-12-16T15:12:09Z")
Business is booming? Well doesn’t that just suck. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/46 "2011-12-16T15:19:05Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I wasn’t aware of how slim the profit margins are in the restaurant biz until I was talking to a friend of mine who opened a brew pub. He was grumbling about petty theft in his kitchen and told me that if somebody walks off with a prime rib roast, his profits for the week are gone. He had to be there constantly to make sure that sort of thing didn’t happen. If that’s true, then he either doesn’t know how to run a business, or is not seeing _anywhere_ near the volume of customers that the OP does. What’s a prime rib roast cost? According to the internet, they retail from $90-150, depending on where you get them. If that’s the profit margin per week, and you’re actually a busy place (like in the OP), I don’t see how you can stay in business. If you’re a small, low-volume, rural place, then I can see profits of only $100 a week being possible, maaaybe. And, of course, this is after he gets his salary as business owner, right? It’s not that he as the owner only earns the value of a rib roast per week, but that the business itself makes that in profit. Without knowing what the owner takes home, it’s a little hard to make judgments on that. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/47 "2011-12-16T15:33:36Z")
Certain restaurants must me more profitable than others. There’s a couple of brothers in Minneaplois that own the 7 chain CRAVE restaurants. These guys are rolling in money. They own the entire top floor of an apartment tower overlooking downtown that is lavishly decorated with italian marble and fountains and other excesses. I don’t think they’re doing this on the cost of a few prime ribs roasts per week. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/48 "2011-12-16T15:49:28Z")
I worked as a cook in a lot of places when I was younger and yeah there is really insane pressure not to call in sick, which means a lot of food is being coughed and sneezed on. I remember when I got my first office job and called in sick and how it wasn’t that big of a deal. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/49 "2011-12-16T15:52:14Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > _Sick_ sick or just didn’t feel like working sick? If the former, I’d be glad to not have that person’s snot dripping in my food. > [@Amblydoper](#): > > “called in because his 5 year-old was in the hospital with a cough” didn’t have a nice ring to it. besides, does it matter why they weren’t there? Well, yeah: if the employee regularly handles food and is forced to come in while showing flu symptoms, that could be a health code violation. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/50 "2011-12-16T16:12:48Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Somehow I have trouble sympathizing. Sorry dude, but jobs suck. Want a better job? Find a better job. But you’ll have to rate a better job _and_ be very lucky, or wait till things get better. Either way, you’ll be doing more of whatever sucks. Ain’t no way out but deeper in. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/51 "2011-12-16T16:26:32Z")
Thumbs up for a well writted OP! At least your suffering is entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_of_the_Lake)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/52 "2011-12-16T16:32:39Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > Do you really think it is different in other jobs? Yes, yes it is. I have worked in the service industry and it was a lot more demanding than my current office job. I believe he is as stressed as he says he is and working a lot harder than \*many \*of us who sit on our asses at a computer. Because in \*this \*economy with it being really tough to find any job, and offering no other actual constructive advice? I think people who come into threads like this and say ‘ha ha, you should have gotten an education’ and ‘ha ha, you should switch jobs!’ are tools. > [@Spud](#): > > Oh, and you did notice that this is the Pit and it is ok to be rude. Yes, yes it is. Bless your heart. And when you do, we are allowed to picture you as \*that \*guy. You know the type. The type who thinks they are superior to service people. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/53 "2011-12-16T16:54:22Z")
> [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](#): > > Yes, yes it is. > > I have worked in the service industry and it was a lot more demanding than my current office job. I believe he is as stressed as he says he is and working a lot harder than \*many \*of us who sit on our asses at a computer. > > Because in \*this \*economy with it being really tough to find any job, and offering no other actual constructive advice? I think people who come into threads like this and say ‘ha ha, you should have gotten an education’ and ‘ha ha, you should switch jobs!’ are tools. > > Yes, yes it is. Bless your heart. And when you do, we are allowed to picture you as \*that \*guy. You know the type. The type who thinks they are superior to service people. I couldn’t agree more. It’s been well over 20 years since I’ve had to work in a restaurant, but only around 7 since I’ve had a service industry job. They’re HORRIBLE and a career type job knocks spots off of ANY sort of service job, no matter how good it might be. I wouldn’t work at a food service job even if it paid more than my current job. For the most part, (at least in my industry and I’ve held jobs at around 5 different companies over the last 20 years), you’re treated with dignity, respect and humanity. Even the very worst of those companies on the very worst day, beat by miles the very best day I’d ever worked in any restaurant or service job. That said, it was very hard to break out of the “little to no marketable skills” area and to work my self into a job which requires fairly high skills. It’s not easy, but it can be done. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/54 "2011-12-16T17:05:06Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > What the hell country/world are you living in that you actually believe any of that B.S. rhetoric? A meal at your fantasy restaurant would cost $100/entree. Nobody will pay that. At least, not enough people will pay that for it to stay in business. The market spoke long ago, and it said “People do not value service. Period. Their mouths say they do, but their wallets say something else.” And yet, there are many countries around the world in which there is typically no tipping, because restaurant workers are given the same minimum wage and other benefits as every other part time worker. Somehow, they all seem to have restaurants. The OP is still a clown, though. Z, worked retail for 7 years, food service for 3. And got out as soon as humanly possible, because fuck THAT shit. ---
**Author:** ![what\_do\_I\_type\_here](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a5b964/32.png) [@what\_do\_I\_type\_here](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/what_do_I_type_here)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/55 "2011-12-16T17:25:53Z")
Huh, I had to call in sick yesterday and I felt bad because we’re usually (read: always, chronically) short staffed as it is. I don’t do it often. I think this is only the second time I’ve done it in like four years. **Amblydoper** , I know how you feel because I work a similar job but you just gotta not give a fuck. It worked for me! ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/56 "2011-12-16T17:35:57Z")
> [@Amblydoper](#): > > Every damn day, we happily put up with this… No, see, that’s the thing, it sounds like you’re not “happily” doing anything of the sort. Look, as a frequent restaurant patron, I do my best to be polite to the servers, keep special requests to a minimum, tip well, etc., etc. Your job can be tough, and as a customer, trust me, my goal is not to make your life worse. I know some customers are jerks, and maybe your boss is a jerk too. I _get_ that, I really do. But that isn’t what I got from your OP. It sounds more like you’re saying that if you fuck up my order, or bring me cold food, or leave me sitting there for a half hour without checking on me or refilling my water or making sure everything is OK, that it’s somehow _my_ fault for having the nerve – the _nerve_! – to come into your restaurant and expect a good meal and decent service. And it makes you sound like a whiny asshole. Get over yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/57 "2011-12-16T17:38:47Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > If that’s true, then he either doesn’t know how to run a business, or is not seeing _anywhere_ near the volume of customers that the OP does. What’s a prime rib roast cost? According to the internet, they retail from $90-150, depending on where you get them. > > If that’s the profit margin per week, and you’re actually a busy place (like in the OP), I don’t see how you can stay in business. If you’re a small, low-volume, rural place, then I can see profits of only $100 a week being possible, maaaybe. > > And, of course, this is after he gets his salary as business owner, right? It’s not that he as the owner only earns the value of a rib roast per week, but that the business itself makes that in profit. Without knowing what the owner takes home, it’s a little hard to make judgments on that. He had a lot of money invested in brewing and kitchen equipment, so his debt was significant. After paying his nut, plus leasing costs, plus salaries and other overhead, I don’t think there was much left on the plate. Also, he’d only been in business for a short time at that point, so I suspect his client base wasn’t all that large. Or he may have been exaggerating. Whichever. ---
**Author:** ![3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/47e85d/32.png) [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3_20_59_or_bust)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/58 "2011-12-16T17:42:39Z")
Anyone who has ever had a service job should just nod and happily let Amblydoper complain a little bit, because those jobs truly do suck. And anyone that has _not_ had a service job should just shut the fuck up and thank the Lord they’ve never been there. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/59 "2011-12-16T17:53:30Z")
OP - I’m of two minds here. Firstly, your OP was pretty whiney. ‘Wha, wha, wha, my job sucks ass, someone called in, I hate my life, etc.’ Secondly, however, I fully support your right to rant - as I was reading I was getting annoyed as a customer, but feeling sympathy as a former waitress. The job really DOES suck ass. It really IS a shit show if someone doesn’t come in, even if they are actually sick, and when I was doing that job I really did hate my life. So, I feel you OP. I always try to be as small of a pain in the ass as I can be when eating out, tip well, and not act like a total fool just because I’m the ‘customer’. That being said, I’ll probably continue to dine out on Fridays and Saturdays because that’s the end of my week, and I’m tired and it’s nice to not have to cook dinner when I get home. I’ll also probably continue to order sandwiches without sprouts, because they’re disgusting, or ask for my salad dressing on the side, because you always put on too much for my tastes. So, I guess we’re at an impasse. You’ll continue to do your job well, bitching when someone doesn’t show up beacause it makes your life suck, and I’ll continue to dine out on busy days because that makes my life suck less. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/60 "2011-12-16T18:11:59Z")
Well, if the OP has managed to hold onto even a tiny shred of hope that people are inherently compassionate and don’t actually view her as a servant they’re hiring for 15% of the check (unless their water glass isn’t refilled fast enough or the cook forgot to leave off those tomatoes, of course), this thread ought to take care of it. I mean, wow. Some people really are unsympathetic dicks. Look everyone, no one is saying you aren’t absolutely entitled to get your quesadilla poppers in a timely manner. You are. But it wouldn’t hurt to at least recognize that being a restaurant server in many, if not most, restaurants is a tough fucking job. Getting all defensive because one of the serving class had the nerve to complain about it, even in light of the bounty that you so graciously bestow upon them at the end of your meal? Kind of a dick move. You don’t have to weep bitter tears on the OP’s behalf or anything, but maybe we could do better than “too bad, shut up, quit if you don’t like it”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376.md?page=4)