# 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:** 4
**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, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/61 "2011-12-16T18:15:17Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > 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. My dad runs a general store–after salary (he and my mom combined pay themselves a little under $70k), his accounting profits are like that some weeks. Just a data point. Granted, they’re a small-volume rural place. ---
**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, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/62 "2011-12-16T18:27:35Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > …Oh, and you did notice that this is the Pit and it is ok to be rude. In that case: you are a worthless piece of shit and an asshole all wrapped up in blanket of failure. ---
**Author:** ![expectopatronum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/expectopatronum/32/173_2.png) [@expectopatronum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/expectopatronum)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/63 "2011-12-16T18:29:50Z")
threads like this irritate the hell out of me because they always, without exception, bring out the “get another job/go to college/i worked retail for years and was damned grateful for the opportunity” crowd. get real, folks. the reality is that **someone** has to do these jobs, and if everyone who ever bitched about said jobs walked out right now with the intent of finding the mythical, “better” job everyone tells them to go get, there would be no one to serve your food, scan your groceries, deliver your pizza, and on. i worked retail grocery for many years, and it was a fine job. i made enough money to support myself, go on vacations, and had a lot of good benefits. i had only a high school diploma at that time, so really i couldn’t have asked for much better. i always worked at busy locations, and there were plenty of times where i was all “do you people have NOTHING BETTER TO DO?” during the times when they just kept coming. and coming. and coming. and coming. yes, it was my job to serve them, and it was a job i did well, but when it’s closing time and you have people pounding desperately on the doors because the 15 hours you were open just wasn’t enough, it gets really fucking old. when you close, getting the customers out is just step one of what can be anywhere from a half hour to a two hour process of cleaning and other things before you actually get to leave. good rant, OP, and you have my complete sympathy. to the “get another job” folks: yes, the person bringing you your cheese fries may not be jumping for joy about it. get over it. as long as they do their job adequately you don’t need to worry about it. on preview: what **Giraffe** said. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/64 "2011-12-16T18:41:58Z")
I am getting REAL tired of people shitting on others rants. LET PEOPLE RANT! If you want to shit on the rant or don’t agree with the ranter…keep your opinion to yourself. If you can’t keep your opinion to yourself, start another Pit thread and pit the ranter. Geez people…let someone blow off steam. Have some fucking sympathy you god damn bastards. ---
**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, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/65 "2011-12-16T18:43:57Z")
I was one of the people who mentioned going to college, and I’ll put my hand up. But I resent the implication that those of us who did to go to college to get better jobs have no idea what retail people go through, as at least one other poster here said. I put myself through college through retail jobs, and so did a lot of a lot of other people. And, hey, our retail jobs sucked just as much as yours did. But my attitude was “if this job sucks, I’m going to do what it takes to not have to do it for the rest of my life.” I’m going to stand by that comment. I don’t care what career path the OP takes, but if he seems this unhappy with what–in all honesty–are things that happen daily in his line of work, then it’s up to him, not us, to do something about that. Every other retail/restaurant person can come up with exactly the same stories about people calling in sick at the last moment, angry (and in one of my experiences, violent) or cheating customers, and skinflint management. If you can handle it, great, but if the idea of providing even a minimum of customer service (people like to eat food on Fridays? How dare they!) is too much to handle, this ain’t a rant, it’s a cry for help. ---
**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, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/66 "2011-12-16T18:53:43Z")
I think what it comes down to is that a certain type of person sees people working in retail as modern day serfs who are not worthy of consideration. Sometimes people just want to vent a little about a shitty day at work, but self-entitled pricks are kind of surprised to learn that people working customer service have actual feelings. ---
**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, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/67 "2011-12-16T18:59:20Z")
Yeah, I get that. But what I don’t get is if I said “I hate my job so much I boil in frustration at the thought of actually doing it,” I’d be greeted with a chorus of “get another job.” I don’t hate **Amblydoper** –I’ve been in customer service and I can see how you’d get to that point. What I’m saying is, if you get to that point, it’s past the time to rant. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/68 "2011-12-16T19:14:42Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > 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”? Yeah - for such a supposedly left-leaning board, there are always an alarming number of “Let them eat cake!” responses in these kinds of threads. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/69 "2011-12-16T19:15:52Z")
It’s a rant, Duke 🙂 Rants, almost by definition, are taken to extremes. That’s why they are called rants. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Amber\_in\_Treasury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Amber\_in\_Treasury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amber_in_Treasury)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/70 "2011-12-16T19:26:55Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Yeah - for such a supposedly left-leaning board, there are always an alarming number of “Let them eat cake!” responses in these kinds of threads. THIS. The Dope, in general, isn’t very left-wing at all. More BoBo-ish, or the ever popular and self-contradictory “socially liberal but fiscally conservative”. ---
**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, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/71 "2011-12-16T19:31:54Z")
Point taken, Duck. And Og knows I’ve ranted here. Probably 99% of the time I’d let this slide, but there seemed a real undercurrent of “even normal operating conditions in my job are intolerable” in the OP. Someone I know is going through a situation like that, and letting off steam just isn’t cutting it for that person. So she’s planning to go back to school and find a new career–something which isn’t going to be easy in this terrible economy, and there’s no guarantee it’s going to work out, but it’s a necessity for her in her situation. ---
**Author:** ![Batfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Batfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batfish)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/72 "2011-12-16T19:37:43Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > Yeah, I get that. But what I don’t get is if I said “I hate my job so much I boil in frustration at the thought of actually doing it,” … The OP didn’t say that or anything remotely like that. ---
**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, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/73 "2011-12-16T19:41:46Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > I am getting REAL tired of people shitting on others rants. > > LET PEOPLE RANT! If you want to shit on the rant or don’t agree with the ranter…keep your opinion to yourself. If you can’t keep your opinion to yourself, start another Pit thread and pit the ranter. > > Geez people…let someone blow off steam. Have some fucking sympathy you god damn bastards. Naw, at the point the ranter involves us in his belligerent nonsense, > [@Amblydoper](#): > > You have never worked in the restaurant industry, have you? > [@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. > > Glad to hear that you all have stress free jobs where it doesn’t matter if someone doesn’t show up, because no one has to cover the work they don’t have to do. hen he can piss right up a rope. I would easily wager that more people HAVE than HAVEN’T worked in some kind of frontline customer service, fast food, or restaurant industry. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/74 "2011-12-16T19:58:09Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I think what it comes down to is that a certain type of person sees people working in retail as modern day serfs who are not worthy of consideration. Sometimes people just want to vent a little about a shitty day at work, but self-entitled pricks are kind of surprised to learn that people working customer service have actual feelings. I don’t think that’s completely it, though I’m sure there are people who can’t sympathize with those who work service jobs. I myself have a customer-facing job and even I was pretty unsympathetic to the OP. At the point where you are mad at the customer for complaining about cold food, or where asking for sauce on the side is rant-worthy, is the point you need to get out of serving, period. That said, I know the feeling where nobody cuts you any slack no matter how outside your control a situation is. A lot of people have really unfair expectations that the food must be super quick, the service perfectly friendly (no matter how rude you are in return), everything must be perfect to your specifications, for about $5/plate. Someone’s out sick? Well, too damn bad because it’s your job to make sure it’s perfect for me every time, so you are to have sufficient staff on hand at all times regardless of any circumstances, but no I’m not going pay a penny more for you to hire more staff! That’s your problem! Unfortunately, assholes are everywhere. Example. Part of my job is tech support for a small software company. We’re small enough that you pretty much get someone on the phone right away, but if we’re already on the phone, you get voice mail. I completely understand that people don’t expect this, so I tend to explain semi-regularly that we don’t have hold queues for a reason, we call you back as soon as we can, but we’re not a big call center or anything. Basically it’s just a few people, or with tech support, generally mostly just one person. Since people are reaching an experienced tech without going through a bunch of script-reading and waiting, this explanation (should it be required) is good for about 99% of people. There is that 1% though who become utter assholes about it. I had one gentleman in particular that ran a computer repair business. Now keep in mind our software is pretty inexpensive utility software – it really requires little tech support to begin with. Well, this guy didn’t know his business very well and basically kept calling because he kept screwing up client data (not with our software even) and was trying to use our software to rescue the info. Now, I get that he had unusual needs and for the most part that was no big deal, but he was such an insufferable asshole about it even though, really, we were going above and beyond to help the guy. Finally, after calling repeatedly for stuff that was just not anything to do with our software, he called back for something like the 5th call in a day (keep in mind we maybe get 10 calls a day total, the whole company, it’s mostly all email now) he got voice mail because I was talking to someone else. He left an absolutely LIVID voice mail message and when I called him back, all of five minutes later, he started reading me the riot act that how dare we not answer his call immediately. I gave the explanation I always do, but he just wouldn’t be swayed. Quite literally the guy started yelling “I expect someone to ALWAYS answer my call RIGHT AWAY when you are open! I demand that you promise me this and find a way to make this NEVER happen again!” I tried reasoning with the guy that this isn’t an option. Eventually, I explained that my background included working in the call center industry and that this just isn’t possible – even if you drastically overstaff (and we’d have to drastically increase prices too), there’s always the possibility of technical problems or other disasters. I’m sure for some amount of money it could probably be done, but certainly not for a product at our price level. And, besides, we just don’t have any need for that kind of immediacy in our industry. If you need help with your computer and 5 minutes is too much time then we’re happy to give you a refund and a pleasant goodbye – honestly, good luck finding a company that offers that for software under $50. The guy kept ranting and raving about what an outrage it was. I tried leveling with the guy that we’re in similar positions – we both are part of small companies and people call us for technical help. Can he always guarantee he can answer the phone, even if someone else is calling? But of course, in his case, it was completely different. It’s ridiculous to expect a computer shop to answer his client’s calls immediately in every case… but HIS calls, of course, were completely different. They’re important! Never ended up getting a meeting of the minds with the guy. He just had no perspective that the world did not revolve around him and his problem, and of course he didn’t want a refund either because he needed the software (and, ultimately, our help). Of course, we’re horrible people and he tells everyone how terrible our service is. ---
**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, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/75 "2011-12-16T20:03:25Z")
> [@Batfish](#): > > The OP didn’t say that or anything remotely like that. The OP complained that things like customers ordering “no tomatoes” on their dish, increased customer traffic on Fridays, and somebody calling in sick (for what sounded like the first time in eons because the OP said they “never call in sick”) were intolerable. Do these things sound like normal conditions in a restaurant? Also, the OP said things like > [@](#): > > I just don’t know how many more **normal** days I can take before I shoot myself and > [@](#): > > we go get drunk and pass out and wake up early the next day for when you show up for breakfast . Sorry, but that does NOT sound like a typical “work sucks” rant to me. That sounds like a “doper on the edge of a nervous breakdown” cry to me. Trust me. **I was there this year** about non-work-related things, and I’m not about to link you to the threads where I said very, very similar things before the thread I posted a few weeks later entitled “I was hospitalized last week for a suicide attempt.” I’m not the type to throw up the alarm over every rant–and you can go ahead and look up everything I’ve said this year, if you’re so inclined–but that OP really did make me go, “Whoa. The OP needs to get out of there, now.” ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/76 "2011-12-16T20:30:22Z")
> [@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. Profit = whats left over after all expenses and salaries are paid. So if you have a business that is generating $150 a week in profit, your bank account balance is slowly growing every week. Not a horrible place to be, but it would of cource be nice if there was more than that.. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/77 "2011-12-16T20:53:33Z")
Merits aside, that was a very nice rant. Entertaining and evocative. 3.5 stars. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/78 "2011-12-16T21:35:41Z")
I think the OP should post the restaurant where he works, so we can call his boss. Then one of the 8.6% of the people out there looking for work can take his place, and he can never deal with customers ever again. Win-win. I’m with the other dickheads here. If I go out and pay $100 for dinner, I expect to be treated like fucking Emperor Justinian on his birthday. If your place won’t do it, another place will. It’s too hard to leave tomatoes off? God, I can’t imagine the extra effort that poor chef must go through to NOT cut up a tomato and sprinkle it on a salad… ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/79 "2011-12-16T22:02:44Z")
> [@](#): > > And no, I’m not really complaining about there being too many customers. I’m complaining about there being too many customers and not enough labor to handle them. My Boss would say “Too many customers? That is a good problem to have” as he stares at the bottom line of his P&L statement. Pretty much. Upper management, above all else, wants the slimmest labor margins possible, even if it’s to the detriment of guest service. Oh, they’ll talk out their asses about the importance of service, but once that interferes with labor than you’re back to skeleton crews again. I’ve seen it many times. They’re really just in it for their labor/GAP bonuses. As for call-offs I’d say 90% are bullshit, with the most popular excuses being “I been up all night pukin’ mah guts out!” and “My car broke down in (insert name of city just far enough away for it to be inconvenient to send someone to pick you up).” ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376/80 "2011-12-16T22:38:24Z")
> [@Amber\_in\_Treasury](#): > > But people still get SICK, Jesus tapdancing Christ. Something’s wrong when you’re being resented by your colleagues for **not** showing up to work while running a fever and losing it from both ends. But meh, what do you expect when profit margins are more important than anything else. Not that that will change any time soon. Fuck. Oh, I know. It’s hard – sometimes horribly, terribly so. The single parent who calls in because his/her kid is sick? Of course you’re going to accept that. You come down with the flu? Of course nobody wants you sneezing and snuffling over the food. But when you can’t call anyone else in to take that employee’s place “because hours have been cut” or some other managerial malarkey, yeah, those who have to pick up the slack are probably going to bitch and possibly rant more so than the OP, especially if it’s busy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-someone-in-the-restaurant-business-called-in-sick/606376.md?page=5)