Caelyn, a waitress from Iowa, was fired on New Year’s after telling her boss there was no silverware and explaining she was not paid or trained to do the dishes herself.
The young woman shared a video that surpassed four million views. She explained that during morning shifts, there are no dishwashers in her former workplace, a sports bar and a grill.
She added she had never had issues on the job before the day she was fired. However, on that faithful day, the woman came to work 15 minutes early, and after the slow start, things changed.
Caelyn said, “I started getting tables and got really busy really fast.” She continued: “I went to my manager and said that we needed silverware.”
The woman made a joke telling him, “Or I could just tell them [the customers] to eat the food with their hands.”
Caelyn was confused when the manager told her “that he would show me how to do the silverware.”
She explained that she was a server and needed to be trained to be a dishwasher. To this, the manager snapped and told her to hire someone.
The young woman replied, “Not my job to hire people.”
Despite the crowd, Caelyn was sent home early due to her “attitude.”
When she ended her shift, she went to the manager’s office and apologized: “I said, ‘I’m sorry if it came across as having an attitude, I did not mean for that,’ and then he went on to say that if I’m not going to be a ‘team player,’ that he does not want me here anymore.”
Caelyn did not want to be a pushover, “I told him that I don’t get paid $16 an hour for the dishwasher’s job and I’m not trained for it.”
The manager then replied she needed to do some “self-reflecting about being a team player.”
The young server told the manager she would happily accept being a dishwasher if she got a raise and training, but he told her to leave the facility.
While she tried to speak to her manager’s higher-ups to tell her side of the story, they told her there was “nothing they could do.”
Caelyn ended the video, “So that is the story of how I got fired from my waitressing job on New Year’s Day because I didn’t do silverware.”
TikTok users sided with the young woman, with one person writing, “Sounds like you have a great sense of humor and a positive attitude. It won’t change anything, but it’s their loss.”
Another chimed in: “If you are a tipped worker being required to do the work of a non-tipped employee, I am pretty sure that’s illegal.”
@midwest.gal Part 2! #waitress #waitressproblems #server #fired #newyear #newyearsday #2023 #managersbelike #waitresslife #story #storytime #waitressing #serverproblems ♬ original sound – Caelyn
One person said, “A good manager helps wherever it is needed. He should have done the silverware and helped with servers and the kitchen. Whatever needed to be done.”
Another described it as a “toxic work environment,” adding, “Know your worth.”
One of the most upvoted comments stated, “First Red Flad- a restaurant that doesn’t have a daytime dishwasher or enough silverware, that’s poor management!”
Many concluded, “You’re better off without them.”
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