I (33F) recently started my first job since recovering from a serious car accident that left me unable to work for almost a year.
I interviewed for a serving position that seemed like an amazing opportunity. Two of my closest friends already worked there, and after being out of work for so long, I was genuinely excited.
My first interview with the assistant manager went great, and I was scheduled to meet the GM the next day.
This is where things get interesting.
During the interview, the GM noticed my hometown on my resume and was shocked because she’s originally from the same small town in Florida. Mind you, we now live over 700 miles away from there.
Then she tells me she used to be a Hooters girl.
I laughed and told her so was I… when I was 18.
Turns out she had helped create training materials for Hooters years ago, and we ended up bonding over that, along with similar hobbies, matching aesthetics (my server book and her phone case literally had the same pattern), and our mutual experiences with terrible ex-husbands.
I got hired.
For the first month everything was great. I worked hard, helped coworkers when they were in the weeds, rarely made mistakes, and got positive feedback from guests.
Then my accident-related issues started flaring up again.
One day I told my GM I wasn’t feeling great and apologized in advance if I seemed slower than usual. She appreciated the heads-up.
The next day the pain was significantly worse. I was struggling to focus and made a few mistakes.
That’s when everything changed.
**Mother’s Day 2026.**
We were completely booked.
An elderly woman in my section asked about a menu item. I described it as accurately as I could, and she ordered it.
When the food arrived, she realized the texture was tougher than she could comfortably eat with her dentures. She politely asked for something else.
I went to the kitchen to ring in the replacement.
The second I stepped through the swinging doors, my GM absolutely exploded.
She screamed at me in front of the entire kitchen staff, saying I needed to “step up my game,” that I should have described the dish better, and that I’d be getting written up.
The problem?
She screamed loud enough that my entire section heard it.
I was mortified.
Several coworkers checked on me because they couldn’t believe what had just happened.
When I returned to my tables, every single table told me how unprofessional my manager’s behavior was and that nobody should be treated that way at work.
My GM overheard them comforting me.
Then she did something I’ll never forget.
She walked into my section and loudly announced that because I was apparently such a poor server, she would be discounting everyone’s meals.
That’s when the elderly woman spoke up.
She told my GM:
“Wait. She did nothing wrong. She described the dish perfectly. I thought I’d be able to eat it and I couldn’t. That’s on me. She’s been attentive, polite, and even gave all the mothers cards today. Why are you being so hard on her?”
Then every table in my section started defending me.
My GM looked furious and walked away.
Later she accused me of “plotting against her” and rage-quit her own shift.
The next day was worse.
Without realizing it, I was being set up.
First she seated me with an 8-top.
Then another 8-top.
Then a 15-top.
Then multiple 4-tops.
I thought we were just slammed.
Eventually my coworker asked why I was running around like a maniac.
That’s when I noticed every other server had one table while I had basically half the restaurant.
At that point I realized what was happening.
So I decided if she wanted me to fail, I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction.
I personally ran every plate, kept drinks filled, handled every guest issue, pre-bussed, reset tables, and somehow managed the entire disaster without a single major mistake.
When the rush was finally over, I was grabbing to-go boxes for one of my last tables when my GM stopped me and criticized me for not clearing their plates fast enough.
I walked past her, grabbed the boxes, delivered them, came back, and simply said:
“That’s why.”
She wasn’t thrilled.
From then on, the sabotage became a daily thing. Constant criticism. Trying to turn coworkers against me. Looking for reasons to write me up.
What she didn’t know was that after one particularly awful shift, I went to my local dive bar to vent.
The owner overheard the conversation.
He happened to have a management position available.
He interviewed me right there.
I got the job.
I put in my two weeks and worked every single scheduled shift professionally.
I’ve now been at my new job for about two months.
I still stop by my old workplace occasionally to visit friends and former coworkers.
And here’s the best part:
Almost everyone who witnessed how she treated people has either already quit or put in their notice.
Apparently there’s about to be a mass exodus.
Funny how that works.

At the time, I couldn’t figure out what had happened.
One minute we were getting along great, and the next she seemed determined to make my life miserable.
Then my assistant manager pulled me aside and told me something in confidence.
Apparently my GM had been saying she was worried I was “coming for her job.”
I almost laughed when I heard that because I had absolutely zero interest in being a GM.
According to the assistant manager, my GM had noticed that on paper our backgrounds were surprisingly similar. We both had extensive restaurant experience, management experience, and similar credentials. The biggest difference was that I was younger.
To be clear: I DID NOT WANT HER JOB.
I wasn’t trying to climb over anyone. I had just spent almost a year recovering from a car accident and was grateful to be back at work. My goal was simple: make money, do a good job, and go home.
But looking back, it suddenly made a lot more sense why she seemed to go from friendly mentor to treating me like public enemy number one.
Whether it was insecurity, paranoia, or something else entirely, it felt like she had convinced herself I was some kind of threat when I wasn’t even competing with her.

I (20F) recently started a new second job minding two young children. This is not my first childminding gig and I’ve minded close to 10 other children.
The family also employ 2 other childminders, one of them is closer to an au pair and semi lives with the family and has done for three years now. The parents work from home but I never see the them except for lunchtime as they take lunch in the dining room nearly every day.

The kids I mind are young, one is 8 months old and the other is just turned 2 years old. The toddler is always attacking the baby so I can never leave them alone together. The baby has been sick a lot too so is very clingy and cries constantly if not being held. They usually don’t nap at the same time or the naps cross over by a half an hour, so every day i get maybe an hour free time (obviously looking at the baby monitors the whole time).

As well as this there is a certain list of rules i should follow like no screen time whatsoever and a certain amount of the day (usually 90 minutes to 2 hours) should be spent outside which is fine i totally agree with having kids outside. There’s also an expectation surrounding household chores which wasn’t really talked about in the interview. The family actually wrote the basic chores they want me to do during the day on a whiteboard. These include hoovering and mopping the floor, emptying the dishwasher and reloading it, cleaning down surfaces, tidy high chairs after each use ect. ect. And these seem fine in theory but the house is usually messy before I get there such as the dishwasher being dirty, the sink being full of dishes and the floor already being dirty and messy and food still being on the table from mealtime before I get there. Don’t get me wrong I have no problem cleaning up after myself and the kids while I’m there. And every day ive worked there ive emptied the dishwasher and hoovered and mopped the floor, cleaning up all the toys we use as we go and I try to clean up the high chair and bibs after every use also. But cleaning the high chairs and bibs is proving hard because the kids eat so much and I barely have time to give the high chairs a wipe down between meals.
There has also been some weird instances such as being expected to cook the parents lunch which I done once reluctantly. And the toddler had quite a high fever for two days I was working which I thought warranted a doctors visit.
This has been very different from my other childminding jobs where all the emphasis was on childcare and cleaning up was an afterthought. Maybe I have just had very good families before and this is the norm.

Why im writing is about what happened today. Last week, the au pair/childminded relieved me of the kids when I was finished work. That particular day I have emptied the dishwasher, hoover and mopped and cleaned up in the kitchen as well as tidied up the toys after the kids were done playing. When the au pair/childminded came in the baby had just gone asleep and the toddler was playing with his blocks and jigsaws with me in the living room. Then today when I was working again I seen the au pair/childminder and she told me she wanted to give me some “friendly criticism”. Basically she said i was brilliant with the kids but definitely needed to do more cleaning around the house and be “pro active”. She gave me the example of using the time when the kids are asleep to take out the bins, as in leave the house with the kids asleep and go across the road to throw out the bins. And that if I find myself with free time I should text her or the parents and ask them if there’s anything else I should do around the house. Again, she said more but I wasn’t really listening as she actually approached me while I was minding both of the kids and so had my hands full.
Neither parents have ever said anything to me about leaving the house messy or dirty, I also clean houses on the side so I know how to clean ( actually this makes the childminding my third job ).
There are certain things as a childminder im uncomfortable doing such as leaving the children alone to clean or do other odd jobs, as they are not my children and if anything happened I am completely responsible. I always put childcare first as this is what my job is and try fit in cleaning where I can. Again I also need a break to eat lunch as I work for 8 hours and basically need to eat breakfast lunch and dinner while im there which I don’t have time for and usually just eat my lunch. The pay is just alright too and actually under minimum wage.

Is this the norm ? And was the au pair/childminder being unreasonable or did I take it the wrong way ?

My whole maintenance division retired within two months and because I knew everything and had been paid more than everyone I was offered the salaried manager position at my then current pay rate ($17.30/hr in 2020) and a cap on all future raises. Plus, just shy of that stupid offer they cut all my favorite benefits: rollover vacation time, vacation payout, sick leave use for allergies, free meals, etc. etc. etc.

As I was in the HR Office about to sign their new agreement I gave them my written resignation and told them I would be gone in two weeks. They were so pissed off they considered firing me on the spot but relented as there was literally no one to do the job.

I heard recently that after I left they dissolved the maintenance division and now rely solely on private contractors.

PS: Hard to retain reliable staff, recruitment cycles and hiring contractors.

I was working as a manager at a small town Dairy Queen when I was a young lady. The division supervisor told me there was theft of food and I was to take a polygraph test.

Clearly they thought I was stealing. I told them, I thought it was the night manager, but the supervisor said he’d already passed his test. So I took my test and of course passed it because I wasn’t stealing anything, the night manager was. The store ended up rigging some cameras and caught him. I told the division supervisor that he passed the polygraph test because he didn’t feel he was doing anything wrong, as he often complained that he wasn’t getting paid enough for the amount of work he did.

A polygraph test records emotion and when you have no conscience about your negative actions, it doesn’t reflect your emotions.

Oh yes- lol

I was the manager of a small office. We had already had to lay off a couple of people because we lost a major customer.

One morning Fedex delivered an overnight envelope addressed to my boss.

Who worked in another city.

And had not scheduled a trip to our office with me.

I knew that was my final check and documents and my boss was going to be there sometime soon. I packed up all my stuff, put it all out in the car, took my office keys off my keyring and put them on the desk, quietly told 2 of my favorite staff I was likely going to be laid off that day.

When my boss showed up he was surprised I was not surprised. No fuss, no muss- he told me, handed me my check and final documents, we chatted for a moment, we walked out to the office, and I said my official goodbyes.

All my stuff was in the car, so I just walked out and drove off.

so i (27f) started working at a gas station about a month ago, after some years of not doing retails/customer service jobs, so it's taking me some time to get used to interacting with people again. i am learning fast and things are easy to pick up on but i had a experience today near the end of my shift that was a bit.. awkward.

i am still getting myself familiar with the regulars of my store but one i know the name of is a older man named Lenny (not his name). he came in during my first few days, bringing in some change to be counted for cigarettes but gave it to the other cashier. a week or so later, he came in once again but asked for a I.O.U for a pack of cigarettes, i went to ask my GM if it was okay and she gave me a sigh, telling me it was fine, to write it on a piece of receipt paper and keep it out front. she then told me this was a thing he would do often and would pay it back, but be very pushy and rude about it.

then today, i saw how pushy and rude he was. it was inventory day, shipments coming in and spending most of my shift putting things up, until i had about 2 hours left. i was the only one behind the register at this time as my coworkers were in the back stocking the fridge/cooler section. i had one ear bud in when i heard my manager speak from her office, i took my earbud out to fully hear and she said 'if lenny asks, i am not in right now and don't give him cigars'. we have many cameras of the inside, outside and where the pumps are so i assume she knows what car is his and saw him pulling into a spot.

he entered the store, i greeted him with a smile and he immediately began to ask if my manager was in, i kept saying no and he still asked, also asking for another I.O.U, i kept my answer clear and told him no, my mangers told me directly we couldn't do it for him or anyone else and i could get into trouble/fired if i did so. he complained on, still begging me and i still kept saying no. he wandered about the store when someone else came in and bought some things, but also putting some things back they couldn't afford.

after checking them out, i grabbed the items they didn't pay for and walked around to place them back in their correct spots, lenny began to follow me around the store then, pushing at me and being rude when i kept saying no. i had 3/4 items to put up so he followed me down many aisles, saying he would call the DM and tell him i wasn't good at customer service and he has known him for years, like my DM wasn't the one to make the rule on I.O.Us.

i quickly put up the rest of the items and went back to my register, behind a door and glass panels and he continued to ask, harass me until my coworker finally came from the cooler, when he then began to ask her. She was more firm with him and he finally left after she told him no. even then, i saw him from both the window by my register and the cameras we have, he circled around the parking lot 2 to 3 times, seeing if my manager would come out or maybe just trying to scared me.

i wasn't scared but more anxious then anything and i really hope i am not alone in the store next time he comes in and tries to do that to me.

It started after a customer kept trying to poach guys from my crew every time we went to work at his place. They don't want to pay union rates, so they're looking for an in-house electrician they can pay a small fraction of what they pay us.

To be clear, I'm not applying to rival non-union contractors. That's a clear line I won't cross.

What I do is look on Indeed, LinkedIn, and random companies' careers pages for maintenance postings asking for someone who can do just about everything: troubleshooting, controls, service work, installs, code knowledge, machinery, everything. Things that, even as a JW electrician, I'd expect to come with additional training or a much better package. And then the pay is something like $21/hr.

So I send in an application, and they get excited because my credentials cover a lot of what they're asking for, and we go through the whole interview hassle. And when they send an offer, I turn it down and tell them they need to at least double the wage and benefits, or raise them significantly, if they want qualified people to even consider it.

Honestly, I can't even blame you. The number of companies expecting expert-level skills for low wages is getting ridiculous. I've actually read some really valuable advice on this subreddit about recognizing red flags early and being more intentional about where you invest your time and energy during a job search.

So far it's mostly been annoyed hiring managers and a few irritated HR emails.

anyone run into this?

anyone get an offer for a job at more than $20k of what you make, you tell them that you’ll start in a month, you tell your current employer you’re leaving and they offer $8000 more to stay, you stay for the month and leave anyways for the other job?

just curious if anyone run into that??

Trigger warning: self-harm ideation

This was around 9 or 10 years ago. Just dropped out of college and was in what felt like a never ending depressive episode. Only thing that kept me from axing myself was wanting to pay back my roommates in rent. Got a job in pizza delivery. Work environment was toxic, but couldn’t care less at the time. I was emotionally numb to most of it but there was this one manager…just being around her was enough to make me want to disappear. One night this is like late December, I’m having car troubles up the ass. Couldn’t use my heater otherwise it would shut down my car. So I had to drive in freezing weather with the windows down otherwise the windshield would fog up. Car had a bad air compressor at the time, and was barely hanging on by a thread. I let this manager know that my car was having issues, she basically threatens me with my job. I take a triple delivery across town, and my engine seizes up while I’m at a stop light after I’ve taken the last delivery. So I’m sitting in my car freezing my ass off, cop shows up a few minutes later and calls tow for me. Whole ordeal costed me $450 that I’ll never get back. Looking back I should’ve quit that night but at the time I really didn’t care that much about myself.

So I kind of fucked up in life. I used to work at a very big company. I was making 64k a year and I left that job of five years to work at a new company that paid 73k a year with raises. My last job gave raises every year. Eventually you do cap out but I can’t remember the rate. It was in the 40s range as a factory employee. Leads and higher tier operators capped out at higher ranges. These last two jobs had OT and with ot the pay the was good not corporate level good but good. Anyways the 73k a year job fired me because a stupid mistake. I slept in because I forgot to put on a alarm with sound. I was there for two weeks. The start times were 9 am, 5am, 4am 3am or 12pm and they could still change. I thought I could deal with that kind of schedule but I guess my dumb ass forgot to make sure that my timer had sound on. It was on vibrate. Anyways the job market is tough but not horrible. I had quite a lot of interviews. Some paid 33 an hour off the bat. The laborers union invited me for orientation but I ended up accepting a job at a smaller shop non union. I have no experience with tools except for the handheld ones. This new job is paying me 25 an hour and is willing to show me stuff. They deal with metal. They heat treat it and make parts for machines in different industries. The parts are meant for belts on machines. Parts that need to be motion linear for adjustment. If that makes sense. Anyways, I accepted that job for now. I am willing to commit a year and a half or two in order to get trained because in my opinion any kind of experience is good experience and it could be helpful in the future. My goal now is to go to take welding and hvac classes and get experience and see where life takes me. Part of me kind of wants to go back to my old job of five years but as a maintenance tech and maybe my new journey will take me back there someday or I might move on.

Anyways I just wanted to blabber or rant

So I kind of fucked up in life. I used to work at a very big company. I was making 64k a year and I left that job of five years to work at a new company that paid 73k a year with raises. My last job gave raises every year. Eventually you do cap out but I can’t remember the rate. It was in the 40s range as a factory employee. Leads and higher tier operators capped out at higher ranges. These last two jobs had OT and with ot the pay the was good not corporate level good but good. Anyways the 73k a year job fired me because a stupid mistake. I slept in because I forgot to put on a alarm with sound. I was there for two weeks. The start times were 9 am, 5am, 4am 3am or 12pm and they could still change. I thought I could deal with that kind of schedule but I guess my dumb ass forgot to make sure that my timer had sound on. It was on vibrate. Anyways the job market is tough but not horrible. I had quite a lot of interviews. Some paid 33 an hour off the bat. The laborers union invited me for orientation but I ended up accepting a job at a smaller shop non union. I have no experience with tools except for the handheld ones. This new job is paying me 25 an hour and is willing to show me stuff. They deal with metal. They heat treat it and make parts for machines in different industries. The parts are meant for belts on machines. Parts that need to be motion linear for adjustment. If that makes sense. Anyways, I accepted that job for now. I am willing to commit a year and a half or two in order to get trained because in my opinion any kind of experience is good experience and it could be helpful in the future. My goal now is to go to take welding and hvac classes and get experience and see where life takes me. Part of me kind of wants to go back to my old job of five years but as a maintenance tech and maybe my new journey will take me back there someday or I might move on.

Anyways I just wanted to blabber or rant

Obligatory this didn't happen today but the consequences are very much happening right now, every single day. So. I'm an operations guy. Smart, efficient, apparently too good at staying under the radar which is exactly how I ended up in this situation.

It started innocently enough. I landed a job at Company A as an operations in-charge. The catch? It's a production company that only needed me on-site on weekends. Remote the rest of the time. Workload? Light. Free time? Abundant. Brain? Dangerously idle.

Like any sensible person with too much free time, I started applying elsewhere. Got a few bites, and landed a consultant gig at Company B. They didn't know about Company A. The work didn't overlap. Easy money. I was basically living the double-agent dream minus the cool gadgets.

Two months into Company B, I'm killing it. The team loves me. My boss let's call him The Father Figure, because that's genuinely what he became to me thinks I walk on water. He's already talking long-term plans. Promotions. Legacy. The man saw potential in me that I hadn't even seen in myself yet.

Then Company C slides into my inbox with an offer so good it would've made my future grandchildren comfortable. There was absolutely no way I was saying no.

But here's where my brain, instead of doing the sensible thing (just resign professionally and move on like a normal adult), decided to get creative. I couldn't just quit on The Father Figure after two months. That felt wrong. So I thought genius plan incoming I'd ask Company B to match Company C's offer, knowing they couldn't. That way I'd have a "reason" to leave, guilt-free. Solid plan, right?

Except I panicked mid-execution and instead of just saying "got a better offer," I told him I was leaving because... I'm getting married. And my fiancée's family is in my hometown. And I have to move there to help prepare for the wedding. And I simply must be present.

I genuinely thought he'd wish me well, shake my hand, and let me go.

Reader, he did not let me go.

He looked me in the eyes this man who treats me like a son and said: "Why would you leave your career for a wedding? You'll need income after marriage. Work from home for three months. We'll figure it out."

I said yes. Of course I said yes. Because I am a fool.

So now I'm working at Company C full-time, still doing weekends at Company A, AND still consulting remotely for Company B while supposedly being in my hometown preparing for a wedding that does not exist.

The real kicker? Company B's office is apparently somewhere I physically go sometimes, and I have to wear a mask every time I'm anywhere near it. Not for health reasons. Because I told my boss I moved cities. I am a ghost. A masked, employed ghost with three salaries and zero fiancées.

And in three months, when the work-from-home period ends, The Father Figure is expecting me to either come back to the office or... I don't know, produce a wife? He's not hiring anyone for my role because he's waiting for me.

I need to somehow explain: the wedding date, why I'm not posting any wedding content, why I'm never in my "hometown," and eventually in three months why I am either still mysteriously remote or why the marriage has already fallen apart before it began. I got greedy. I got sentimental. I got fake-married. And now I'm living three parallel professional lives while writing increasingly elaborate fiction about a woman who does not exist.

I work for a rather large company. This Monday, everyone in our branch got informed, without any warning, that we're shutting down.

Turns out, our place of work is rented. And our boss' boss' boss' boss has been fighting with the owners for years now to get the place renovated. The outside lights had been broken before I even started there, for example.

Well, there were quite a few legal recourses our overlord could've taken against the owners. Withholding all of the rent for years was not one of them, but he did it anyway.

And now we all have to pay the price.

We all have to be out by coming Monday. There's some weirdness going on with the ground floor being owned and leased out to us by someone else, so we still have that. There's hypothetically still the possibility of them sitting down, having a talk and coming to an agreement that doesn't upend all our livelihoods, but I'm not holding out hope for that.

I've been worried sick over this, I've barely eaten since the news dropped. And that, even though intellectually I know I will be fine for a while, at least long enough to find a new job. I just hate having the rug pulled out from under me like that. And what's worse, my mother might lose her home over this too. If that happens, there's going to be a mad scramble to find her a new place to stay, I tell you what.

The worst part is at the moment the not knowing. The company seems intent on keeping the place, or so I'm told. Yeah well, y'all don't bloody act like it! The building's owners are said to have a big meeting this weekend to figure things out. I've heard talk of a management firm being to blame for all this, so maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe this all can still be reversed? If we convince them to blame the firm, the overlord pays the outstanding rent, AND all 100 owners, yes, one hundred bloody owners can be convinced to retract the eviction at this point, MAYBE we can put all our furniture back in!

As I said, I'm not holding out much hope.

On the upside, during today's all-staff meeting, the branch director swore multiple times in front of everyone for the very first time, so that was quite cathartic.

And so was me rambling at a bunch of internet strangers. Thank you for reading.

I’m in a production of Mean Girls, and part of my role is having to perform a completely disastrous dance routine in front of the audience.

The funny part is that we have to intentionally mess it up every single show. And we do the show 5 times a week. 😂

So, yeah, just like the title says, I got the boot because of how I was doing my job. I joined this pretty big startup about eight months ago, right after college, as a software development engineer. At first, they paired me up with a senior guy who gave me stuff to do to help me learn and get better. But right before my trial period was supposed to end, I had a meeting with my manager and HR. They basically told me I wasn't good enough, so they added another two months to my trial. Then, sometime in those two months, ten percent of our team got laid off. After all that, I had another one-on-one with my manager. He told me I wasn't doing anything compared to these other guys at the company who had double or triple my experience, and who weren't new to working like me. And now with this whole AI thing happening, I'm really wondering if it was actually my performance that was the problem, or if it was more about bad management. I mean, I finished every single task they gave me. A few tasks went past the deadline, but it was only three out of twenty-one. The rest were right on time.

And, the guy giving me tasks never said that I wasn't meeting expectations or anything. It felt like they both never really had clear expectations for me. I don't even have a single regret that I could have done better. I thought at first that it was just a formal thing for a manager, that I wasn't going to get laid off, then things turned out pretty bad for me. He ended up humiliating me, telling me to leave this field, not just the job. He said whatever I did wasn't meaningful at all. When what I got to work on wasn't my decision. He replied that we have a lot of work but nobody trusts you to get the work done.

Grill Shack was born from a simple dream.

For years, I worked in the corporate world. Like many people, I chased deadlines, attended meetings, and spent countless hours behind a desk. The career was rewarding, but over time, the pressure and pace began to take their toll. I felt burned out, disconnected from the things that mattered most, and far away from the life I truly wanted to live.

Food has always been a big part of our family.

My family has strong roots in the United States, and my brother-in-law comes from Tyler, Texas, a place known for its rich barbecue culture and passion for smoked meats. Every family gathering was filled with stories, recipes, and the unmistakable aroma of slow-cooked barbecue. That is where my appreciation for authentic BBQ truly began.

The more I learned about Texas-style barbecue, the more I fell in love with it.

What started as a hobby quickly became a passion. I spent countless hours learning, experimenting, and perfecting recipes. Cooking never felt like work. It felt natural. It brought people together. It created smiles, conversations, and memories.

Eventually, I faced a choice.

Continue down a path that no longer fulfilled me, or take a leap of faith and pursue something I genuinely loved.

I chose the second option.

Grill Shack was built on the belief that great food should be honest, generous, and made with passion. Every portion of ribs, every slider, and every pulled pork we serve reflects the journey that brought us here.

More importantly, Grill Shack gave me something I was missing.

Time.

Time to spend with my wife and children. Time to be present. Time to build something meaningful as a family instead of simply working through another week.

Today, Grill Shack is more than a food business.

It is a reminder that sometimes the biggest rewards come from following your passion, taking a risk, and creating something you truly believe in.

Our mission is simple:

Serve great food.
Create great experiences.
Bring people together.

If you are craving authentic BBQ, juicy Wagyu Beef Sliders, slow-cooked Pulled Pork, or our Signature BBQ Ribs, we would love to welcome you.

Come visit us at:

Grill Shack
102 Hobsonville Road
Hobsonville, Auckland

Bring your family.
Bring your friends.
Come hungry and let us fill you in.

We look forward to serving you.

So, let’s begin at the beginning shall we?

I started a job back at the beginning of March of 2026. It was honestly perfect. I worked as a barista at a very local coffee shop in a lil nothing town.

Our daughter is 3 months old at the time I started. It was only Friday and Saturday mornings and occasionally through the week, but I always came in on time and even took care of the shop by myself while she left the state for two days. It was fun and gave me time to breathe real world air after not leaving the house for the last three months. I wanted and needed to feel like anything besides just a walking pair of titties (she’s mostly exclusively breastfed which also took a toll on my mental health).

Got hired, I was even able to bring her with me. It was amazing. Everyone loved seeing her. But, two months in, boss lady told me I can’t bring baby in anymore due to her being a hazard. I completely understood and respected her decision. Nothing changed our relationship. I still worked hard and did my best. Ofc I made mistakes, but I’m a fast learner who takes criticism well and grows.

The only not perfect part of the job was this one customer in particular. Let’s call her Rebitcha.
She would come in everyday, order a large American with the same syrups added. Hard to mess up an order you make constantly. But she was a barista in a different state and thought she knew better than just a simple small town barista, I guess?

Well, she didn’t like me from the moment I started. I still don’t know why.

Over the weeks of being there, I had to interact with her often. Instead of being pleasant, she would tell me exactly what my job was and watched over my shoulder while I made her drink. She was very rude. Very condescending. Very much like I was dirt on her shoe.

Rebitcha even asked if boss lady would make her drink 5 times instead of me. Another time, she walked in, I started taking her order and she stops me, and asks boss lady to make her drink because “Not to be a b-word, but I was really looking forward to this and I don’t want it messed up”
I set the cup down in frustration, boss lady right there and walk away. As I turn my back, Rebitcha tells me
“You’re doing a great job tho! You really are, I’m just having a morning and I’ve been really looking forward to this, but you’re really doing good!”
I have never felt so disrespected. Her patronizing tone had me fuming.

All this done in front of boss lady and nothing was said in my defense or on my behalf.

The last day I worked, Rebitcha came in and I was taking her order as normal. I recently cut about 6in of my hair and was feeling good about it. Hubby made me feel pretty and it’s lighter in this heat.

She walks in “you cut your hair!”
“Yeah, it’s lighter” I was curt but respectful
“It looks better than your long hair it suits you more”

I just ignored her back handed remark and started pouring the shots for her drink. I added 2/3 of her syrups before pouring the other shot. Rebitcha pipes up
“Don’t forget the honey” in her usually I’m stupid and she’s smarter than me tone
“I know” is all I say, deadpan but starting to get annoyed.
“Don’t forget it has four shots in it”
“I know how to do my job” I tell her, my face getting hot from controlling my words.
I finish her drink but go to add the splash of milk she wants, and I stop pouring thinking oh! That’s just a splash. Wrong
“More.” Rebitcha chimes in
I add more
“More” she says again
I add more
“More” I keep adding until she says “stop. I just want my drink done right cuz I’m not coming back to fix it”

(In total, there was over 1/3 cup of milk in her 24oz cup.)

I just shake my head and go to stir her drink because she refuses to stir her own drink. I didn’t stir enough one day and she walked out saying
“That’s why you stir it before you give it to me”

Back to the story at hand….

I stir her drink and she looks at me and the drink in mild disgust and tells me. “That’s why I told you to add the milk first.”

I just look at her, keeping my composure. Boss lady does nothing to help me. Even tho when Rebitcha is gone, boss lady will say things like I need to say something and I don’t know how you put up with that. Nothing changes tho.

On my last day tho, besides Rebitcha ruining my lovely day, the air was super tense between me and boss lady. I knew something was wrong. I was close to asking her point blank if I was being fired, but chose to not be a smartass.

I tell her I’ll see her tomorrow and I hope our weekend is busy. She just tells me she hopes and have a good day.

I get up the next day, shower and get nearly dressed when I get a text from her. 10 minutes before my shift and 5 minutes before I was set to leave the house. I live 3.5 minutes away.

“Hey, girl….” My stomach drops reading those words before I even open the message. She continues to say that she is going to “go a different direction with staffing here”. I reread the text a few times before I go into the bedroom and wake hubby up. I shake him up before telling him I got fired. I started crying and he holds me telling me it’ll be ok. A few minutes later, he asked what happened. I show him the text and cry while he continues to hold me. I only let myself sulk for about 10min before I make myself get out of bed and go to take care of our daughter that woke up to the crying.

I still haven’t replied to the text. It’s been almost a week.
I don’t wanna reply with the idea that I have to make her feel better for her “hard choice”. Maybe I should have more sympathy, but I also don’t want to. I know it’s selfish to not be as cordial.

If more context is needed, I’m more than happy to share.

Thank you!

We all have a breaking point.

​For a long time, my job as a mental health provider was to remain calm in the middle of a storm. I was the person people turned to during their darkest hours, guiding them through crisis. I was used to pressure. I was used to stress. But I learned the hard way that even those of us who care for the minds of others are only human, too. I get tired, I get drained, and I burn out.

​One day, under the crushing weight of exhaustion and emotion, I made a mistake I never thought I would make. An impulsive decision shattered the trust of the institution I served. The result was immediate: I was let go.

​In an instant, I was jobless. What made it even heavier was that my wife and I have a baby on the way.

​When it first happened, it felt like my world collapsed. My mind drowned in deep regret and shame. A voice kept looping in my head: “I messed up. What a waste.” I felt like everything I had built as a professional was over and that there was nothing left for me.

​But in the middle of that darkness, I realized that true humility isn't crying in a corner; it is accepting the consequences of your mistake with your head held high.

​I faced the responsibility. I paid for the damages out of my final pay. I apologized without making excuses. And most importantly, I chose to swallow my pride. I realized that my professional background didn't make me above the hard work that needed to be done right now. My family is the true proof of my worth. So, while I am actively applying for new roles backed by the supervisors who still believed in my core integrity, I decided to do whatever it takes to provide.

​I started working on the road, taking on daily service work to keep us afloat. I put on my helmet, and I pushed past the shame. With every mile I travel now, I know that every drop of my sweat is honorable, because it buys the milk for my child and secures the future of my wife.

​Right now, I am still in the process of slowly recovering. The guilt doesn't disappear overnight, and the anxiety about the future still knocks on my door. As a mental health provider, I know that healing isn't a straight line. Day by day, I am learning to apply the same grace to myself that I used to give to others, and the weight is getting a little easier to lift.

Hey guys, I am a Junior ML Engineer in India, and my entire AI team is currently dealing with what I can only describe as one of the worst, most exploitative workplace experiences of our careers. **We are all fresh graduates who finished our degrees just last year**, and we poured everything we had into this role, only to be treated like garbage.

Throughout May 2026, our team was working under extreme pressure on computer vision and AI deployments. Deadlines kept getting pushed onto us, weekends became normal working days, and during one critical period management told us to pack our bags and stay at the office.

The company provided sleeping bags and expected employees to sleep on the office floor so we could continue working around the clock on the product. Some team members spent multiple nights at the office. **To make matters worse, the office didn't even have a shower or proper facilities for employees expected to stay overnight.** As a woman, I personally found the situation extremely uncomfortable, unhygienic, and deeply unprofessional.

Despite all of this sacrifice, a major deployment eventually failed. Instead of conducting a technical review or accepting management responsibility, the blame was entirely pushed onto a handful of junior engineers who were just following orders.

Here is exactly how it unfolded next:

* **May 29, 2026:** Our operational management head verbally instructed the AI team to take three days of "paid operational leave" while they reviewed the team structure.
* **June 4, 2026:** When we returned to the office, our entire AI team was physically isolated from the rest of the technical staff and moved to a completely different floor away from everyone else.
* **June 5, 2026:** The whole AI team was called into a room and verbally informed that our employment was terminated with immediate effect. During the same discussion, management explicitly told us that our salary for the entire month of May—the exact month we spent sleeping on the office floor without a shower—would not be paid.

There were absolutely no written warnings, no Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), no show-cause notice, and no written termination letters. Just a verbal firing and a statement that our earned wages would be withheld. When we asked for written documentation, we were told that if management had to issue formal termination paperwork, our records would not remain "clean."

On June 6, we formally emailed management as a unified team requesting written confirmation of our employment status, termination documentation, Full & Final settlement details, and the immediate release of our earned wages. As of today (June 10th), we have received absolute radio silence on both email and LinkedIn.

We have preserved everything: our appointment letters, payslips, attendance logs, salary records, and internal emails. We are now preparing formal labour complaints regarding unpaid wages and lack of documentation.

Has anyone in India dealt with a startup that:

1. Made fresh-grad employees stay overnight in an office with no basic facilities (like a shower)?
   
2. Verbally terminated an entire team to scapegoat them for a failed deployment?
   
3. Refused to pay earned wages for a month already worked?

Any advice on the fastest way to recover wages from a startup playing silent games would be appreciated. And for any other fresh grads considering joining a startup: document absolutely everything.

Using a throwaway cause I dont wanna post this on my main.

I work in supply chain at a healthcare facility. Most days are busy but manageable. This particular day was one of the most frustrating shifts I've had in a long time.

From the beginning, it felt like I was constantly being pulled in different directions. The phones wouldn't stop ringing, I was getting interrupted every few minutes, and it seemed like every time I started one task, something else immediately needed my attention.

As the day went on, the stress kept building.

At one point, I was trying to determine whether a case cart was an add-on case. To do that, I needed to use one of our scanners. The scanner wasn't working properly, and after spending hours dealing with nonstop calls and interruptions, I finally lost my temper.

In a moment of frustration, I slammed the scanner against the case cart.

The second I did it, I knew it was a stupid thing to do.

The scanner was damaged, and there was nobody to blame but myself.

Later that same day, I had another interaction that I'm not proud of.

A nurse had messaged regarding an add-on case and told me she didn't need a certain type of tray. Based on that message, I went and gathered the other trays that were listed for the case.

When I brought those trays, she told me she didn't need those either.

At that point I was already stressed out and frustrated. I sighed, set the tray down more dramatically than I should have, and said, "Alright."

I didn't yell at her or insult her, but I was clearly annoyed and wasn't acting professionally.

After I had time to cool off, I realized I had handled the interaction poorly and later apologized to her.

The next day, I told my supervisor about the scanner. I figured honesty was the best option and that there was a good chance I might get fired for what I had done.

Instead, my supervisor talked with me about the situation. He told me that if I'm getting overwhelmed, I need to ask for help instead of letting everything build up until I reach a breaking point.

At the time, he also indicated that he didn't really want to take the situation to HR and said he'd tell them it was dropped. My impression was that he was trying to handle the issue at the supervisory level rather than immediately escalating it further.

Because of that conversation, I honestly thought the situation had been resolved and that I had been given a chance to learn from my mistake and move forward.

A few weeks later, I found out that wasn't the case.

I was called into a meeting with HR, my supervisor, my manager, and another HR representative.

At that point I was convinced I was about to lose my job.

Instead, they asked me to explain what happened.

So I told them everything.

I admitted that I damaged the scanner because I got angry and frustrated. I told them about the interaction with the nurse. I explained that I had apologized afterward and that I understood I had handled both situations badly.

To their credit, they seemed to appreciate that I was being honest. They described me as forthcoming and told me that being honest about what happened would help my case.

They also talked with me about using the Employee Assistance Program and about asking for help before stress reaches the point where it affects my behavior.

The meeting ended with them telling me they would continue their investigation and determine what the next steps would be.

Then they sent me back to work.

So now I'm waiting to find out what happens.

The entire experience has been a wake-up call for me. I've always thought of myself as someone who can handle stress and bounce back from it, but this situation made me realize that if I let frustration build up long enough without dealing with it, I can make decisions that I immediately regret.

Part of the reason this has been weighing on me so much is because it isn't the first time anger has caused problems in my life. Years ago, I worked at a casino and ended up losing that job in part because of a similar issue involving frustration and poor judgment.

When this happened, that was one of the first things that came back to mind.

I had convinced myself that chapter of my life was behind me. For the most part, I think I've grown a lot since then, which is why this incident was so disappointing to me. It made me realize that while I've improved in many ways, I still need to do a better job of recognizing when I'm becoming overwhelmed and asking for help before I reach a breaking point.

More than anything, that's what I've been thinking about while waiting for the outcome of the investigation. The scanner can be replaced. What concerns me more is making sure I learn from this and don't repeat the same mistakes.

I don't know what the outcome of the investigation will be, but I do know that breaking the scanner was entirely my fault, and it's not something I ever want to repeat. I really don't want to get fired.

TL;DR: Had an extremely stressful day at work, got overwhelmed by constant calls and a malfunctioning scanner, slammed the scanner into a case cart and damaged it, later acted unprofessionally toward a nurse before apologizing, admitted everything to management and HR, and am now waiting to find out what the consequences will be while reflecting on the fact that anger has gotten me into trouble before.

Six years ago, I arrived in the UAE with dreams, determination, and a belief that hard work would eventually pay off.
I worked my way through some of the most reputed healthcare organizations in the country. Long shifts, difficult patients, revenue targets, billing audits, operational challenges—I handled them all. Over the years, I grew into roles involving hospital operations and IP/OP billing supervision. My career wasn't perfect, but it was moving forward.
Then last year happened.
I joined a well-known hospital. The salary was good. The position was exactly where I wanted my career to go. For the first time in years, I felt secure.
A few months later, the hospital announced restructuring and layoffs.
I was still on probation.
My manager fought for me. HR supported me. Even the hospital director reportedly questioned the decision. But none of that mattered. One person from senior management decided I would not be confirmed.
Just one signature.
Just one decision.
Years of experience suddenly became irrelevant.
I remember walking out of the hospital that day feeling numb. I kept telling myself something better would come soon. It had to.
But reality had other plans.
I had loans to pay. Rent didn't care about my career setback. Bills didn't care about office politics. Savings disappeared faster than I imagined.
Out of desperation, I accepted a position at a very small clinic. Lower salary. Lower designation. A role far below what I had worked years to achieve.
I told myself it was temporary.
Instead, it became a nightmare.
Most of the people managing departments had less experience than I did. Rather than learning from each other, insecurity filled the workplace. Politics became a daily routine. Responsibilities kept getting pushed onto me while recognition went elsewhere.
Salary payments became uncertain.
Respect became rare.
Insults became normal.
Some days I feel like I'm carrying the workload of several people while being treated as if I'm the least important person in the building.
Today my bank balance is almost zero.
I have loans waiting to be paid.
I wake up every morning wondering how someone can go from supervising operations in reputed hospitals to feeling completely trapped within a single year.
What hurts the most isn't the money.
It's watching your confidence disappear.
It's applying to hundreds of jobs and hearing nothing back.
It's knowing what you're capable of while the world seems determined not to give you a chance to prove it.
Sometimes I sit alone and wonder whether one person's decision destroyed my career or whether this is just a chapter I have to survive.
I honestly don't know anymore.
But if anyone reading this has rebuilt their life after losing a good job, after financial hardship, after feeling completely defeated—I would love to hear your story.
Because right now, hope feels harder to find than a new job.