Limping Worker

Like most people, I work a menial job. It's at a chicken restaurant where it gets very hectic around this time, especially as we get baseball teams. Not to mention dealing with barbecues almost every day. A number of these workers I see about almost all the time work very long hours and unfortunately can't really take a day off. One example was a guy who makes salads and he told me one time he had the flu but went in anyway because they expect him to be in, sickness or not.

For the sake of this, I'm not naming the restaurant I work in, but some might know what place I'm referring to if anyone local I know knows. We had a power outage not too long ago and we were working to get everything to stay cold or get sold immediately. Our lead server, who has worked a very long time, was limping. I don't know if she had an issue on the Fourth of July or something, but it was very noticeable. Noticeable to the point where the owner told her to take the rest of the day off. She was upset about being told that and cried. She did leave, but that was really hard for her to hear that.

I don't blame her for the crying, but servers are on their feet for 7 to 12 hours depending on when they come in. They don't get the same pay as others and rely quite a bit on tips from customers. It's prime tip season for them and once it gets into say October or November, business at this restaurant starts to slow down. To someone like her, she can't afford to miss a day. At the same time, however, she can't exactly work on just one leg, especially with the hustle and bustle of a summer day.

I believe that a number of the employees are being overworked. I know it's a case all over the country with other restaurants, but since being hired in April 2017, they moved up a prep guy to the line. Otherwise, it's been the same group of line cooks. We have at this time, a woman who is about seven to eight months pregnant and only a few other prep guys. Dishwashers, where I am, have a very limited number. Setup varies, and the only good section is the takeout section. We can only do so much without being burnt out on working a job that drains us physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Add in the fact that managers don't really believe in someone being sick (though some do try to fake being ill), and it makes some people's situation pretty bad. Unfortunately, we have to grin and bear it. That's life, and you have to be committed to working. You have to find ways to keep up on being healthy and avoid any major sickness.