‘I’ve been warned by my manager to not to go to HR because they “won’t care about petty drama”’: Hotel night shift coworker dodges every task, leaving all the work and stress to her teammate while management turns a blind eye

Author image for Etai Eshet
Etai Eshet • Editor
Apr 26, 2025 9:00 AM EDT

Every job has at least one employee who treats teamwork like a spectator sport and mistake accountability for a rare mineral, but nowhere does this dynamic achieve its full, glittering potential quite like on the night shift. The magical nighttime, after all, is the perfect setting for optical illusionists who specialize in tricking management into thinking they're seeing them work while they're physically hiding from responsibilities.

And the hotel night shifter telling today's story has had enough of they're sneaky, lazy coworker.

In this upside-down ecosystem, processes are designed less for fairness and more for plausible deniability. Accompanied by some hypnotist-style hand gestures that tell you: "I'm working hard, your eyelids are starting to feel heavy, I am doing all the tasks my job requires, you're feeling sleeeeepy"

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  • So here you find our battle-worn hotel night shifter, holding down the front desk, answering every call, greeting every guest, all while her coworker perfects the art of strategic invisibility and management offers hollow affirmations about “focusing on your own work.” It’s not a job—it’s a comedic case study in workplace survival, where the only winning move is to document everything, fake serenity, and keep the coffee coming.

  • 01

    "I work with a narcissist, but I’m the problem… (Advice welcomed)"

    Cheezburger Image 10497822976
    via AleksandarNakic

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02
    Hello! Apologies in advance. This is an issue I've been dealing with for 2 years now so it's alot.
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  • 03
    I (27/F) am working front desk at a hotel on the night shift. I am introverted and pretty much keep to myself unless spoken to. My job is fairly simple, and the
    via RionkalbE
  • 04
    workload is minimal when it's shared fairly. Our nightly responsibilities are: Prioritize and assist guests, Send wake-up calls by 1:20AM, Check in non-arrivals by 2AM, Send airline sign-in
    via RionkalbE
  • 05
    sheets (if available), Print folios at 3:30AM, Send number reports by 4:30AM,Organize the back office (if needed), After 5AM, attend any guests and wait for relievers at 7AM.
    via RionkalbE
  • 06
    All the timed task could be done in less than 10 minutes give take. or
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  • 07
    Sounds manageable, right? Unfortunately, I have to share this shift with someone who makes it way harder than it needs to be.
    via RionkalbE
  • 08
    On days I work with this particular coworker (33/F), I end up handling nearly 98% of all guest interactions. Out of 20 guests in a shift, she might attend to 2, while I deal with the rest. What makes it worse is where we sit. I'm at the
    via RionkalbE
  • 09
    front where every guest sees me first. She deliberately sits behind a pillar where no one walking in can even see her and she does this every single time we work together.
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  • 10
    We're required to sign a checklist on a sheet that splits the shift into two parts-11PM tasks and 3AM tasks-so each person has their responsibilities. But the system feels completely performative.
    via RionkalbE
  • 11
    She always signs first and takes the 11PM tasks, which conveniently come with little to no guest interaction. That leaves me with everything else—mostly involving the actual people-facing
    via RionkalbE
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    part of the job. Signing the sheet feels like I'm surrendering control over my role, and honestly, I've reached a point where I don't want to sign it at all. It feels fake, unfair, and just reinforces the imbalance.
    via RionkalbE
  • 13
    There's also a deeper history here. About 2 weeks after she got hired, I had to undergo surgery, I came back to work early while still on pain meds. I'll admit I was moving slower than usual and
    via RionkalbE
  • 14
    was a bit drowsy, but I still showed up and did the best i could. Instead of showing understanding, she took over everything for a whole week after i came back and then went around saying I was "lazy." I tried
    via RionkalbE
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    via hobo_18

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 16
    to make peace six months later and have a conversation about it, but she fully believed she was in the right and I was the only one at fault. That's when I realized who I was really dealing with― and stopped wasting energy on
    via RionkalbE
  • 17
    her. So for the entire year of 2023 to present day, I just simply ignore her. No "hello" no "goodbyes", just zero acknowledgement of her existence.
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    via Pekic

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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    What's even more ridiculous is that now shes claimed saying I do too much and don't leave her anything to do. So... first I was
    via RionkalbE
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    lazy, now I'm doing too much? Make it make sense. The work is minimal, but she always finds a way to twist the situation.
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  • 21
    I'm also convinced she's a narcissist. She's overly sweet to everyone else, but the moment someone gives me attention or is friendly to me, she gives them a nasty look. I've been warned by others that she has a temper and that I should be careful.
    via RionkalbE
  • 22
    About a year and a half ago, she was part of a group of coworkers who tried to get me in trouble one of them was also a makeup supervisor and apparently she was tracking my call logs, how
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  • 23
    many times my computer signed out and and telling people pure lies about me being awful towards her (FYI I've never spoken more that 3 words with her) the others were secretly
    via RionkalbE
  • 24
    taking photos and videos of me at work, saying that I'm "sleeping at the job", and sending them to management and HR. I was told the pictures was just me looking down at my phone so thankfully,
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  • 25
    it backfired for them-cause there wasn't enough "evidence" and it was labeled as harassment towards me. They no longer work here.
    via RionkalbE
  • 26
    When I brought it up to my manager about everything thats been happening with me, he sat both me and my coworker down. I told him that she was part of the same clique and should also be held accountable. Her only
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  • 27
    response was, "I can't control what my friends do in their spare time." My manager brushed off my concern as if I was just grasping at straws. The fact that he didn't connect the dots made me feel completely unheard and dismissed.
    via RionkalbE
  • 28
    Now with her friends gone, She monitors my every move, waiting for me to make a mistake just so she can report it. Wether I didn't answer a phone call, or i didn't attend a guest waiting in line or even going to the bathroom for more than 5 minutes. Also, we don't even have a strict dress code for night shift cause there isn't anyone important enough to care on what we look-but I still
    via RionkalbE
  • 29
    show up looking formal and professional. She rolls in looking like she just got out of bed wearing a large black hoodie, leggings and crocs. And still, I'm the one under constant scrutiny about how I look to the morning manager.
    via RionkalbE
  • 30
    I've told my manager about how isolated I feel and how this dynamic is affecting me mentally. His response? "Don't worry about what other people think." But it's more than that. I feel like she's subtly convincing others to avoid me. I can't build any work relationships, and it's incredibly isolating.
    via RionkalbE
  • 31
    Now I've been told that I have to sign the job split sheet every shift or risk getting written up. So I'm being forced to participate in a system that continues to benefit her and leave me drained. I'm thinking of signing with a note like "Signed under instruction. Workload concerns remain unaddressed." And I've started documenting everything—for my own protection.
    via RionkalbE
  • 32
    I've been warned by my manager to not to go to HR because they "won't care about petty drama" and might just fire me for speaking up. So I feel stuck.
    via RionkalbE
  • 33
    My therapist recently told me something that's stuck with me: ignore her and focus on doing your job. Whether it's busy or de d, I still get paid the same. And honestly, if no one's going to hear my concerns or make things fair, then fine. I'll do what I'm paid to do, keep my head down, avoid her completely, and keep it moving. The work gets done, I get my paycheck.
    via RionkalbE
  • 34
    With the whole thing happening, others in our department are pretty much just laughing and making jokes of this "pity rivalry" at how all this is going on. I told my manager I can make peace again, but she has to own up to her mistakes and apologize to me. He mentioned it to her and he claimed that she was "considering" it on the apology. Like really? I can be a decent coworker but I'm not gonna be naive and pretend like shes a saint.
    via RionkalbE
  • 35
    I'm honestly just embarrassed at how things turned out, I already lost all respect and lost any wanting to be equals with this person but because I initially set a boundary, tried to make things right and "be the bigger person" got me nowhere and now I'm paying the price of my mental. Like "Am I really the problem?"
    via RionkalbE
  • 36
    So now as of recent, I've been clocking in, ignoring the checklist sheet and doing all the work anyways. Since shes gonna complain regardless. My manager told me that he cant force her to apologize to me, nor make her sit somewhere else so she can get some workload as well. Im already mentally prepared with any upcoming talks about my "behavior" and I'm prepared to mention that I'm just doing my job. I have no interest in going higher up in this company, nor do I have any ill intention to get an
    via RionkalbE
  • 37
    Thank you for reading, I needed to get this off my chest, I wanna know everyone else's opinions on the matter and if I should do anything different as well.
    via RionkalbE

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management boss workplace-stories hr toxic-workplace manager bosses work PTO managers supervisor workplace Horrible Bosses work-life balance
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