17-year-old bakery employee surprises customers with revenge on boss: 'It makes me laugh now'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Apr 28, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

We're all only humans, but some of our managers and bosses treat us like we're robots. No, we can't work 24 hours a day, no, we can't be 100% accurate with our output. Most of us just clock in, try our best, and clock out. But that's not good enough for some managers, who are convinced that there are no excuses for any absence or lateness. 

I understand why managers need to put on their "strict face" in front of their workers. They need to remind workers to follow protocol. Being inflexible to a ridiculous degree will immediately lose them any respect from their workers, though. You can't intimidate a sick employee into healing faster so they can work an 8-hour shift for you. And in this teen's case, a manager refused to believe that they needed time off to process a devastating loss.

 The manager not only lost the respect of an employee (and truthfully, word probably got around to all the workers about how things went down) but also of the customers, who must've sided with the cashier who was sobbing at work. 

Next, read about this older worker who thought he was above the rules… until he got caught by the boss: "We had 10 trucks to unload." 

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  • 01

    "Don’t think a 17 year old girl crying at the counter is a good look for your company…"

    Background: Back in highschool, I worked for a bakery that's popular in my area. Overall, it was a really good job! I liked the people I worked with, I love baking and the food was great, a really good gig for a highschool job. My bosses tho, they were hit or miss. They simultaneously tried to be our friend and boss, and randomly would be total AHs, with no heads up. But for the most part they didn't bother me too much and I made do.
    via u/TheLowCalHalzone
  • 02
    One night my senior year, one of my best friends ODed and passed away. I was of course, inconsolable. The next day I had a shift. I called my boss to let them know I couldn't go in, but it was a day he decided to stick to his guns and be a , telling me I had to come in, no one could cover, even after I explained what was happening. Why didn't I quit? I should've, but I was in shock and a kid and it honestly didn't even enter my mind. I went the
    via u/TheLowCalHalzone
  • 03
    other way instead. Said "fine, I'll be there, just as I am." So you can imagine how awkward it was for customers to come up to the counter at their local bakery, to see a young woman with tears streaming down her face trying to ring them up, snotty nosed and hiccuping through the
    via u/TheLowCalHalzone
  • 04
    interaction. Thankfully my shift supervisor actually had a heart and sent me home and changed my schedule for a few days. It's minor MC, and while horrible at the time, it makes me laugh now.
    via u/TheLowCalHalzone
  • 05

    Everyone knows you've to shed some tears in the break room, not on the sales floor

    SizeableBribery THERE'S NO CRYING IN RETAIL!
    via u/SizeableBribery
  • 06
    Cheezburger Image 10498640896
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • 07
    ReaperEDX In a prior life I taught math on the weekend to a handful of students from elementary to middle. I had a fever and told my boss, who told me I had to find a sub. I knew only one other person and she was leaving the state entirely for another career. Not sure what to do, I went to work and had to keep my head down every so and then.
    via u/ReaperEDX
  • 08
    Students told their parents I was ill and they complained but my boss couldn't give me sh because he told me to come in. Looking back, he probably thought I was trying to get the day off. Still worked for him years after, and he never questioned when I wanted days off after that.
    via u/ReaperEDX
  • 09
    oddessusss I hope you ended up quitting that job without notice.
    via u/oddessusss
  • 10
    my... Why don't managers realize that if they are short staffed, for whatever reason, that it their job to find a replacement or be the replacement themselves.
    via u/mykz_urbf
  • 11
    Cheezburger Image 10498641408
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • 12
    Stabbmaster I get flak for saying this, but this is why when my kid gets their first few jobs, I'm going to make them relay everything to me. I want them to learn by the example of all the bulls | went through how to navigate that particular sh creek. There's so much cr p
    via u/Stabbmaster
  • 13
    that gets thrown their way because employers bank on them being ignorant, I want to make sure they have all the ammo they need to fire back.
    via u/Stabbmaster

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Kids-Teens teens boss workplace-stories jobs teenager job teenagers bosses work coworkers workplace
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