18-year-old working his first job at ice cream shop is fired after 20-year-old manager changes the rules about PTO when he was already on leave, gives customers free icecream: 'I gave him 4 weeks' notice that I wouldn't be here for those 3 days'

Author image for Brad Dickson
Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Jun 25, 2025 12:00 PM EDT

Your first job will be an illuminating experience as to how some people will let any perceived amount of power or authority go straight to their head and this is especially true when you're working in a place that is being run and managed by a bunch of immature young people who treat the workplace like a high school lunch room. Even jobs you work in university and other jobs that are dominated mainly by early 20-somethings, you'll find yourself in constant petty political conflict, even and especially if you try to avoid it. You'll end up with leads and shift supervisors who learned to manage from a meme or a cartoon and think they're way hotter stuff than they really are.

You might hope, too, that as you get older, more experienced, and progress through your career, you'll stop encountering this type of thing. Unfortunately, it's not the case, as a surprising number of your coworkers and managers will still exhibit this behavior, having not outgrown it.

This is what this teen encountered when their early-20-something manager decided to arbitrarily change the rules surrounding leave when they were already on leave. These rule changes were then used to justify firing the teen. Who got even on the way out the door by giving a large family free ice creams.

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  • 01

    "It’s on the house!"

    When I was 18 my first job was at new ice cream place that's known for making and mixing their own ice cream in shop, very popular at the time (not sure if they still are I haven't had it since this incident 11 years ago) My manager was only two years older then me and everyone that worked in the store was relatively young so you can imagine the politics and the way things where ran, lots of favoritism and what not, I informed my manager four weeks in advance the dates I needed off as I was goin
    via Quirky-Fix9203
  • 02
    Cheezburger Image 10521606912
    via Eduardo Ramos

    The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 03
    Everything went as planned, enjoyed my couple days on vacation and my first day back there was a weird feeling in the air like something was gunna happen, little did I know it was to me. We had a staff meeting the day I got back which seemed to be centered around this new rule that even if we got time off and it was approved we where responsible for making sure our shifts where covered, at this point I KNOW they weren't talking about me because I gave him FOUR weeks notice that I wouldn't be her
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  • 04
    The meeting ends and me and one other person where scheduled to open, I notice that a new person and my manager stayed behind as everyone else left but figured he was training, my shift was going well until about around the time I needed to go to lunch, a family of 6 people piled into the store and I began taking their order, out to the corner of my eye I see my manger in the doorway of the connecting back room giving my the "come here" finger, I
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  • 05
    apologize to the customers and tell them give. E a sec I gotta grab an ice cream flavor that wasn't out from the back, I get back there and say what's up I got a big family I gotta finish then need to clock out for lunch which he saw, what the h I could be that important they he had to interrupt, well it was him firing me for not having those three days covered, I couldn't believe what I was hearing, basically he said I was being let. go because even though I had gotten approved for the time off
    via Quirky-Fix9203
  • 06
    was even on the schedule to begin with if I had sent in the time off and told him four weeks in advance to avoid this situation in the first place! I knew he had messed up and probably forgot as I had seen him do that in the past, he told me to finish up with the family and I could leave, I was beyond pl ed but put on my fake smile and went back to finish. helping out the family, and wouldn't you know it, it was their lucky day! They all got upgraded to extra larges, with any mix in's completely
    via Quirky-Fix9203
  • 07
    on the house compliments of my manager who just fired me, I clocked out, collected my tips from that overly happy family and have not been back since. In hindsight I should have probably made a bigger deal cuz he is the one that messed up, but the look on his face when I gave away all that free ice cream and told them to thank him for it was priceless, plus that job sucked
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  • 08
    . BaltimoreBadger23 · 1h ago Who fires someone and then sends them back out to finish with a customer?
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  • 09
    symbolicshambolic 57m ago • That's awesome. I think you're right, he messed up and didn't want to admit it, but firing you over it is an insane reaction. Where I work, schedules are done at least two weeks in advance. If employees request time off after the schedule is already out, they need to arrange coverage for the shift and notify the manager. If the request is put in before the schedule is out, the manager arranges coverage. You shouldn't need to request time off four weeks in advance AND
    via Quirky-Fix9203
  • 10
    Sarge504 56m ago • As a retail manager, the ONLY time we ever ASKED an employee to cover a shift was if it was a last- minute change after the schedule was posted. It wasn't usually an issue, anyway, as we had a strong management team, and we already knew which employees wanted extra shifts. I would have been fired if I required an employee to get someone to cover their shift.
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  • 11
    redditavenger2019 • 23m ago Filling the schedule is a manager responsibility. Never let a manager pull this on you. Ask to see the written policy.
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  • 12
    StrictShelter971 57m ago . Not saying it isn't true, very good story. Very malicious.
    via Quirky-Fix9203

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