Restaurant rewards nepo-hire for working one 13-hour shift, ignores employee who does it every day: 'Once I took an extra day off and was immediately labeled as "Mr. Lazy"'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Oct 17, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

Nobody likes to be ignored. It's one of the worst feelings in the world. You feel like you're going crazy- nobody is acknowledging you or your contributions. This is especially true in the workplace. If you're putting your all into a job, you probably expect something in return, even if it's just a simple acknowledgement. Maybe you've been consistently putting in more effort than your peers. You're showing up earlier and staying later, and your work is always done on time. This is what all of the classic job advice says to do. If you want to get ahead, you have to go above and beyond. So you do it, expecting it to help you at least a little. 

But there's a problem. They've gotten used to your above and beyond, so now it's just a baseline expectation. They don't notice any change, because you're consistently putting in 100%. This happens too often in the workplace and is a huge issue that needs to be addressed because it actively discourages workers from putting in maximum effort. It erases all of that. 

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  • A woman pours a latte at a coffee shop.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

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

  • What's even worse is when the folks who consistently give bare minimum effort get rewarded for their occasional boosts in productivity. When in reality, their baseline is much lower. The peaks are just easier to identify. That's what happened to the woman in this story, when her coworker was singled out for something she did every day. Scroll on to read what happened. 

  • That moment I realized that I was done at my job...

    What's the one moment or instance you knew that you were ultimately going to leave your job? I worked for my family restaurant years ago that my aunt owned. Her son named Jeff (not using his real name) also worked there but he was lazy and abused the fact that his aunt owned the place.
    via u/besttavern25
  • I made the mistake of being that selfless worker and worked 13 hours a day 6-7 days a week. Of course once I set that bar, I was expected to keep it. Once I took an extra day off and was immediately labeled as "Mr. Lazy." by jeff. I never got recognition for my hard work but one day Jeff worked a 13 hour
    via u/besttavern25
  • day during a rather busy day that I was scheduled off. Jeff was then rewarded with the next 3 days off with pay and was given a small party thrown by his aunt that included pizza, party favors and a banner that said "Great Job Jeff!"
    via u/besttavern25
  • Again he was given this for working a single 13 hour day while I (and most other workers there for that matter) did that daily. It was that point I knew I wasn't going to stick around. Of course after I told them I was leaving, they immediately labeled me a traitor and said they didn't need my "lazy ass" around.
    via u/besttavern25
  • The restaurant shut down 3 years later. Any thoughts?
    via u/besttavern25
  • A female employee and a male employee work behind a coffee bar.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

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

  • Commenters chimed in with their stories.

    Some_MD_Guy • 5d ago My second 6 hour shift as a dishwasher for my brother. Never again worked in food service.
    via u/Some_MD_Guy
  • yeetgodmcnechass · 5d ago The last place I left, the owners had said for months that we would be moving office but wouldnt tell us when because they needed to install internet or something. The place was way farther away from my place than the office I was
    via u/yeetgodmcnechass
  • working in at the time, and it was a fully in office position. My commutes would've gone from half an hour to an hour and a half one way. Others also had similar huge jumps in their commute times, so the owner was constantly telling us that we
    via u/yeetgodmcnechass
  • still own a warehouse in the area and we'll have the space to accommodate most of us. A few months go by, and we're all pulled into a meeting where we're told that we're all moving, no exceptions and that they dont care about what we have to say on the matter.
    via u/yeetgodmcnechass
  • The next sentence was literally them telling us that they're flexible and would listen to our concerns, after telling us that they wouldnt 30 seconds earlier. Still no move date at the time, and I put in my 2 weeks once I found out when we were moving. I wasnt going to spend nearly an extra half a work week juat commuting for a shitty employer
    via u/yeetgodmcnechass
  • De... • 5d ago . Edited 5d ago I stayed at a job at a software company for longer than I should have. Instead of moving on when it was first obvious that the owners were never going to put proper effort into improving their products, I got too comfortable and put up with
    via u/DeadMoneyDrew
  • too much. Finally one day I had a throw down shouting argument with the owners over frustrations about long- standing problems with the products that they hadn't taken steps to address. Initially they agreed to prioritize fixing a long list of problems, and they actually
    via u/DeadMoneyDrew
  • delivered on a couple of improvements. But then those deliveries petered out, and after a bit of investigation I found out that they had decided to shelve their efforts on the matter and hadn't told me about it. I guess what I did in the immediate after that was what is now known as quiet quitting. Within a few months I was gone from that job and on to the next one.
    via u/DeadMoneyDrew
  • turboblown • 5d ago . I worked at a franchised car dealer for 22 years. I was restless anyway and working while my wife and child were sick at home. As I was finishing up for the day, the boss called me over and said before I went home could I get a ladder and free out a blocked drain downpipe... I gave him a short answer and 2 weeks notice the next day
    via u/turboblown
  • DryFoundation2323 5d ago A guy who had been my direct coworker for over 30 years and got promoted to management. Having known him for so long I knew that he was a good guy to go out and have a beer with, but not even remotely management material. In
    via u/DryFoundation2323
  • particular he's very particular about things being done exactly the way he wants them done. And my group we were all skilled professionals with decades of experience and knew what we were doing. We each had our own way of doing it but we all got the
    via u/DryFoundation2323
  • job done equally well. Suddenly this guy wanted everyone to do things exactly the way he would do it. Complete micromanager. I had intended to work another 5 to 10 years at this job but suddenly retirement looked pretty nice. Retired at age 54 in 2022 and have not looked back.
    via u/DryFoundation2323
  • Luman999. 5d ago While at IBM in the late 90s, our sales team was presenting our account review to our head of sales for the Insurance industry and he was so enthralled that he decided to clip, his finger nails during the presentations. What a dick!
    via u/Luman999
  • LovelsALosing Ga... 5d ago Chastised for not socializing with a group who wouldn't talk to me.
    via u/LovelsALosingGame555
  • tn5685 5d ago . I've (46M) been where I'm at for 22 years. It's not a hard job and for the pay..... for me pays the bills. Do I want more? Yes. But I understand both sides of the fence (corporate and employee) it sucks. I have kinda got thrown into a "leader" position. I'm not a
    via u/tn5685
  • supervisor in my employers eyes. We are contractors for a global corporation based in the US. So that means asking for a raise means someone having to ask 50 people. Anyway. It's hard for us to keep employees since Covid. Everything has gone. up except pay. I feel if you
    via u/tn5685
  • work for a factory something similar for 40hrs a week they should be able to live. But 17hr which is about 1-2 more than McDonald's..... nobody wants to work 12s for that pay. I'm blessed. I have been here long enough and I do scheduling of trucks. I also cover the 12hr shift when needed. But it's wearing on
    via u/tn5685
  • me. I've been beat down by my boss thru out the years. Why do I stay? Where else with my limited skill set can I make the same amount of pay? With my 3weeks of vacation (which I won't be able to use fully this year) I'm loyal to an extent. But I'm also so done but know I have to pay bills and eat. Might as well deal with crappy job and then enjoy what I can outside of work. Which I'm a totally different person!
    via u/tn5685
  • Jolly-Outside6073 · 5d ago When a colleague (now associate) screamed in the face of a student placement about a foot from my ear as I was trying to explain a task to someone else. Done. No more emotion wasted on the place.
    via u/Jolly-Outside6073
  • dramanatomyo_0 · 5d ago When my employer said you're supposed to go to the bathroom during your 10- min break every 4hours that he grudgingly gave. Sorry, not using my precious 10, not even 15, min on a bathroom break!!! (unless it naturally happened) Controlling and timing my bladder isnt on my job qualifications sir!
    via u/dramanatomyo_0
  • Prestigious_Bank_... . 5d ago When sales management was living in an alternate reality... Customer was posting huge losses and plans to layoff workers, yet clowns in management continue to act as though the quota is attainable and start looking for scapegoats.
    via u/Prestigious_Bank_63
  • TheMightyKoosh ·5d ago It wasn't that the job did anything wrong. They paid for leadership training, it was meant to be such a gift they gave us (cost quite a lot) but I had done similar training in my employment and it wasn't anything revolutionary.
    via u/TheMightyKoosh
  • I remember thinking this is it, there's no more growth. and learning for me here, im bored in my role.
    via u/TheMightyKoosh
  • hereforthetea1002 5d ago . I was driving to work when I had to swerve to avoid hitting a deer. My first thought was "If I had hit that deer, I wouldn't have to go to work." I knew it was time.
    via u/hereforthetea1002

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