21-year-old bagel store cashier refuses to shovel snow for demanding boss: 'I'm not going to do that... for $15 an hour'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jan 14, 2026 11:00 AM EST

This bagel shop boss is paying a measly $15 an hour, so asking his employees to shovel snow was going a step too far. 

Shoveling snow is one of those jobs that'll make you appreciate the value of physical labor. (Same goes for sanitation workers — you never appreciate the trash collectors until it's a holiday weekend and no one has removed the piles of trash from your yard.) With snow, of course, an ordinary person can shovel snow… but when it comes to tackling a large area of snow-covered ground, all you can do is hire someone to do it. Most ordinary people aren't going to want to shovel an entire parking lot. It would take hours! Even your strongest worker could spend 9 hours shoveling a parking lot and only get done a small portion. 

This is why a lot of snow removal companies make great money for what they do. They'll salt the area and remove all the snow in a matter of minutes using snowblowers or trucks with shovel attachments. And voila! Within minutes, you can start letting customers into your store again safely and with plenty of space to park. The salt-covered ground ensures that no one will slip and fall on the property either, which could lead to some costly lawsuits. Sure, the owner pays a price, but that is, quite literally, the cost of doing business on a snowy day. 

It's pretty baffling that this bagel shop boss didn't do any of that during one big snowstorm. Maybe he tried to call a snow shoveling service, only to find out that they were booked due to, you know, an already ongoing snowstorm. The real trouble arose when he asked an employee making minimum wage to do the shoveling for him instead! 

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  • If I was that employee, I would've taken that offer and just did a terrible, terrible job at shoveling, at least for an hour or two. It's got to be better than working with customers, right? He could've just put in some tunes, preformatively turned over the shovel every few minutes, then went back inside when he got tired. 

    Of course, that just isn't an option if your boss is the crazy type who wouldn't let you slack off. This guy probably did make the best possible decision he could in the moment by demanding a lot of money to shovel. Keep reading until you get to the highly satisfying ending! Sometimes saying "no" until you get the right opportunity to agree to can really pay off. 

  • 01
    Man in gray coat, yellow sweater and black hat folds arms and looks annoyed, behind him man in red coat grins while in snowy weather
    via Ben White on Unsplash+

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

  • 02
    I (21 M) have been working at a bagel shop as a cashier for the past year. A few days ago, we had a pretty bad snowstorm and my area got a foot of snow. When I went to work in the morning, I saw the snow was not yet shoveled in the store front
    via u/Cracka-Barrel
  • 03
    When I entered the store, my manager told me to take a shovel and go out and shovel all the snow so customers can come in easily. I told him there is no way I'm going out to shovel. He was super p ed that I wasn't going out.
    via u/Cracka-Barrel
  • 04
    I told him I was hired for being a cashier, I wasn't hired to be manual labor as that's not even in the job description. Sometimes I shovel peoples properties for extra cash, and I told him. that the bagel stores property was big enough where I would charge
    via u/Cracka-Barrel
  • 05
    someone $50 to shovel it all, and I'm not going to do that at work for $15 an hour. It's not worth it to me, and it's not a position I was hired for so there is no chance I'm doing it.
    via u/Cracka-Barrel
  • 06
    My manager told me "go home then there's no point to you being here" so I just clocked out and left, making about $500 after leaving from shoveling peoples properties. My manager texted me after saying
    via u/Cracka-Barrel
  • 07
    what I did was wrong and he expects more from me. AITA for not shoveling the snow?
    via u/Cracka-Barrel
  • 08
    EDIT: forgot to add that when my manager told me to shovel the snow, I told him he could pay me the market rate for snow shoveling in the area and I'll do it, but I'm not doing it for minimum wage hourly pay. Obviously, he said no
    via u/Cracka-Barrel
  • 09
    ser897642 NTA - I spent my whole young adult life being pushed around like this at every entry level job. They'll push you around like this as long as you let them.. calling you "part of a team" / "family" etc. all while paying you pennies for grunt work. Notice the snow and shovel were waiting for you to arrive? Sh like that would never end.
    via u/Cracka-Barrel
  • 10
    As a business they needed to hire a cashier and they hired you Now it looks like they need someone for snow removal.. they could hire you again? But your agreeance of labor isn't ALL encompassing for one flat rate.
    via u/Cracka-Barrel
  • 11
    The people in your comments saying it is are from a time when that was unfortunately true and that way of working is D NG OUT (Because it's mistreatment) Hello, worker shortage Lol
    via u/Cracka-Barrel
  • 12
    MonkeyPolice NTA- what I think people are failing to realize is that shoveling snow is not a normal function of a cashier position. We wouldn't expect OP to balance the books for the store. Boss didn't want to pay for the service and thought he could get cheap labor. Good for you, OP.
    via u/Cracka-Barrel
  • 13
    DwightMcRamath... Weird. Whenever I worked somewhere that was small owned or publicly funded the regular workers would do shoveling and salting. Part of the job listed as like "other needed duties
    via u/Cracka-Barrel
  • 14
    delusionaldork If you hurt yourself shoveling what happens? He going to support you? Workers comp will be a hassle
    via u/Cracka-Barrel
  • 15
    sweetdeereynoldzzz Nta. It fills my heart with joy when I hear about young people saying no to an unreasonable request in work. The "I expect more" is so hilarious. Like, sir this is a minimum wage job, expectation and reality are not the same thing.
    via u/Cracka-Barrel
  • 16
    EmptyDrawer9766 Info: So you're telling us their is nothing in your job description that has to do with cleaning, lifting, or other duties may be assigned? All it states is "stand their and take peoples money and we will pay you $15 an hour to do this."?
    via u/Cracka-Barrel
  • 17
    Man in black hat, sunglasses, gray coat, and watch crosses arms while standing in outdoor snowy setting
    via Ali Barzgar on Unsplash+

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

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