Manager says 'there's nothing wrong with walking' to restaurant worker in a blizzard, claims that's no reason to miss work: 'She lives 3 miles away'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Feb 2, 2026 10:00 PM EST

Have you ever walked to work in a blizzard? 

I hope not. There are certain things you should never do for work, and risking your life is one of them. No job is worth that. Especially being a server at a restaurant. That's not to say that it isn't important work; it is. But it's not worth trekking yourself through a dangerous snowstorm just to get there. If you live in my part of the world, you know how bad it's been the last week. It's impossible to get anywhere without slip-sliding around. Even if you have a car, the roads are treacherous. Not to mention, your car might be snowed in. Shoveling it out takes hours of work and a lot of manual labor. Not all of us have the time or energy for that. That's why we hope our managers will have a little bit of grace for us during these types of weather events. 

But some people have no concept of what is good for them (aka treating your workers with respect). Some people don't understand the value of a hard day's work and assume that everyone has had it just as easily as they have. They see work as an extraneous option, not something you could lose on a whim. They don't know what it takes to drag yourself into work every day, and how much that can take out of you. They also don't understand that employees need to be respected, no matter who they are or what kind of work they do. 

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  • Cheezburger Image 10602732800
    via Ronan Furuta

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

  • This employer didn't understand that, and made some pretty insensitive comments to the people who worked for him. After facing a pretty brutal snowstorm, this employee's workplace, a restaurant, understandably lost a lot of business. If you're not really leaving the house, you're not really eating at restaurants. But the manager of the restaurant didn't understand how that would affect his employees. So he pushed them to come in even when it was physically impossible. Read on to find out what happened in this story and see what you think about it. 

  • "There's nothing wrong with walking," says boss who has never had to walk to work in his life, much less during a blizzard.

    I'm in part of the US that's been getting hit by winter storms for about a week straight. We had one earlier in the week that left 8 inches of snow and additional ice which has yet to melt at all and barely any of it has been removed from our local roads and parking lots. Yesterday we had another blizzard which left us with even more snow. The roads are in terrible condition, many people
    via u/cheeseballgag
  • have been unable to get out of their houses and every day commuting is very hazardous especially for people who live on back roads and away from town. Obviously in light of that, some people have not been able to make it to work at the restaurant I manage. I've personally missed two days myself and have only
    via u/cheeseballgag
  • been able to come in otherwise because a coworker with a massive truck has been kind enough to transport me. I understand that people can't come in at all and others are needing to come in late or leave early so they can avoid driving on the road when it's coldest out. I think it's fine and frankly we're not getting much business anyway -- yesterday we only
    via u/cheeseballgag
  • made $2000, a typical day usually nets us between $8000 to $10000. That's been all week. My upper management however finds any absences or lateness completely unacceptable during all this. Yesterday DURING the blizzard our GM told one person that "there's nothing wrong with walking" when she informed him her car was stuck and she
    via u/cheeseballgag
  • couldn't come in. She lives three miles away. I asked if he had ever had to walk to work in weather like this and he saud he's never had to walk to work at all. Our supervisor has said if she can come in, no one else has an excuse she lives along a major -- highway, one of the few roads to have been salted and scraped, and has a weather appropriate vehicle.
    via u/cheeseballgag
  • Again, we are making virtually no money this week. Yesterday those of us who made it in were basically standing around doing nothing all day. People staying home for their own safety is not costing us anything but even if it was, I would still understand! The lack of empathy is not surprising but fuck them.
    via u/cheeseballgag
  • MMER BREEZE Strawberry ORTH OF HEAVEN apple banana EEN 504 Stary blueberry 57 HAPPY HOLIDAYS OUR MERCHANDISE IS ex off COLD BREWED
    via Wonderlane

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

  • Commenters gave their two cents on the situation.

    BesusCristo I would quit any restaurant job that said this to me. No notice. Pretty much anyone can find another restaurant job within a few days.
    via u/BesusCristo
  • kschmit516 If everyone did come in - they would bitch about labor, and tell you to cut people. And ask why you didn't call ppl off before the shift if business has been down all week.
    via u/kschmit516
  • Jacksmissingspleen Try walking along ice covered barely plowed streets. If a plow or car doesn't kill you slipping will.
    via u/Jacksmissingspleen
  • Diorj Why doesn't the boss offer to pick up the employee then...Its only 3 miles away...
    via u/Diorj
  • Sandman64can The US doesn't have walkable streets. Instead of sidewalks they name the roads after pedestrians killed walking them.
    via u/Sandman64can
  • SCPaddlePirate Thais reminds me of the university where I used to work. Employees and students has designated parking. However, there wasn't enough employee parking near the buildings where they worked some some folks had to walk from
    via u/SCPaddlePirate
  • a distant parking lot to their building. Granted, it was about. 10 minute walk so not really bad but when it was bad weather, it sucked. Also, the university would close. certain lots for events and push employees even further away. The upper admins were generally
    via u/SCPaddlePirate
  • disliked for many reasons but parking was one of the more vocal issues. Those same upper admins who made the decisions on where folks should park liked to say "we don't have a parking problem, we have a walking problem". But that just angered employees more because the decision
    via u/SCPaddlePirate
  • makers all had special parking permits that let them park right next to their buildings, even in unmarked, non-parking spots or along. curbs.
    via u/SCPaddlePirate
  • Aebyoeph In his defense, before I bought a car, I made it a personal fight to not use the bus, the bus was all over the place when it came to being on time so I figured a fixed walking time was better even if it was longer. Longest I walked for work 2 hours there and back, did it for a year till I moved a tiny bit closer, an hour 15 minute walk about.
    via u/Aebyoeph
  • Buuuuuuuut in your defense, being someone with many winters of experience walking. Fuck that, right. Here's the thing, no matter how prepared you are for the cold and blizzards, there is always something. Ive had days where the snow slowed me
    via u/Aebyoeph
  • right down could barely walk through the wind and snow and sleet. To ice being everywhere and it being dangerous to walk. Ive had Storms going sideways, right into your face. Bitter chills that go right into your bone, regardless of how many layers, forcing you to
    via u/Aebyoeph
  • warm up before starting work, or many of those at the same time. Meaning you can't use your fingers at work because they're cold, youre late, and your wrist hurts or maybe a knee, from eatin it, slipping on ice. Have you ever sweat through your clothes in -20?
    via u/Aebyoeph
  • Yeah, not fun, then you gotta work your shift, wet and cold. Just to be thinking of the walk home after? Thankfully I dried up before I had to leave. Ive done all of this and more. Take the day off
    via u/Aebyoeph

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antiwork workplace-stories blizzard toxic-workplace job snow bosses coworkers working toxic-boss workplace bad bosses
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