New-hire fast food worker told to stand in one place and not move, they comply, standing still and not helping customers for more than 30 minutes: 'I’m sorry, I would get that for you but I’m not allowed'

What would you do in this situation when your boss has given you a repeated, direct order, but others are expecting you to help?

I think any of us who have worked and are currently working service jobs know what it's like when you're in the middle of a rush, and someone is not with the fast-moving pace that the rush necessitates. 

Orders are steaming through, and there's a queue of customers out the front door. There, the FNG (Fun New Guy/Gal) is just standing there totally in the way and without a clue. To be fair, they're trying to help, and they could definitely use some more training when there's time, but right now is not that time. Especially when the only thing standing between the present moment and a customer complaint is complete organization and pure efficiency. It reaches a point pretty quickly when it's just better if they're out of the way, so it's not uncommon to give them some other task that they can handle somewhere out of the way.

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Author image for Brad Dickson Brad Dickson
Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement
  • 01

    “I mean it, stay out of the kitchen” okay if you say so.

    I started working at Golden Burger It's a job. My job is primarily service which means I'm bagging the orders, making drinks/boxing fries when cook staff is busy, handle customers, and cleaning. Worked here for two weeks now and I've been getting used to the flow of things.
    via dotdedo
  • 02
    Today my last hour during lunch rush, my manager told me to focus on customer orders. So when there was no more customers I went to the back to help and got told to get out and focus on customers. I told her there was none and she said she didn't care. She needs me out there.
    via dotdedo
  • 03
    I stand by the register for 5 minutes and go back again and get told the same thing but she's more forceful this time "I mean it, you need to stay out there." Okay. Fine. So I stood there by the register for a whole hour.
    via dotdedo
  • 04
    A customer was waiting for their bag that was right there and I knew what she needed. She was getting upset and I told her "I'm sorry, I would get that for you but I'm not allowed back there right now" I ran out of medium cups and asked a coworker to get them for me. She assumes I don't know where they are and offers to show me so I say again "no I know where they are, (manager) doesn't want me back there right now."
    via dotdedo
  • 05
    Someone else tells me that I need to give customers their drink cups even if they order on the kiosk. Again, I say "I would love to but I'm not allowed to go back there and see what they ordered so I don't know if they ordered a drink unless they tell me. It's been 30 minutes and I'm basically begging now to help because I'm so bored but told again, I'm needed out here.
    via dotdedo
  • 06
    So I sit more and just wait for my shift to be over. Eventually a shift lead said. I need to help and not "shrink my duty" so I fully explained the situation to her and a general manager over heard. Who said she would talk to the manager that told me that. My manager pulled me aside and apologized, saying she just felt overwhelmed so that's why she "kicked me out"
    via dotdedo
  • 07
    A worker prepares a fast-food burger at a fast-paced restaurant.
    via Marcel Heil

    A worker prepares a fast-food burger at a fast-paced restaurant.

    Image is representative, not actual subjects.

  • While this is pretty common, that didn't stop this new-hire fast food worker from being put into a tight spot when their manager told them to stay in one spot so that they were out of the way and could intercept any incoming customer orders. The strictness of this direction, and the repeated reiteration of it, left them squirming when customers expectantly looked at them like they should be getting their orders for them, and a shift lead even came to put them in their place for not doing their part to help out.

    When you're that fresh-faced new hire, even if it doesn't make a lot of sense to you in the moment to be doing the thing you've been told to do, there's no quicker way to send a manager over the edge than to not listen to what they've asked you to do or add your own interpretation to that thing. Realistically, they were told to stay at the counter so that they could handle someone who might walk through the door.

    I'll tell you one thing: having a manager who is willing to admit that they got caught up in the heat of the moment is a dime a dozen, and having one who will actually go out of their way to apologize to you is even more uncommon.

    All in all, this is a pretty harmless tale of malicious compliance where everyone is actually behaving quite well and handling things in a pretty understandable and mature way. The real problem here is the lack of communication between the shift lead and the manager as to who is doing what and why.

  • 08
    BunnySlayer64 At least the manager apologized. That's not something you see every day in a fast food environment.
    via dotdedo
  • 09
    sipperofguinness At least the manager recognised the mistake.
    via dotdedo
  • 10
    taker223 Act your (minimum) wage.
    via dotdedo
  • 11
    BlueCheeseWalnut I feel like this is a great example for malicious compliance. Simple order and simple execution. As it sounds the manager recognised the mistake and apologized for it.
    via dotdedo
  • 12
    andhutch When I worked at Golden Burger, | wasn't taught any kitchen stuff at first, exclusively drive through and counter. One day, the franchise owner came through the drive through, I gave him his drink and he drove off, and immediately called the store and said "the person at the window didn't give me napkins with my drink, they need to be thrown off the window right now and put in the kitchen". It sure was a lunch rush after that, I didn't know how the equipment worked, what goes on every s
    via dotdedo
  • 13
    Puzzleheaded-Phase70 Oh man, they repeated the BS instruction AFTER the fallout of your compliance started to have consequences??? That's commitment... "Yes ma'am, whatever you say ma'am!"
    via dotdedo

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

manager malicious compliance new hire work new job food service fast food service industry
Scroll Down For The Next Article

Also From FAIL Blog

'I had such high hopes for this company, but now I just feel disgusted': Job candidate left stunned after business manager spends 95% of the interview bad-mouthing his coworkers and colleagues

'I had such high hopes for this company, but now I just feel disgusted': Job candidate left stunned after business manager spends 95% of the interview bad-mouthing his coworkers and colleagues

Trending Now

Employee of 37 years gets a $58k offer from a rival company, and their employer suddenly finds room for a 12% raise the moment they start considering leaving

Employee of 37 years gets a $58k offer from a rival company, and their employer suddenly finds room for a 12% raise the moment they start considering leaving

01
Tenant changes Wi-Fi password to block freeloading neighbor, he guesses the new one and offers to split the bill: '[It was your dog’s name with 123 at the end]'

Tenant changes Wi-Fi password to block freeloading neighbor, he guesses the new one and offers to split the bill: '[It was your dog’s name with 123 at the end]'

02
Employee quiet quits for 4 years straight, gets a raise and then promoted, they tell how they did it: 'I got a raise and a promotion'

Employee quiet quits for 4 years straight, gets a raise and then promoted, they tell how they did it: 'I got a raise and a promotion'

03
Airbnb host demands guest pay for locksmith services after they get locked outside their room in the middle of the night, guest refuses: ‘It wasn't my fault’

Airbnb host demands guest pay for locksmith services after they get locked outside their room in the middle of the night, guest refuses: ‘It wasn't my fault’

04
Young worker, early 20s, quits family-owned landscaping job when the 70-year-old owner of the company, whom he has never met, begins sending him scathing emails with false claims: 'Needless to say I quit the next day'

Young worker, early 20s, quits family-owned landscaping job when the 70-year-old owner of the company, whom he has never met, begins sending him scathing emails with false claims: 'Needless to say I quit the next day'

05
Landlord confronts loud resident after getting complaints from neighbors, leading resident to go door-to-door, demanding to know who filed the complaint: ‘I denied it was me’

Landlord confronts loud resident after getting complaints from neighbors, leading resident to go door-to-door, demanding to know who filed the complaint: ‘I denied it was me’

06
Advertisement