McDonalds Managers Lose Over $5,000 when I REFUSE to WORK DURING MY BREAK

My entitled regional and district manager at McDonald's say that they will fire me if I don't

leave my break time early and help out with a rush, but I decided to maliciously comply and

get some petty revenge, as I instead threw these rules right back at their face in a way that would

make them lose thousands of dollars all because of some stupid rules that they made. Here's what

happened. So this happened a few years ago when I worked at McDonald's. The one I worked in was

near a bunch of schools, so most of the staff was high school kids. As summer vacation started,

we began having the trouble of an employee getting a break, and then spending their

break eating their meal, and conversating with their friends who were still working in the kitchen.

He was having a seriously bad effect on productivity, as well as posing quite a few health risks.

So our manager finally initiated a rule that if you were on your break, you couldn't leave the

break room until your break was over, and this went swimmingly until the kids went back to school.

We then had a new problem. Short staffing during break cycles meant our ticket times would skyrocket

during rushes. Management then lifted the rule so that employees on break could clock in early and

help out with the rush. However, the district manager didn't like the implications of employees

working shortened or no break shifts and forcefully reinstated the rule. They also doubled down by

saying that employees who tried to work during their schedule break would be written up or even

terminated for doing so. And so this is where our malicious compliance comes into play, and trust me,

this is a good one. The date was 420, which is a day that nobody wants to be working at a fast

food place, much less McDonald's. We had been getting slammed so hard from the open of the store

that we called in extra help from other stores, including the regional and district managers,

as the break cycle began. The management was pleased with the sub-two-minute ticket times that

they had managed to maintain. We had a few breaks though, and we were managing well. Then came my

break. As soon as I sat down to eat, someone came into the store and ordered 47 double-quarter

powders, and then immediately after that order, someone in the drive-through ordered 75-20

piece nugget meals. The amount of panic in the kitchen was palpable. I was comfortably lounging

in a chair, browsing my phone, and adjoining my meal while the kitchen struggled to keep up with

the orders. As ticket times began to soar, the management did exactly as I expected.

The district manager came into the break room and demanded me to end my break early and help

in the kitchen. But my response was simple. I'm sorry, but according to the rules you made,

I could be written up or terminated for completing your request. Then after I said that,

I continued browsing my phone, trying to enjoy the last 10 minutes of my break. The regional

manager then entered the room and said that he would personally terminate me if I didn't do the

thing I wasn't supposed to do. The other employee who was on break with me immediately rose and

clocked in, despite still having 10 minutes left on her break. She was then written up for breaking

the rule after the shift was over, so I felt good sitting in my chair and continuing to ignore them.

In the aftermath, the people who made the giant orders took what was made after half an hour

and left with refunds for unmade food, and we're talking maybe $150 each, and customers who

were waiting for smaller orders were compensated with gift cards for their patients, and yet many

walked out without even getting their orders. In fact, we paid out nearly $1,500 in gift cards.

Now, because customers were walking out on orders without collecting them, we had nearly $5,000

in food wasted that night. All of the closers went home with nearly two bundle boxes of burgers,

fries, and nuggets. Well, the regional and district manager were moved to a different region,

and the rule was edited to say that you were able to clock back in early at the manager's

discretion in the event of a rush. Because I was the only employee who held his ground against the

regional and district managers during the rush, I was rewarded with free meals and drinks until I

moved away from my hometown and simply couldn't eat at that McDonald's anymore, because this

experience was truly exhausting. Wow, I love the double standards here because this is honestly

so unbelievable. The district and regional manager, both are like, listen, I need you to break the

rules or else I'm going to break the rules by firing you. And it's like, dude, instead of complaining

to me, maybe pick up an apron and do the work yourself. Like, if these people actually cared about

their job and getting these people through and getting their orders to them, then they would roll

their sleeves up and help out. But instead, it's pretty obvious they'd rather drag you into it and

be like, no, you do this. And that is really unfair, in my opinion, and I just don't blame you for

being annoyed by this. So good for you for getting some petty revenge as well as like throwing this

right back in their face. Because from the sounds of it, these people absolutely deserve it. If you

like Am I the jerk, you're probably going to love Am I the Genius. Check it out linked down below

in the description. Also, go to Am I the Jerk.com slash submit. If you would like to submit your own

stories, my mom meddled in my first job and ruined our relationship. And I'm now at a breaking

point and I seriously don't know what to do. Here's what happened. Months ago, I graduated college and

I got my first job. For reference, I'm 22 years old and my mom is 60. I would tell my mom how miserable

the job was making me, but she would ignore my pain and say that I should keep the job for at least

a year so I don't look like a job hopper. She continued putting so much pressure on me to keep the

job. That eventually I simply couldn't take it anymore. So I came up with a plan to do two weeks

of work off the clock so that I could just quit and leave. My mom was happy about me doing that,

which looking back I find absolutely repulsive. When I quit the job, my boss who was a 70-year-old

female was super mad at me and demanded that I do more tasks and went as far as contacting my mom

and sending my mom the list of things that she wanted me to do. And you know what? My mom took

my boss's side. My mom could have ignored my boss's text messages and could have let me be the

adult and handle it myself, but she had to insert herself as the authority in the situation and

monitor me and put as much pressure on me as possible so that I would obey her and my boss.

My mom even threatened to erase my hard drives, which had all of my most important memories and

projects on them. I then wrote my mom a letter to say how much she hurt me, which made her more

rageful and she threatened to abandon me and make me pay her mortgage since she would be gone,

but I'm used to her threats of abandonment. It's kind of typical. So eventually I gave in and

I dropped it and we just moved on. Since then, she would bring up my first boss into any and all

conversations, thinking that there weren't still any hurt feelings and we could just laugh about it.

I would be tremendously triggered, but I'd hide it and just carry on. Eventually I couldn't take

it anymore and I said I don't want you bringing up my first boss. I don't find it funny and she's

sort of respected my wishes. In an ideal world, I wouldn't have to forbid my mom from speaking about

certain topics because we'd have all our hardships resolved, but we never resolved this hardship and

it was festering into a landmine that makes me bitter for days when she brings it up because she

still has never acknowledged her wrongs or has shown any remorse for meddling and causing damage

that I still have to live with. I want to talk to her about it, but it will cause a war,

but I feel like I can only let go of my resentment by receiving closure and finally resolving the

situation. What should I do? Oh man, if this was me, I would absolutely be looking to move out.

The original poster clarified that yes, they do live with their mom still and that in my opinion

is crazy. Like seriously, she meddled in your first job and literally like ruined everything for

you. They also go on to explain that their forward boss found out about their mom by literally

going to the emergency contact and contacting her that way and that is crazy toxic. Like you're

already quit that job, you gave him two weeks notice, so the fact that your old boss and your mom

all pretty much like teamed up against you is just so weird and she's now bringing it up all the

time like it's some funny thing, but it's like no dude, you literally did not apologize for this.

So I think if I was in your shoes, I would be trying to move out as soon as possible because what

she did to you in my opinion is completely unacceptable. My entitled managers make my life a

living nightmare after they make a big fuss out of me taking time off of work because of

strep throat, but in reality, I find out I have cancer, putting them in their place in a way that

they truly did not expect. Here's what happened. In 2010, I worked at a corner drug store as a

department lead. I was 22, I did the bare minimum and I hated working Sundays, which were basically

my Fridays. I will be the first to admit that I could have been a better employee, but I knew

this wouldn't be my career and I was just coasting until I graduated. Sunday made the second

rolls around and I felt awful. I had already not been feeling great and that Friday I was a bit

under the weather. When Saturday came around, I felt pretty okay, but then Sunday hit like a stack

of bricks. About two hours into my shift, I asked my manager who we would call Ryan if I could go

home. The guys in management despised me so I was not surprised when this particular manager

pretty much snarkly responded by saying, you need to get someone to come in and finish your shift.

And it's like fine, okay, no problem. So I called one of my co-workers and she came in for me.

My boyfriend at the time was working at a hotel down the street and we also shared a car so I went

to his hotel to sleep until he got off of work. I slept in the lobby for nine hours straight,

but when we made it home, I started coughing up blood. My boyfriend then forced me to go to the

ER that night and it was there that I was diagnosed with strep and admitted to the hospital.

That Monday on the third, one of the nurses informed me that I would be in the hospital for at least

a week, so I called the store to let them know. The manager I spoke with, who we will call Brad,

hated me more than anyone else at that store. I told him the news and he said to me,

you'll be out for a week because a strep throat. I then said to him, yeah, I mean,

do you want to talk to the nurse? She's right here. Brad responded by saying, no, we'll see you back

when you get back. He was clearly irritated by the news, but there was nothing I could do about it.

Now what I hadn't told him as I didn't know at the time is that I was admitted because the hospital

suspected I had something much worse. I was visited by a doctor on Monday who explained that he'd

like to perform a bone marrow biopsy. Now I had no idea what that was or why he would want to do one,

except that my blood count looks really weird. I had the procedure done and continued recovering

from strep and on Tuesday, May 4th, the doctor from the day before pays me another visit. They say

that they got the results back and apparently I've got an aggressive form of leukemia that requires

immediate treatment. They then said that they'll be sending me to a hospital in a big city to start

chemo tonight. Well, my world was turned upside down. I called my best friends, all of whom I worked

with, and I invited them to the hospital to share the news. One of my friends had a shift that

afternoon and broke the news to the store. They said that I had cancer. I then spent 28

arduous days in the hospital fighting for my life. My mom had visited my store a few times

during my hospital stay and talked with my store manager, letting her know what was going on.

My manager was very understanding and supportive, but the other managers never said a word to me,

my mom, or my friends about the situation. When I finally got out of the hospital,

I went to my old store to pick up my maintenance cancer medications. As I made my way back towards

the pharmacy, where I was bruised, bald, with a bright purple pick line sticking out of my arm,

I turned down aisle 10, and who do I just so happen to see none other than Ryan stocking the vitamins?

I say gleefully, oh hi Ryan, and trust me when I say this, the look on his face was priceless.

Ryan says to me, oh my god are you okay? How are you feeling? I said to him, I'm great now, thank you.

It's a good thing I left early that Sunday and ended up in the hospital, so they found the cancer.

And you know what, the whole situation was absolutely delicious. Despite everything I went through,

the feeling of complete vindication when they had to face my cancer ridden self was incredible.

I never ended up going back to work there, and I had to file for disability because the next five

months of my life were week long hospital stays, followed by constant transfusions, checkups,

and even a case of sepsis that almost took me out, but either way I still remember Ryan's face,

and it all still brings a smile to mine. Wow talk about like the best unintentional revenge you

could possibly have. I think anybody who's worked a job can understand that sometimes you just

have co-workers who suck, they hate you for no reason, and it really is so frustrating to deal with.

And to that extent, I'm sure it felt really good to get back at Ryan and Brad, in a way that you

probably did not expect. Like seriously, Brad was acting like, oh you're in the hospital for

strep throat, it's like no dude, I've got cancer, I just don't know it yet. And what kind of

manager would be like, oh wow whatever, we'll see you when you get back. Or even like wish you

well and be like, oh I hope you get better soon. Like the both of them are giant pieces of garbage,

and that is so uncalled for. So I'm glad you're better and I'm glad you got your revenge, because

those two guys absolutely deserved it. My parents are so distant from me that it really breaks my heart

that they weren't there for me in my time of need, and now I honestly don't know what to do.

Okay, so my parents have always been very nausea lot when it came to me. Being the eldest of

three siblings, I always got the least amount of love and attention, with the most amount of

responsibility. I think I knew that growing up, but didn't really let it affect me too much.

While my two siblings needed more attention, I was pretty sidelined. Again, I didn't recognize

that too much, or rather suppressed it enough. I dorm for when I was 18, followed by living on my

own, and then with my husband. My mother would only call me if I called her, never once visited my

dorm or my apartment, and now only has been to my house two times. And you know what, I adored

my family. My dad was in the military, so we were his luggage our whole lives, moving from six

different countries and four states by the time I was a teenager. I mean, they are all that I have,

just the five of us. I didn't bother making friends because what's the point? We were just going

to be moving again. I didn't have any other family around me, so it was honestly just them.

Now this next part is what made me realize that I needed to take a break from them. My husband and I

recently started trying for a baby, and a couple of weeks ago got pregnant, and within a week had

a miscarriage. Emotionally it was sad, but physically it was one of the worst pains I've ever been

through. In fact, the miscarriage wasn't complete, so they had to intervene with medicine.

So for the first three days, pre-medication, I had a lot of pain, some fever, some chills,

followed by taking the medication for another four days, which was an absolute nightmare.

I mean, my husband had to literally hold me down, as I screamed viscerally out of pain. When the

miscarriage initially happened, I had let my mother know about it, and honestly I just don't know.

I have expected her to maybe come and see me, or even help me with a little bit of food or

something like that. For reference, we live about 17 minutes away from their house by car,

but during those two weeks she only called me twice. When I texted her why she didn't stop by,

when she told me that she would, in one of the calls, she said that I didn't call her back to

confirm, and mind you, I had a fever of 102 degrees Fahrenheit. I've seen my mother make

heaps of food and dishes when her friends are sick, or when her friend had just moved into a new

house, and their kitchen had not been set up yet. And even still, there she was with multiple

dishes at home. When her friend's daughter was too pregnant to do anything, she cooked a

week's worth of food for her, but her own daughter was in pain, going through something emotionally

and physically breaking. And yet still, I got nothing besides what, two calls. I know I have

pretty much taken care of myself my entire life. I always said I don't need anybody else,

and I live by myself for years. In fact, I've been through any heartache or life issues by myself,

but this however, I honestly just don't know how to feel, because this feels so much more painful,

this hurts a lot, and I'm not sure why. I cried so much, I mean maybe it's the hormones,

not having any other family to rely on, no aunties or cousins, even my dad works a lot and is not

very emotionally available, and my siblings are too self-involved for me to even confide in them.

I thought that my mom might want to be there for me, so that is why this hurts so bad.

Since the two calls weeks ago, I haven't even bothered calling her. Today she called me,

and you know what, I just didn't pick up. I think I just need a little break from her,

and from all of them. This is going to sound insane, but I've been fantasizing about pulling

a Julia Roberts character from sleeping with the enemy, and just relocate and leave everyone

here behind. New name, new stories, new friends, everything. It's been a semi-toxic,

disassociating cope, even though weirdly enough, it does put me at ease. What should I do?

Okay, if I were to start a business in today's day and age, I honestly don't know how I would

even start that process. Because for me at least, I would be riddled with so many questions of like,

okay, well, what if this fails? Is this really the best decision for me right now in my life?

Like, what if it all just falls apart? Like, there are so many things that would go wrong,

and personally, I would just not know where to start. But if I were to start, I would look no

further than Shopify. Seriously, Shopify isn't a class of their own. They've got to figure it out

for people who are just starting out, and they are literally so beginner-friendly. Like, for example,

you can build your own online store using like one of their hundreds of like ready-to-use templates

right then and there. Also, Shopify is like the best place to tackle all of those important tasks

like all in one place. Whether it's inventory or payments or analytics, Shopify has it all right

there at your fingertips and it's super easy to use. Like, we're talking intuitive user interface

and all the things you would expect as someone who's trying to build your business. And this is the

part that I love because this is built for me specifically because they literally have 24-7

customer support that's also award-winning, by the way. That can quite literally give you the

advice you need to keep your business going. And that's just one of many reasons why Shopify is

simply the best at what they do. It's time to turn those what-ifs into... with Shopify today.

Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash AITJ. Go to Shopify.com slash AITJ.

That's Shopify.com slash AITJ.

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Nobody else in the family even gave a crap to talk to you about it. And I can only imagine what

that's like, and truly, from the bottom of my heart, I really am so sorry that you had to deal

with that. So with all things considered, I don't blame you for taking a step away and trying to

have some kind of distance. Because if I went through something even remotely close to that,

which I don't think I ever will, and I had family who just didn't care and didn't reach out,

I would be heartbroken as well. So your feelings are definitely justified and hopefully this all

works out, because the way your mom treated you is completely unfair. Am I the jerk for not

offering to split gas money on a road trip that I literally did not even want to go on?

Because right now, I feel bad and I seriously am not sure if I'm in the wrong.

Here's what happened. Okay, so last weekend, I, a 24-year-old female, got dragged into a spontaneous

hiking trip with my friends who we will call Jason and Lily. And for reference, they are a couple.

We were hanging out Friday night at their place, and I was already half dead from the work week,

and I had way too much wine, so I just crashed on their couch. Saturday morning, I was super

hungover, like dry mouth, hoodie over eyes level. All I wanted was some water, maybe a hash brown,

and no human interaction. But Jason was already up and buzzing about this hike four hours away,

and you know what, Lily was into it too. I said very clearly multiple times. I'm down to hang out,

but I'm not hiking. I feel like crap. Well, they were like, oh come on, you'll feel better once

you're out there. It's mostly all flat. Well, I didn't push back hard enough, I guess, and I wasn't

trying to be a buskill, because the next thing I know were in Jason's car, and I'm wedged in the

back with my hood up, and a bottle of Gatorade. Now, as a bit of a spoiler for the story, I never

hiked. We got there, I walked to the trailhead, and then I just sat in the car with a windows

cracked, reading a paperback I found in the back seat. They were gone for about three hours,

and they came back very sweaty and glowing, and very into themselves. I clapped politely, and

then we drove back. Then, on the drive home, Jason says as casual as possible, so if you guys could

Venmo me 30 bucks for gas, that would be great. I then has dintily said, wait, are you serious?

I told him that I didn't really feel comfortable paying for a trip that I didn't want to go on,

and didn't even participate in. I said it as lightly as I could, like I even added a half laugh

so it didn't sound rude, but neither of them responded. It then got weirdly quiet after that,

like not just, oh, we're tired quiet, but stiff polite quiet. Lily scrolled through Instagram

the rest of the ride, Jason turned the music up, and didn't really talk to me again until they

dropped me off. I texted later that night just to say thanks for driving anyways,

and Lily replied with a thumbs up emoji, not even like a no problem or anything like that,

but literally just a thumbs up. I've been replaying it in my head because I do get that gas isn't free,

but also I didn't want to go, and I said that, and I barely even left the car. I felt like I'd

been held financially hostage for a vibe I wasn't part of. So seriously, am I the jerk for not paying

gas money for a trip I got peer pressured into, and didn't even get a chance to enjoy,

because right now I'm not sure what to do. No, you are definitely not the jerk this

honestly, and my opinion is so toxic. You mean to tell me that they drag you along on this trip,

leave you in the car with like nothing but like a cracked window and a book to read,

and then when they're driving back, expect you to pay for gas? Like no, I don't think so,

that's not happening. That sounds like an awful plan, and I can't believe they tried to like

guilt trip you into doing that. I think of a long run, it would be good to like set boundaries

more firmly, and tell them, hey, if I don't want to do something, I'm not going to do it.

And that probably could have helped you avoid this situation entirely, but in my opinion,

these guys are absolutely the jerks, because they literally went on this hike and left you alone,

and the fact that you didn't even participate in it, and you were basically just like an unwilling

accomplice, in my opinion is the biggest indication that this is nothing that you need to pay for.

An entitled college student gets her laptop prepared, but then she never picks it up, forcing

my brother to sell the item off, as his policy pretty much dictates that he has to do so.

Resulting in this lady demanding $2,000 from my brother, even though she abandoned the

product at his store. Here's what happened. Okay, so my brother Nate runs a shop in our small

town that offers electronic repairs. Last year around June or July, this girl came into his shop

needing her laptop prepared. It was an Alienware gaming laptop, and it looked relatively new.

The girl said that the battery wasn't charging anymore, and Nate said it looked like something

was inserted into the charging port that shouldn't have been, and the port had been damaged.

Nate told her that he would have to order parts, and it might take a week or more before it's fixed.

Now, she said it was fine, and started filling out all the paperwork. She then mentioned that

she wouldn't be in town to pick it up, so the phone number was for her mother, and she could

come and get the laptop when it was ready. Nate said that that was fine, and he would put a note

in the system. Well, fast forward three weeks, and it was finally fixed. Nate then goes to

call the number, and it says that the number has been disconnected. We live in a small town,

but neither of us recognize this girl to try and track down her folks, so it is sad for a few

months. Nate also has a policy in the contract that basically says that any repaired item not picked

up within 90 days of completed service will be put up for sale by the business and can be sold.

Well, Nate was generous and gave her an additional month before putting it up for sale. He then

got an offer the same day he put it on the shelf, and it was sold as a refurbished item.

Well, fast forward to last Thursday, and the girl finally showed up to get the laptop.

She left to go to college and was in town for a long weekend, and found out her mom never got

the laptop. It turns out the girl wrote down the wrong number, and obviously she was pissed off

that it got sold, and is now demanding my brother to pay her $2,000 so that she can buy a new one,

and we're honestly still blown away by her entitlement because this is truly ridiculous.

Yeah, the lady in this story is a complete moron. Like, there's no way she didn't know about

this policy, and the fact that she didn't follow up with her mom and be like, hey, did you pick up

my laptop? Instead of waiting, oh, I don't know, several months later. To me, it shows how irresponsible

she is and how dumb she is. Because I don't know about you, but there's no way I would ever let a

$2,000 laptop sit there and not have anybody pick it up, or at least account for it in some kind of

way. I would be calling my mom constantly and be like, hey, can you check on that laptop or

something like that? And it's also stupid that she completely wrote down the wrong number.

It's like, my god, how is Nate or anybody at that store supposed to get anything to your mom?

So yeah, that lady's a complete moron for doing this this way, and she has no right to try and

claim $2,000 from your brother, because this literally is her own fault since she's the one

who put down the wrong phone number. When you subscribe, make sure to hit the bell to turn on

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