Settle in— this one’s a bit long.
For context: This happened when I was 19 (I’m 23 now). At the time, I was working as an overnight server in a well-known U.S. restaurant chain. In the state I was working at the time, servers made $2.15/hr and lived almost entirely off tips. At the end of each shift, we had to report our cash tips during the clock-out process so we could be taxed on them.
Now enter Anna (not her real name). She was that coworker—the one everyone dreaded working with. Constantly hiding in the bathroom, never doing her side work, always pawning off her tables. We even caught her stealing tips from another server who was seven months pregnant. She was toxic, plain and simple.
On this particular night, Anna was trying to bounce early without doing her silverware. Our manager and I both told her she needed to finish up because we were almost out of rolled silverware for the floor. She half-heartedly grabbed some to roll but plopped herself down in a booth (which was against the rules). I offered to help her move to the designated area behind the server alley, but she insisted the manager gave her permission to roll out front. (Spoiler: she didn’t. I asked the manager the next morning—she never said that.)
Anna eventually stormed off to the back… and straight out the back door. No permission, no finishing her duties—just ghosted mid-shift. When I walked up to the front, I saw she had left the POS open on the “report tips” screen and was already in her car. I waved her down, trying to get her to come back in and report her tips, but she just flipped me off and sped out of the parking lot.
Fed up, exhausted, and left with her workload, I did something petty. I entered $500 as her reported cash tips. Knowing how our paychecks worked, that probably meant she got like $0 on her next one. (We usually only got $30–$40 checks anyway because of tips.)
She never came back. No “I quit,” no heads-up, not even a half-assed text. Just vanished. I honestly don’t think she ever found out what I did—she just hated the job that much.
Do I know it was petty? Absolutely. Do I know it was wrong? Yeah, 100%. I was 19, exhausted, and running on caffeine and spite. Would I ever do it again? No—I’ve grown up, I understand that screwing with someone’s paycheck crosses a line. But at the time? She flipped me off, dipped on all her work, and left me to clean up her mess. So I gave her a little something to remember us by—like a farewell gift… for the IRS.
Still feel a little guilty, sure—but not nearly as much as I felt annoyed cleaning up after her for months.
Just another unhinged chapter in the service industry saga.
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Backup of the post’s body: Settle in— this one’s a bit long.
For context: This happened when I was 19 (I’m 23 now). At the time, I was working as an overnight server in a well-known U.S. restaurant chain. In the state I was working at the time, servers made $2.15/hr and lived almost entirely off tips. At the end of each shift, we had to report our cash tips during the clock-out process so we could be taxed on them.
Now enter Anna (not her real name). She was that coworker—the one everyone dreaded working with. Constantly hiding in the bathroom, never doing her side work, always pawning off her tables. We even caught her stealing tips from another server who was seven months pregnant. She was toxic, plain and simple.
On this particular night, Anna was trying to bounce early without doing her silverware. Our manager and I both told her she needed to finish up because we were almost out of rolled silverware for the floor. She half-heartedly grabbed some to roll but plopped herself down in a booth (which was against the rules). I offered to help her move to the designated area behind the server alley, but she insisted the manager gave her permission to roll out front. (Spoiler: she didn’t. I asked the manager the next morning—she never said that.)
Anna eventually stormed off to the back… and straight out the back door. No permission, no finishing her duties—just ghosted mid-shift. When I walked up to the front, I saw she had left the POS open on the “report tips” screen and was already in her car. I waved her down, trying to get her to come back in and report her tips, but she just flipped me off and sped out of the parking lot.
Fed up, exhausted, and left with her workload, I did something petty. I entered $500 as her reported cash tips. Knowing how our paychecks worked, that probably meant she got like $0 on her next one. (We usually only got $30–$40 checks anyway because of tips.)
She never came back. No “I quit,” no heads-up, not even a half-assed text. Just vanished. I honestly don’t think she ever found out what I did—she just hated the job that much.
Do I know it was petty? Absolutely. Do I know it was wrong? Yeah, 100%. I was 19, exhausted, and running on caffeine and spite. Would I ever do it again? No—I’ve grown up, I understand that screwing with someone’s paycheck crosses a line. But at the time? She flipped me off, dipped on all her work, and left me to clean up her mess. So I gave her a little something to remember us by—like a farewell gift… for the IRS.
Still feel a little guilty, sure—but not nearly as much as I felt annoyed cleaning up after her for months.
Just another unhinged chapter in the service industry saga.
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