Hi bartenders! I need to spill some words & get some advice/words of wisdom. There's a bit of a back story before I get to the whole ordeal.In early May, after a few months of being unemployed due to Coronavirus I finally accepted a job at a bar & grill after 3+ invitations from a guy I thought was a homie. I was desperate. Lost my car, had just moved into a new apartment unexpectedly, & was losing sleep over the crippling fear of not having money. Obviously, many of us have gone through this in 2020 (hugs). I had not accepted because the location is a bit of a drive & I did not have reliable transportation & didn't want to be a burden on my friends always needing a ride, so I was doggedly looking for work everywhere I could get to on my bike. Also, the "homie" had always had a thing for me & was kind of relentless, despite me clearly not being interested in him romantically. But, I still kept up a casual friendship with him. At the time I accepted the job offer, I was in a v serious relationship with a guy that had a significant amount of control over me emotionally & financially. I knew I had to end things, but felt obligated to stay. I accepted the job because I NEEDED ONE BAD. This news threw him over the edge because he hates said guy bc he commented on a fb picture saying I looked sexy. My bf at the time swore I was just hired because the dude wanted to bang me. I explained there was a 0% chance of that ever happening & thr guy was just trying to help me out, even agreeing to help me with transportation until I got on my feet again. I've been a bartender & career Chef for over 10 years & am known for my talents, work ethic, & appealing personality. 2020 has just been rough times for job security. A few weeks later we ended up having an awful breakup & I was glad I at least had a job 16-20 hours a week selling to-go alcohol. I knew that when our state opened up again I'd be making more money. Well, it did pick up. I, having much more experience than the guy who got me the job (he ended up being manager, lol but we only had 5 employees at the time), took a lot of initiative & helped get the place back up after corona hiatus, a fire, etc. I headed a project to get a newly rebuilt bar up to code, ordered all necessary equipment, made sure health codes were met, & curated an entire menu of cocktails. I took inventory with him & found over $5,000 in losses he had missed that the owners would have otherwise missed out on receiving from insurance. I put together our entire POS system, met with contractors while owners were on vacation the weekend before our grand re-opening to assure every. little. detail. of my owner's v demanding expectations were met, all while he didn't do a damn thing for any of the project or events that I & another employee were entrusted to put on ourselves to bring in revenue. It's been a LOT more than just slinging drinks. There's numerous instances of him not doing the job a manager should, as well as being inappropriate with 2 other female employees, & always taking off for talent gigs. Anyways, things got rocky between us after I rejected his advances numerous times & my outperforming him struck a nerve, I assume. I developed a friendship with the owners & was beloved & trusted by the staff, was recently promoted to co-manager, & was even let drive one of their old vehicles that hadn't been driven in years. I have put money into the vehicle to fix it up & the owner said to wait to pay the agreed upon amount, because I accepted the promotion without a pay raise. The owner even told me that had they met me first, I'd be the one they would have selected for the position but they didn't want to hurt his feelings. All has been peachy until this past weekend. I had a series of devastating personal issues arise & decided I needed to take a few days off to recoup. I knew I was exhausted when I slept through the 1st 3 hours of a morning shift & I met with the owner to explain I needed to take care of my mental health, personal safety, & just get my mind right before I could be at 100% to represent their business. Cool. I took 2 days & realized I needed another because I'd be coming back on a busy evening & I didn't feel able to put on a happy face & was still having major panic attacks. I contacted said dude about the schedule, which he rarely makes in advance, rather than on an every 5 day here's what you work, usually decided the morning of or middle of the night before an open shift. I sent him a message explaining my situation & asking if I could return to work x day, but had cleared my schedule of any conflicts for the next couple weeks & would work the day I wanted off if he couldn't work at all (you can't always get what you want), as we have a lot going on event-wise. He texted me back cool thanks. I replied thanks so much. Send me the schedule for the remainder of the week. No reply all day. As I was falling asleep I sent another message reminding him to make a schedule. I woke up early to no text or call back, so about 11 am I texted him again. He finally replied, "what's up?" & I asked for the schedule once again. He replied with a schedule for the following day through Sunday. I was relieved, thinking he meant he would work x day & understood I REALLY needed that day to prepare myself. I replied back, "Thank you so much. I'll see y'all tomorrow." & he didn't reply. A while later, I sent him a text saying I might swing by later to grab a bag I forgot. No reply. Hours later, while I was in a therapy appointment I was so lucky to get on the fly, he blew up my phone asking where I was bc I was supposed to work. I called him back as soon as I looked at my phone after getting back home from picking up my prescription. He answered & I explained the miscommunication & asked why he didn't make it clear on the schedule or during the two messages sent that pretty clearly gave cues that I did not understand that he intended me to work. He asked if I was still going to come in & I asked if it was mandatory, as I just started taking an anxiety medication to help me sleep & not have an absolute meltdown. I had my 1st dose right before & was afraid to drive all the way out there without knowing how it would affect me, as I am to take it 2 hours before bed. He said he had to go, a customer walked to the bar & before he hung up on me I asked him to call or text when he had time. Nothing. No return call, no calls from owners, etc. I waited up as long as I could to take his call. Woke up this morning & just went to work like normal. I was there doing prep, cleaning, etc. like normal with another employee that just chilled in a chair for 2.5 hours when he suddenly walked in. I said good morning. 2 minutes later, he walks up to the bar & said that I'm fired, totally not in private. I said I need to speak to the owners & asked why? & he said just clock out RIGHT NOW, I don't want any trouble. He said I'm fired because I didn't clock out one day & I missed the shift yesterday. I took all my shit & left without many words at all. Got in the car, called both owners & got no answer. Then texted them both in a group asking for a meeting because I had questions & wanted a chance to explain. After an hour, one of them replied that their decision was final, they have a business to run & I should understand as I am also the owner of my own V small business, basically a side hustle to make money through Coronavirus. I can account to one time I was late coming back from a break in a 15 hour shift because I spent my break at the store getting bar supplies we needed that he didn't want to pick up for us. The only shift I didn't show up for was the earlier mentioned, which I got covered & was forgoven given the circumstances & the shift yesterday that was a total miscommunication. I asked for the chance to meet with both of the owners to discuss & at best get a chance to state my case, as I feel I am owed at least that. I finally got an "ok" reply. Literally, those are the only issues I've ever had at this job for the last 5 months busting my ass. I even researched affordable health insurance & got the owners to be on board with Healthcare for us service industry staff in 2021, something that is a total gem in our industry. I am shocked, hurt, & once again totally trippin about finances bc I was thisfuckingclose to having my life together again. No call or text regarding my requested meeting, it's been hours. I still have the vehicle & I'd like to discuss with the owner about it. I really need this vehicle to get another job & still want to pay him to lease it if he will allow. What should I do? Am I crazy for thinking this is a bunch of bullshit & after all the work & good performance I put into this job, I deserve the chance to make peace? I have never, ever been let go like this. The 2 people I spoke to about it (1 coworker & 1 outside friend) say it feels v sketchy.Thanks y'all. Sorry for the grammatical errors & novel I just wrote. Advice would be so appreciated. via /r/bartenders https://ift.tt/3509aUI
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