Internet Backs Bartender Who Lied to Boss in Attempt to 'Train' Her

A bartender revealed in a now-viral post that they repeatedly lied to their boss in an attempt to "train" her.

Posting to Reddit's "Antiwork" forum on Wednesday under the username u/Waddiwasiiiii, who wrote: "I've been making my boss think interviewees were leaving because of her tardiness." So far, the post has amassed more than 36,000 upvotes and over 600 comments from Redditors who agreed that hiring managers need to be respectful of their prospective employees' time.

"Whenever we have interviews lined up [my boss] tells me to make note of anyone who shows up late," the bartender wrote at the begging of their post. "I've noticed, however, that more often than not SHE is the one who is late."

They went on to detail a time their boss once arrived 40 minutes late to an interview with a prospective employee who ultimately declined the job offer.

"The hypocrisy just really gets to me," said the bartender. "So I decided to turn the tables."

"Because so many restaurants are hiring right now, it isn't uncommon for applicants to no-show for interviews just because they already accepted a job elsewhere," the bartender continued.

"So, every time she has run late for a scheduled interview and it coincides with a no-show, I lie. I tell her they were here, on time, but then left when she didn't show at the scheduled time," they said.

Eventually, an applicant did arrive on time. But the hiring manager was, as usual, running late. The bartender told the applicant: "Look, [the] boss is on her way but I don't blame you if you want to leave, why respect her time if she doesn't respect yours?"

So, the applicant left. Since then, the bartender's boss arrives early to each interview and has hired "some of the best candidates."

"Now I'm brainstorming other ways to train my boss," the bartender concluded.

Of course, u/Waddiwasiiiii isn't the only person who is annoyed by tardiness in business.

In an article for Forbes, author and CEO Jennifer Cohen said she polled 150 of her business associates and found that "more than 80 percent listed lateness as one of their top three greatest annoyances in those that they work with."

"Punctuality directly correlates with the amount of respect a person has for another and for their time," wrote Cohen. "When you are late, you are telling your colleague that your time is more valuable than theirs, whether you intend to or not."

Career expert Dana Manciagli told Fast Company that it's flat out "rude" for a hiring manager to be late for an interview and labeled it "red flag" behavior.

"If they're this rude at the interview, imagine how they would be as a manager," Manciagli said.

Many Redditors agreed that tardiness is a sign of disrespect and applauded u/Waddiwasiiiii's decision to lie to their boss in order to change her behavior.

"The most infuriating thing about all of this is that it's CLEAR that treating new potential hires with respect and kindness gets the best results in the long run. Why is this such a difficult concept for employers to understand?" asked u/critiqu3. "Great job, OP [original poster]. You not only taught your boss an important lesson, but you make your workplace a nicer environment for your new coworkers."

"Not all heroes wear capes," wrote u/HanYang182.

"If only we had someone like you for every lazy and entitled boss around, things would go a lot smoother and everyone would feel respected for their time," added u/Salfriel.

Newsweek reached out to u/Waddiwasiiiii for comment.