The Last Straw
She stared down at the pathetic $0.01 paycheck in her hand. She told herself that she had to do something about it. She worked hard and she deserved a lot more than this.
Sarah was more angry than she had ever been before. It was not a good idea for her to leave the house in the emotional and livid state she was in, but she had no other choice. She couldn't stand by and watch him get away with what he had done.
Her Name Was Sarah Vin
Her name was Sarah Vin and she was a 25-year-old waitress in a popular Fargo, North Carolina restaurant. She had spent the last two years being a dedicated and reliable employee to the restaurant.
She was great at her job. She always showed up 10 minutes early. She never called in sick and customers loved and praised her. Unfortunately, however, not everyone seemed to like Sarah.
The Manager
The manager of the restaurant had a reputation for being a piece of work and a bully to employees. Sarah knew that there was nothing she could do to please him. He believed that his staff were not hardworking enough and were constantly trying to cheat the system within their workplace.
He was stingy when it came to paying his staff. Sarah would soon find out about this.
Early Shifts
Sarah was having a horrible month at work. She was constantly working early morning shifts when the restaurant was void of customers. She wasn't getting the tips she would usually get in later shifts . Her stomach dropped at the thought of not being able to pay her bills that month.
She had no idea that paying bills would be the least of her worries.
Her Pay
Sarah was sick with the flu when she finally received her paycheck for that month's hard work. She wasn't excepting much, given her early shifts, but she was certainly expecting a lot more than this.
Sarah could not believe her eyes when she glanced down at her payroll earnings. After tax and Medicare were taken, she was left with $0.01. That's when her jaw dropped in extreme rage. She immediately took the issue to social media.
Posting Online
Waking up and going to work early every day had taken its toll on Sarah's physical health. She was feeling well to begin with but now she was even more agitated than usual as she took a picture of her paycheck. She quickly posted to her social media accounts.
The caption on her post read: “The f*** I’m gonna do with one penny Steven!…Life of a server… this is 6 weeks of ‘pay’. Tip your servers!!!”. That single post, however, was not enough for Sarah.
Getting Worse
She was expecting the online rant to make her feel better in some way, but she quickly discovered that she wasn't feeling better at all. She didn't know what to do from here, but she knew that she wanted to teach her manager a valuable lesson.
But as she was plotting out her plan, Sarah suddenly felt a fever coming on. She spent that entire evening going between her bed and her bathroom as she felt worse than ever before. She had no idea that her situation would get even worse for her.
Taking The Day Off
As soon as Sarah woke up the following morning, she called her manager to inform him of her health. As soon as she told him that she was sick, he responded with: "With what?". He clearly didn't believe her.
She told him what her symptoms were and that she had been up all night, but it was no use. “If you had the flu you’d be completely knocked out”, he grumbled. “I need you in. Come in and bring a doctor’s note or you’re fired”.
Struggling
Sarah was more angry than she had ever been before. She was contagious and weak, she knew she couldn't leave her house, but he had left her with no choice. She would get fired and she needed her job. She was already struggling, she would struggle even more without her job.
She got up and pulled herself together. She made her way out of the house and walk in the cold for 20 minutes as she made her way to the closest doctor's office. She had never felt this ill before in her life and she knew that her manager was to blame for this.
Appointment
When Sarah showed up to the doctor's office, the woman behind the desk immediately scolded her for coming in. "You shouldn't be here," she told Sarah “Leaving your home when you’re this ill is not only dangerous for yourself but for everyone around you. You need to leave”.
Sarah begged for her to see her, explaining why she needed the doctor's note.
REDIRECTED ANGER
As she explained her predicament to the doctor, she watched the doctor’s face change from concern to outrage that mirrored her own.
“This is why I need that note”, Sarah said, “I can’t get fired”. The doctor had now redirected her anger from Sarah to Sarah’s manager. She grabbed a pen and started writing.
THE NOTE
It read, “Sarah has come to the surgery because her manager has insisted she come in, in spite of the fact that this is illegal and all employees are allowed to self certify.
“Due to being forced to make this unnecessary and highly dangerous trip when the patient is ill, has a fever of 39°C, and almost passed out in the waiting room, I am signing Sarah off for two full weeks to recover”, it continued…
NOT DONE YET
“Had Sarah been allowed to self certify as is the law, they might only have needed a few days, but due to straining themselves, they now require two full weeks. They are not to be permitted to work until 2 weeks later”.
The doctor wrote her a note for 2 weeks off of paid leave. But Sarah’s mission wasn’t over yet.
DUTY MANAGER
She made her way to the restaurant to physically hand in the note as per the manager’s request. But the moment Sarah entered the establishment and the duty manager got a look at her, she immediately told her to go home.
Sarah refused and told her she was under threat of losing her job if she didn’t hand this note to the manager. There was an audible gasp.
KARMA
After Sarah handed the note to the manager, he replied by saying, “You know, I wasn’t actually serious about you getting fired”. But it was too late to backtrack. He was about to be served a big bowl of karma.
The duty manager was quick on his case and immediately defended Sarah and drove her home. But online, people were hung up over Sarah’s post.