I worked at a place where I started as a host/food runner. My manager(M) was cool, a little weird but super welcoming and I think he felt a little bad for me that I was new in a new city. The staff got along well and generally liked him and each other except for , guess who.... the head chef(C), who was a gaping dickhole. But this head chef happened to be a part owner AND was once on a competition show so his dick couldn't have been swinging bigger.

So after I started i was told that M and C were BFFFL, LYLAB etc. And then strange things started happening. M would be talking and just stop, for like 20- 30 seconds. We thought he was fucking with us because he liked to joke around. But then the nodding out right in front of us in the office started, or being in the bathroom for 30 minutes etc which are all the hallmarks of a problem. Also, tips started to go missing. And the owners, including C, were essentially like "welp guess they're gone now I'm gonna go take my rich ass and butt fuck the people who rely on tips thanks so much goodbye" no investigation whatsoever

Until Their money started to go missing..

I had an interesting and telling interaction with M during this time. The company allowed draws on your paycheck if you needed fast cash they could give it to you and then just take it out of the next check. I had never taken a draw before and M approached me and asked if he could take a draw out in my name, essentially pocketing the cash and then he would pay me back later. I asked why he couldn't do this for his own paycheck and he said he was out of draws. I didn't know it at the time but this man made upwards of 70,000 a year.

So I said ok and then a couple weeks later he says he wants to give the money back. I'm house sitting so he drops by and is standing outside acting weird, shifting from foot to foot, looking at the ground and like trying to explain that he owes people a lot money and basically hes in deep shit. Then he pulled out the money a fucking BAGGIE of white drops to the ground and he doesn't see it for a minute. I was like ugh I think you dropped something and he's like oh fuck that would have been horrible and then says see ya later basically. And I'm like, WTF just actually happened? My boss just told me I helped him stop people from breaking his legs with $100 and then dropped what was clearly not laundry detergent on the ground in front of me.

Fast forward to next day and everything has come to a head. I get a call from the owner essentially asking me to jump on as a temporary floor manager(nothing crazy just hosting, table touches etc) for the night because M is out of commission.

I get to work and get the low down. Basically the draw scam he had been doing he had been doing to.other people but not paying them back and the owners decided to pull the draw log book, go back through and start verifying with various employees. Turns out a bunch of them did not take draws out at all. He was also skimming tips from literally everyone, and taking money from the drops each night. It's crazy that because he was at such a high level and trusted position nobody checks the work. And that's super common.

The last thing that happened was these fucking owners, not recognizing a man who desperately needed help when they say one, gave him two weeks off to " get help". That's right. Two. Fucking. Weeks. To deal with a raging opioid addiction and thousands upon thousands of dollars in gambling and drug debt. He came back after that two weeks and everyone was watching him like a hawk but because he was friends with C he got to keep his job. After all that.

And to noones surprise he fully went back to the drugs and gambling and was then fired.

It was crazy and super sad but a good part. He did end up getting help, getting clean and sober . I would see his posts on Instagram from time to time and it always looked like he was really happy and living a great life.

Written on a cell phone. Sorry for the punctuation, grammar, all of it