I have a decade of experience as a fine dining bartender and server. A nursing home posted an ad for fine dining servers. The job entails waiting tables at a public restaurant within a memory care facility. It pays 18 an hour and does not allow tips. The industry typically pays 40-50 an hour including tips in my area. However, the nursing home offers benefits and is in a very convenient location. There is also room to move up in the company.

At the interview the manager explained how desperate they’ve been to find qualified employees and were excited to get my resume. He told me how exhausted he is because he is working 50 hours a week because he has no support. I explained that I can work all holidays (they are open 365 days a year). The trade off was my wife and I have a 3 week trip planned in January (typically the slowest time of year here). The interview went great, and he basically wanted to hire me on the spot. I just needed to make an account on their website and fill out an application. When reading the fine print, it indicated that they require 10 hours of training courses unpaid, which is a topic for another time.

Upper management decided not to hire me because I wanted 3 weeks off. I mean COME ON! Read the room you dolts. You pay half or less of the going rate for the job and are working your manager to death. When will corporations wake up and figure out the world has changed? I’m not giving a nursing home my entire soul for 18 bucks an hour. It’s insane!