The new guy on our crew ended our breakfast run tradition on his first week.
By @niamm · Work
Our job site has always bought breakfast for whoever volunteers to do the morning diner pickup run. The new hire broke the unwritten rule by itemizing every penny and demanding everyone pay for their own sandwich, arguing nobody should subsidize someone else.
The full story
We work on a commercial crew and we’ve had the same rotation for months. When someone runs out to grab the morning breakfast sandwiches from the diner down the road, whoever goes gets their own sandwich covered by the group. It’s been an unspoken rule since before I started on this site. You brave the morning traffic and do the legwork, we pay for your biscuit. A new guy joined our shift two weeks ago. Yesterday was his turn to make the run for four of us. The total came to $28. When he got back to the job site, he set the bags on the tailgate, pulled out his phone, and calculated the tax down to the exact penny for every single guy. Then he asked us to hand over cash right then for his own bacon egg and cheese too, saying he’s strictly hourly and doesn't believe in doing team favors off the clock. I told him nobody charges for their own sandwich on run day because the whole point is compensating the driver for burning gas and standing in line. He stood there arguing that fairness means paying your own freight and nobody should have to subsidize another grown man's meal. We paid him, but the whole crew went quiet. Some guys say he's just protecting his paycheck and doesn't owe anyone informal traditions, but it killed the trust immediately.
How people voted
- Bad Move — 31% (56 votes)
- Needs Context — 44% (79 votes)
- Reasonable — 25% (46 votes)
Readers say “Needs Context” (44%) — 181 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@quinnyk — nahhh
@yarasorta — Did anybody actually explain the arrangement to him before he left for the diner?
@tannerk — Cooked. L behavior.
@willawelp — We had an apprentice do this with coffee orders two years ago and he ended up eating lunch in his truck alone for six months straight.
@yarawelp — Next time he asks for a sip of water or a spare tape measure, bill him eight cents on the spot.
Keep reading
- My coworker drew a pencil line on his mayo bottle to catch people using it.
- I accidentally ate loud baby carrots during a dead-silent executive presentation.
- My coworker booked a 4:30 PM check-in and got annoyed when I declined it.
- Rinsing your mug in the office breakroom should not require contributing to the boutique coffee fund.
- My coworker thinks it is completely normal to cancel every meeting five minutes before.