'How to train your boss': Bartender secretly trains her boss, who's always late, to come on time

Editor's note: This article was originally published on March 14, 2022. It has since been updated.

A good boss leads by example and this helps set the work culture for the employees. It's entirely normal for a boss to expect their employees to be on time, but it's a little hypocritical if they don't follow it themselves. A bartender revealed their boss rarely made it to work on time. The bartender decided to turn the tables on their boss who was always late and it went exactly as planned. The bartender shared the story on Reddit, titling the post: "I’ve been making my boss think interviewees were leaving because of her tardiness."

"So my boss seems to think punctuality is a requirement of everyone but herself," they wrote. "Whenever we have interviews lined up she tells me to make note of anyone who shows up late (I don’t because I literally don’t care). Usually, she is in the back office or hasn’t even arrived yet and she just calls to tell me what times the interviews are for. I’ve noticed, however, that more often than not SHE is the one who is late. The hypocrisy just really gets to me."

She decided to take matters into her own hands after one potential hire was made to wait over 40 minutes, during which time, the boss had made coffee for herself, spoke to the chef about something that wasn't urgent in any way possible and even had a chat a customer/acquaintance, before finally sitting down to conduct the interview. "He did not accept the job when she contacted him to start training. Shocking."

"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. 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 up at the scheduled time. (I know she doesn’t have the backbone to actually follow up with any of them, so I’m not worried about getting caught). Her attitude has gone from “Well they must not want a job that badly then, we don’t need them” (lmao, we really do) to “Why are they leaving so quickly, I was just running a few minutes behind” Eyeroll," they wrote.

She then took it up a notch. "I had one woman waiting for about 10 mins before I told her “Look, the boss is on her way but I don’t blame you if you want to leave, why to respect her time if she doesn’t respect yours.” She laughed and was like, 'Okay, why don’t I head to my car, if she gets here before I’ve left the area she can call me, and maybe I’ll come back.' This would have been the sixth time an interview 'left.' So when my boss arrived 5 mins later, I told her she could still call and try to catch her. I got to listen to my boss grovel on the phone about how sorry she was and she would still love to do the interview if the potential hire could make it back etc."

"The woman came back but definitely had a not-to-be-f*cked with a look on her face and again my boss had to kiss a$$ and tried to laugh it off all. 'Omg, you know how Monday morning traffic can be hehehe.' And without blinking this chick goes 'Yeah, totally, that’s why I left extra early today, so I could be here on time,' they wrote. "My boss gave a sheepish chuckle and said something like, 'Great, so we know you’re responsible' I had to duck behind the bar so she wouldn’t see me shaking with silent laughter."

The bartender soon noticed a shift in the boss' behavior. She is never late and is more respectful to potential hires. "It has been hilarious watching her rush out all welcoming and, 'Can I get you a water, coffee? Make yourself comfortable and I’ll be right there!' She’s actually managed to hire some of the best candidates who had applied. Now, I’m brainstorming other ways to train my boss."

Reddit was in awe of her plan and for having the daring to actually pull it off. "Imagine having to train your own boss like some pavlov-esque psychology thing. Just goes to show just how important they actually are. Also the irony of..... "No one wants to work!" Shows up late to finding someone for work," wrote one user. Another user commented, "So you mean she lays around not doing anything, thinks she is better than everyone else and hoards a large amount of money?"