February 22, 2024 at 2:41 am

Managers Insist A Waiter Wear A Belt At Work, So He Decides To Strap One Across His Chest “Rambo Style” To Adhere To The Dress Code

by Matthew Gilligan

Source: Reddit/AITA/@Responsible_Buy9325

Do you think restaurants need to have dress codes?

Or do you think it’s outdated and ridiculous?

Well, however you feel about this issue, one thing isn’t in doubt…you’re gonna love this story from Reddit.

Get started now!

Restaurant server dress code.

“This isn’t my story but my younger brother’s and I giggle each time I think about it.

I was bartending in a restaurant in the DFW area and I had gotten my younger brother a job there serving a few months prior. Now, let me preface this by saying we both enjoyed are jobs here and the following was just him being a smart *** and everyone involved got a great kick out of it.

Malicious compliance yes but with no ill intent.

Their brother likes to test things…

We were both on shift one night on a slow night and my brother is one to find loopholes in things to push the boundaries of what he can get away with. At the time I had been at this job for a few years now and was pretty well versed in the ins and outs of job and employee handbook.

Now, I’m not sure how he came up with this but he randomly came up to my bar top and had a question about the dress code. He asked ‘does the employee hand book say that we have to wear our belt across our waist?’

He got an idea.

Puzzled for a second I wracked my brain going through the handbook mentally (I was a trainer so I I had to go in depth with new hires about dress code, policy etc..)

After a second i said “no I don’t think it does, but it does say one is required” I saw the twinkle in his eye glimmer and he takes the belt off and straps it across his chest Rambo style.

A few minutes go by and management catches eye of his shenanigans and instructs him to put his belt on properly. He refuses and states that he has his belt and the handbook says nothing about where it has to be. Management argued it for a bit and went into the office to do some digging in the handbook.

While they were busy looking through it my brother went on business as usual, getting the occasional question from customers and he would tell them the situation. All of them enjoyed it and thought it was hilarious, the server/kitchen staff as well.

He wasn’t done yet.

Management comes back after a few minutes and says “okay you are right it doesn’t say but come on it’s a belt it goes at your waist” my brother being a smart *** says nope so he goes back and forth with management for a few minutes and at this point you could tell the floor manager was getting annoyed.

Management just kept insisting that being worn at the waist is implied because that is where belts go. Still, my brother insist that’s not the case. So management doubles down and says, “Well let’s look up the definition”

And so they do, and low and behold the definition made their jaw DROP.

Uh oh…

Per Google,

Belt— a strip of leather or other material worn around the waist or across the CHEST.

At that point they conceded defeat in good humor and he wore his belt across his chest for the remainder of his shift. We both had a good relationship with the management team and still laugh about it to this day.

Not sure if the wording ever got corrected but knowing that he got away with that in petty much every conceivable way warms my heart.”

Now let’s see how Reddit users reacted.

One reader had a similar story to tell…

Source: Reddit/AITA

This individual was a big fan of this story.

Source: Reddit/AITA

Another Reddit user had a good idea…

Source: Reddit/AITA

And this person thought this was quite humorous.

Source: Reddit/AITA

That was a good one!

You gotta love malicious compliance!

If you liked that post, check out this post about a rude customer who got exactly what they wanted in their pizza.