Clear communication makes all the difference in the workplace.

This man was working full-time at a pharmacy during his summer break.

His lunch break was constantly delayed because his reliever wouldn’t come in on time.

His manager blamed him for disrupting the schedule and told him to go back to the register at exactly 12:30 pm.

When he followed her instructions to the letter, immediate chaos happened.

Read the full story below for all the details.

Talk to the Hand

In the late 80s, I was asked to work at my pharmacy job full-time during summer break from college.

I was the only young full-time worker.

And the only male among a clique of mom-to-grandma-aged women.

We were mostly working mothers’ hours.

This man waited for his reliever before taking his lunch break.

My half-hour lunch was supposed to start at noon.

But for some reason, my relief just wouldn’t show up no matter how often I paged them.

Fifteen minutes turned into a half hour, then an hour or more.

It didn’t bother me, so I didn’t complain about it.

The store manager called him out for screwing up everyone’s break schedule.

That first Friday, I finally got to break a little after 1 pm.

The store manager came in.

She started telling me she has had multiple complaints that I had been screwing up everyone’s break schedule.

And how disappointed she was in me.

I tried to tell her that my relief was not showing up.

The store manager put her hand in front of his face.

She actually did the hand thing where she just put her hand in my face and said:

“Starting next week, I want you back on main register at 12:30 sharp. No excuses!”

So next Monday, I started paging my relief at quarter before 12.

At five before 12, I called for second or backup register.

She was surprised since there was only one customer.

At 12 noon, he closed the main register and started his lunch break.

I told her to open second register.

I closed the main register, locked my drawer in the office, and punched out right at noon sharp.

About ten minutes later, the store manager came running into the break room in a panic.

She asked why main register is closed.

There was a line and, more importantly, “Why was the main register closed?”

Here’s how their conversation went.

Me: On Friday, you told me I had to be off main register at noon sharp. No excuses!

SM: That’s not what I said!

Me: Did you say starting next week I have to be back on main register at 12:30 sharp. No excuses?

SM: Yes! That’s what I said!

The store manager was left speechless.

Me: And is my break a half-hour long?

SM: …

SM: Can you please punch back in and take care of the line? I’ll find your relief.

My relief showed up at five to noon for the rest of the summer.

Let’s read the responses of other people to this story.

Good for you, says this one.

This user shares their personal thoughts.

Short and simple.

This person gives their honest opinion.

Finally, people are telling him he did a good job.

Treat your employees with respect and you’ll earn their cooperation, not just compliance.

In a perfect world, anyway.

If you liked this post, check out this story about an employee who got revenge on a co-worker who kept grading their work suspiciously low.