Imagine working at a pizza place. You are scheduled for a certain number of hours a week, but you often get called quite frequently with your boss asking you to come in on short notice.

What would you do if the owner complained that you were working so many extra hours that you were working overtime? Would you simply refuse to work that many hours going forward, or would you want revenge?

I’m not 100% sure this is really revenge, but the person in this story decided to change how she handled her work life balance with this pizza job. After talking to a friend, she made a decision that the owner wasn’t expecting.

Let’s read all about it.

NO OVERTIME (But we want you to come in when we’re short.)

In high school I worked at a pizza place for two years.

I started out bussing tables and washing dishes.

Later I delivered pizzas and waited.

After that I learned how to make the dough, grease the pans, etc.

OP worked as much as possible.

I worked 12-15 hours per week during the school year and as much as I could in the summer.

I worked on short notice when someone didn’t show up.

I wasn’t the best employee, but I knew how to show up.

Apparently, OP was working too many hours.

My last summer there I was usually scheduled for 32 hours, but they would call me in a lot.

One payday I got my check –and a lecture from the owner– because I worked 56 hours in one week. He explained that they did not want to pay overtime so I needed to keep track and inform the manager if I was over 40 hours. [Well, that sucks.]

The next week I was scheduled for 12 hours.

I talked to the manager, who told me not to worry because I would be the first one they would call if they needed someone to cover a shift.

This is annoying.

“Why don’t you just schedule me for 40 hours and call someone else in?”

“Because we know you will come if we need you.”

I only worked about 20 hours that week.

OP decided to stop being so flexible.

I was complaining about it to a friend, who hooked me up with a job at another restaurant. They agreed to work around my pizza schedule.

Despite a dozen calls, I never worked another unscheduled shift at the pizza place.

The manager asked me why I quit coming in and I told him I found another job.

I probably hurt myself more than I hurt them but it felt good to tell them I was busy when they called.

It sounds like working two jobs with a predictable schedule was better than having to hope someone would call out so OP could fill in.

Let’s see how Reddit responded.

This person thinks the owner really messed up.

Another person explains how the manager should’ve handled it.

This person rephrased something the owner said.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a craft store customer who refuses to take no for an answer when it comes to wrapping his purchases for gifts.

Another person shares how they handled a similar situation.

It sounds like she was an amazing employee. The owner never should’ve reprimanded her for working so many hours. He should’ve talked to the manager instead. It should be the manager’s job to keep track of how many hours she has already worked so he can make sure she doesn’t work overtime if it’s really that important.

I thinks she did the right thing.