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It’s fair to say that a big part of our enjoyment of our workplace has to do with our colleagues. Because in every workplace, regardless of what you do and how much you are paid, there are good days and bad days. And on those bad days, having colleagues who you actually like – decent people who will lift your spirits, or at least have a moan with you – can be everything, can spur you on and help you feel a lot better about the hundreds of hours a month you spend doing your job.

If, conversely, like the guy in this story you work with lazy, unmotivated folk who take no pride or enthusiasm in their work, things can get really depressing, really fast. Nevertheless, this chef worked really hard to improve things at his workplace, putting a lot of work into finessing their recipes and ensuring that they generate as little waste as possible. And yet, his colleagues went on being lazy, to the point that he found work elsewhere – and took something crucial with him.

Read on to find out what happened.

AITA for not wanting lazy people I work with to benefit from my hard work?

So I currently work at this restaurant, and I do prep work and make the ticket orders that come in – you know, normal stuff.

Well we have recipes for everything that we make, and we make a lot from scratch for being what some would consider “fast food”.

Now as a chef, it is my job to not only put out good quality food, but to make sure we are limiting out waste as much as possible.

So I took it upon myself to go through about a dozen recipes and scale then down to fit our needs at this location.

Let’s see how this worked out for the chef.

This was a lot of work and a lot of math on my part.

Now there are only three other people (this includes the manager) besides me in this kitchen, and they are some of the laziest people ever.

For example, they will 86 an item instead of walking the ten or so feet to the walk in to grab something.

Or on days I don’t work, they will tell customers we’re out of something just so they don’t have to make it, and they push it on to me the next day.

Finally he quit, and what he took with him shocked everyone.

So now that that’s in perspective, was I wrong for throwing away all the recipes I scaled down on my last day of work?

Because I feel like, after eight months of being the only person who can prep, rotate product, ensure product gets ordered (and I’m not even a manger), etc., that they should have to do their own math to figure out smaller recipes.

AITA?

It’s great that this guy has left this workplace because clearly they don’t value how much effort he’s put into the job.

Of course, when you’re this lazy, you’re unlikely to value anything, even your excellent colleagues, until they’re gone.

Hopefully he’s found a new job where people actually respect his time and effort.

Let’s see what folk on Reddit thought about this.

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This person thought that, sadly, this was typical of plenty of workers.

While others thought he should try to make some additional money from his hard work.

Meanwhile, this Redditor explained how to avoid legal trouble.

So long as the restaurant don’t have some kind of small print legal claim on the recipes, he’s totally right to take them with him. In fact, they’re quite likely his own intellectual property, something that they should pay for if they want to keep. He did all that work off his own back, on top of his regular workload, and wasn’t paid additionally for it – and the restaurant saved a lot of money on waste as a result. They should absolutely be more grateful towards him – but given the manager is among the lazy staff members, that tells you a lot about how they’re actually likely to react.

It’s a shame that he had this experience at a workplace where, seemingly, he was the only member of staff that was actually motivated to do their job. Let’s hope that his new workplace showed a little more appreciation for his highly motivated work ethic, as well as his resourcefulness – because plenty of folk would pay highly for such attributes in their staff.

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Author

Kyra Piperides

Kyra Piperides, PhD | Contributing Science Writer

Dr. Kyra Piperides is a contributing writer for TwistedSifter, specializing in Science & Discovery. Holding a PhD in English with a dedicated focus on the intersections of science, politics, and literature, she brings over 12 years of professional writing and editorial expertise to her reporting.

Kyra possesses a highly authoritative background in academic publishing, having served as the editor of an academic journal for three years. She is also the published author of two books and numerous research-driven articles. At TwistedSifter, she leverages her rigorous academic background to translate complex scientific concepts, global tech innovations, and environmental breakthroughs into highly engaging, accessible narratives for a mainstream audience.

Based in the UK, Kyra is an avid backpacker who spends her free time immersing herself in different cultures across distant shores—a passion that brings a rich, global perspective to her writing about Earth and nature.

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