A large number of people would have heard stories of employees getting back at their employers, but this really tops it all.
The story starts a few years ago when I had just enrolled in a Master’s course at Uni. Everything was like a new beginning to me, a brand new chapter in my life. I was an international student at the time and therefore not familiar with work culture, and my legal rights and responsibilities. I just knew that I had to earn my own living. It was both scary and exciting and to be in a totally foreign land was a really new experience.
Soon, after bit of searching, I found a job at a nearby restaurant. I was delighted and ready to do my best. The manager, Bill, promised me $11 per hour, so it was not bad for starters (I was told). I was asked to do trial work for some days, after which I was promised I would be “permanent”.
So I started working in the hope of becoming permanent. I later realised Bill was a real bastard. He would make me work from morning until night with only a few short breaks, no food, and the salary was promised after my probation period was over.
When the two weeks’ probation was over I had calculated in my mind that Bill owed me around $500, but when I went to Bill he told me that my work was not up to the mark and they had decided to try someone else. He handed me an envelope which had $150 in it. I demanded my money and he told me to “f@#k off” and if I didn’t, he would make a complaint to the police, and tell them that I was stealing money from the restaurant counter. One single such case might mean being deported so I swallowed the humiliation.
Weeks passed and I met a few people who had had a similar experience with Bill’s café. It turned out it was functioning mainly by employing international students on probation.
One of my friends and I devised a plan to teach Bill a lesson. We sent another friend of ours to work there. After a few days he won the trust of Bill and one day, when Bill was not there, he popped into the café and went to the storeroom where the food was stocked.
He slipped roaches and insects that he had stolen from a lab into the soup preparation, the pasta and other food items, and then left.
After a few minutes, I went in as a customer. Minutes after the deed had been done there was utter chaos in the restaurant. An old lady discovered a grasshopper in her pasta. An old man saw a roach on his bread.
The staff were apologising and Bill was called. I was told that people complained to the health authorities. The café acquired a nasty reputation and a few weeks later, as I was going to Uni, I saw a notice on the café, “Closed until further notice,” and a smile swept across my face.
When I graduated I got a good job in a bank. I have met some Bill’s in my life but I now have the confidence to deal with them because I know my rights, duties and my power as an individual.
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