It’s no secret that a lot of people are quitting their jobs right now, but the sheer numbers of what some are calling The Great Resignation makes it easy to forget that just about every case of this has its own story behind it.
Although some former employees simply found a better opportunity elsewhere, there are no shortage of cases in which a resignation happened after long period in which a worker felt used and unappreciated for all they did.
But sometimes, we can see that people could point to one specific incident that made them quit. And while that sometimes comes down to a bizarre policy they never encountered anywhere else, we can also see that some managers are unwilling to let employees miss a shift even in matters of life and death.
And while that’s not quite what happened in one woman’s tragic situation, the conversation that resulted from her unfortunate news left a lot to be desired.
Be advised that the video featured in this article contains explicit language and a photo that may disturb some viewers.
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In late November, a woman named Hillary Zinks explained that she is both a makeup artist for films and a server at a restaurant.
While she was on set, she received a call informing her that her sister was in a coma and could die at any moment.
She would have to take an eight-hour drive to Las Vegas to be with her and her boss excused her immediately, saying that no job is more important than a life.
But as we can see here, the response from her supervisor at her other job came off as more suspicious.
And while this supervisor affirmed that she felt compassion for her situation, her reply after learning that she left for Vegas at 1 am didn’t seem to indicate that for Zinks.
As she showed in her video, the paragraph that went into how hard her absence would be for the others working that day either suggested to Zinks that the supervisor either didn’t believe her or that she was nonetheless trying to guilt trip her.
As she said, “I am driving and this is all I can think about. I am fuming.”
And while her initial response was to tell her to put on a server’s uniform herself if that was so concerning for her and to read the room, she eventually decided to treat this as a wake-up call.
By that, she meant that she was quitting and she went on to send a photo next to her sister from the hospital.
As we can see in the TikTok available here, this photo saw her use her sister’s hand to flip off the supervisor.
This was an action that horrified some of her otherwise sympathetic viewers, but also one that others quickly figured was likely influenced by grief.
But while this would normally be the end of the story, Zinks posted a follow-up video that showed the situation became more complicated than she expected.
In the follow-up, this supervisor shared a tragedy she had gone through in recent years and apologized for anything that suggested she wasn’t taking Zinks’ situation seriously.
Zinks also sent a message telling the restaurant owner she was quitting, and this person replied with an understanding message.
However, he also got in touch with her again a few days later to inform her that the supervisor was no longer working there and that Zinks could have her job back whenever she was comfortable working again.
In response, Zinks said that it was never her intention for the woman to lose her job and that she forgave her.
That said, she did hope that conversation led her to take a step back and learn how to deal with a future employee’s bereavement.
