14 Waitresses Reveal the Worst Thing That Ever Happened to Them on the Job

Anyone who's worked in the service industry has had to deal with more crap from customers and bosses than anyone ever should. So when Cosmopolitan.com asked 14 current and former waitresses about the worst experience they had on the job, they had a lot of grievances to air:

1. "When I used to work for a catering company, clients regularly touched me and called me 'sweetie.' When you've been working a nine-hour shift, sweetie just goads me on. I worked at another place where an employee tickled female employees at the chef's pass. When a few of us confronted our boss, he gave him 'a talking to.' He still works there; none of us do." —Brooke, 22

2. "My boss slapped my butt or massaged my legs in front of clients. I was standing by the door once making sure there wasn't anything to do outside, and he was sitting on the floor and started rubbing my legs." —Isabel, 21

3. "When I was throwing cups into the dishwasher, two guys at the bar were trying to get my attention and I continued to ignore them and do my own thing. They then replied to my silence by saying it was hot and oriental how I was being silent and submissive. I immediately left that section to do something else elsewhere in the restaurant." —Susie, 22

4. "One time a baby threw up at the table and the parents left without telling us/cleaning it up themselves/asking for a rag/being courteous about it in any way. And it was an 8-top. THANKS, PARENTS, FOR THE WARNING." —Alix, 22

5. "I used to work Sunday buffets and a lot of people came there right after church so I would get multiple booklets on why God is our savior instead of a monetary tip." —Ellie, 22

6. "I took care of a table of my boss's friends for hoouuurs, then he ran to grab their check as soon as they left. He took my tip (biggest of the night/most nights), and when I called him out on it he yelled at me in front of the entire restaurant. I was 16!!!! Another time I had an exam and he wouldn't let me off to study, finally said I could leave an hour earlier. He wouldn't let me leave, even when my dad finally came in to tell him he seriously needed to let me GTFO." —Jacki, 21

7. "(A) A group of 27 left me a $1 tip. (B) Someone left a dirty diaper under the table." —Ellise, 22

8. "One night, our entire line [of cooking staff] walked out because they were so sick of the management, but we were supposed to be open the next morning for brunch. Our owner was so greedy that he refused to close until we could find new staff, so he opened for brunch the next morning with no kitchen staff and, like, three servers. He was cooking with one of our bus boys and it was HORRIBLE. I even told a few people that they should probably just go to the Mexican restaurant across the street. The pancakes were like pizza dough, and they couldn't poach eggs so our benedicts were disgusting, and UGH, it was not the best." —Madison, 19

9. "I waited on this family of six people who were known as regular non-tippers. They came during the dinnertime rush hour and always ordered a bunch of waters because they brought their own Mio to flavor the water. The kids were monsters, and were running up and down the dining room, screaming and yelling. None of the adults got up to get the kids and would just yell from the table for them to quiet down. [...] They ordered a lot of food and then complained about how expensive their bill was. At the end, they wanted to pay for everything separately [...], and of course there was hardly any money for a tip. After they left, there were all kinds of scraps on the floor, like bones and rib pieces and random pieces of silverware. Later on, I also found out they left a dirty diaper in our parking lot." —Shirley, 23

10. "I don't know if it's the worst or the most awkward, but once a guy asked me to change a channel on one of the TVs, and after I did, he grabbed my head and smelled it. Like deeply inhaled and tried to guess what shampoo I used. I was in total shock and didn't know what to do so I ran away!" —Taylor, 23

11. "When I was a host, I had a very drunk couple stand up and start making out with each other across the table. So, that was a thing. I also once went to pick up a napkin and it EXPLODED with ranch. I think someone spilled a ramekin of it, but instead of telling me, they just swept it up in a nondescript napkin." —Jillian, 22

12. "I once got yelled at in front of a bunch of customers by a man who wouldn't leave me alone until I gave him an estimated wait time for a table, even after I told him multiple times that we really couldn't guess during our brunch rush. Once it was one minute past my estimate, he started yelling at me saying I was a liar and asking me why I had lied to him, etc. I ended up being able to seat him a minute later, but he told my boss I had lied to him and that he should talk to me about it. His wife apologized to me and thankfully my boss knew it wasn't my fault, so it ended up being fine, but it was definitely a low of an otherwise wonderful experience." —Karley, 22

13. "I think this guy uses our bathroom to jerk off sometimes. He always asks for the Wi-Fi password and take his iPad in with him. So that makes me a little itchy." —Kelsie, 22

14. "I was behind the bar rushing to make a customer a cappuccino and as I was steaming the milk, I turned my head toward the door because two more customers came in. I tried to turn the steam off as I said hello and welcome from behind the counter, but I turned it the knob the wrong way — I had turned the steam as high as it could go, and every drop that was in the metal cup sprayed everywhere. I was covered in steaming hot milk and so were the customers at the bar seats closest to me. It was mortifying and I was so worried they were going to freak. Luckily one girl laughed and said, 'We've all been there!' I smelled like sour milk for the rest of my shift but I survived." —Chloe, 23