When you’re a bride, the last thing you want to think about on your big day is your job. One Texas Roadhouse server didn’t have that privilege on her wedding day after she received a call minutes before walking down the aisle.
In a viral TikTok, Sabra (@sabrateel) reveals how the steakhouse chain she worked at tried to make her day all about them. She shares her story, which earned more than 100,000 views, about the time her workplace wouldn’t respect her time off.
Sabra says she worked at Texas Roadhouse “briefly” in 2022, but it was enough time to see what type of establishment it was. Two months before her wedding, Sabra says she got hired. During the interview process, Sabra says she was very clear that she would be off during her wedding weekend. At the time, she says management told her they don’t do traditional time off requests. Instead, servers put up their shifts to be taken by others. When Sabra replied that she would take time off regardless of whether someone else picked up her shifts, she was told that someone “surely” would pick them up.
The week of her wedding, she reminded her manager about her time off.
“Did you put your shifts up?” the manager asked her. When Sabra replied that she had, but nobody was taking them, the manager said, “Hopefully someone picks up your shifts.”
Sabra left for her wedding weekend on Friday as planned (because why would someone miss their wedding for a job). However, she still received a call on Friday afternoon from her manager asking her where she was.
“I’m not going to be there today, I’m on my way to my wedding,” Sabra recalls telling her. She says the manager sighed, said “OK” and hung up.
It doesn’t end there
Sabra’s ceremony was scheduled to start at 3:30pm, and her shift was scheduled for 3pm. At 3:10, she says she saw her Texas Roadhouse manager once again calling her. Not wanting to deal with her, Sabra handed the phone to her sister.
“Where is Sabra? She had a shift that started 10 minutes ago,” the manager purportedly told the sister.
“My sister said, ‘She’s walking down the aisle in like 15 minutes so she’s not coming in’ and then she hung up on my manager…obviously,” Sabra says.
The TikToker concludes that she didn’t “last much longer after that.”
Viewers criticize Texas Roadhouse for inflexibility
Many viewers took Sabra’s side, calling out restaurants for expecting the impossible out of service industry workers.
“And people wonder why younger generations don’t have loyalty to companies,” a top comment read. “Life, family, and friends will always be more important than any workplace.”
A second wrote, “Retail and food service industry is like,’Oh my God I am so sorry your mom died, can you be here in 15?’”
Some user shared their own experiences working in the food industry.
“When I was 17 I worked at McDonalds and I requested off for spring break because I was going to be in Florida at Disney World for a choir trip and I got a call while in line for Haunted Mansion asking if I could come in,” one said.
Another wrote, “Village Inn threatened to fire me if I didn’t come into work when I had INFLUENZA-INDUCED PNEUMONIA. Like, y’all…most of my customers are elderly people.”
Servers and their struggles working in the restaurant industry
Waiting tables takes a heavy toll on servers’ mental health as they deal with emotional labor and stress. Not only that, but with the debate on tipping culture reaching a fever pitch, servers feel like they have to work harder now more than ever.
Contrary to many customers’ beliefs, it’s not just about the money. Studies show that workers who earn a living through tips have poorer mental health compared to those who don’t. In one study by the School of Public Health at Oregon Health & Science University, the authors found that aspects of tipped service work “have direct consequences,” including both physical and emotional harm. One of the results revealed that “women in tipped service work had significantly higher odds of reporting depression.”
This comes as no susprise, as female servers now feel compelled to take the time to wear makeup or style their hair in a certain way to earn more tips. Others feel resentment when they receive little to no gratuity for their service, leading them to take revenge on customers.
@sabrateel #texasroadhouse #server #storytime #fyp ♬ original sound – Sabra
The Mary Sue reached out to Sabra via TikTok direct message and to Texas Roadhouse via email.
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