14.08.2026 14:30
The response a supermarket employee received from his manager when asking for a few hours off to attend his cousin's wedding caused a stir on social media. The store manager, who rejected the request saying, 'She's not a first-degree relative,' drew widespread backlash with the words, 'A wedding can be missed, but a customer won't wait. You'd better adopt that mindset.'
The strict rules in working life and permission dialogues continue to be discussed on social media. Finally, a WhatsApp conversation between a staff member named Melisa, who is understood to work at a chain supermarket, and her manager about her cousin's wedding astonished those who saw it.
"SHE IS NOT A FIRST-DEGREE RELATIVE, WHY ARE YOU EVEN ASKING?"
The employee, who sent her cousin's wedding invitation to her manager and requested a few hours of leave, encountered an unexpectedly harsh attitude. The manager, who rejected the leave request, used the following words in his message: "You don't have to go to this. She is not your first-degree relative, why are you even asking when you know there is no leave? I don't distribute special leave here just because someone's cousin is getting married."
"A WEDDING CAN BE MISSED, BUT A CUSTOMER NEVER ESCAPES"
When the employee insisted, stating that she could swap her shift with another colleague and that she wanted to be with her family, saying "Is there no chance you can grant leave at all?", the advice given by the manager ignited the debate. The employee, who covered the insulting messages in between and shared the screenshot, was left speechless by her manager's final response: "A wedding can be missed, but a customer never escapes; you better have that mentality."
REACTIONS POURED IN ON SOCIAL MEDIA
After the screenshots spread online, many users reacted to the store manager's approach. Social media users, who criticized prioritizing customer focus over employee rights and human situations, made comments like "There is no empathy left in working life."