Burger King cook and cashier Kevin Ford was happy to receive a small goody bag from management as a reward for never calling in sick. But people on the internet were less thrilled. They believed Ford deserved more — over $400,000 more.

Last May, Ford was given a coffee cup, a movie ticket, some candy and few other small items for working over 20 years at Burger King without ever using a sick day, meaning he never took time off unexpectedly.

“I was happy to get this because I know not everyone gets something,” said Ford, who works at the Burger King in Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas.

Ford, a big believer in appreciating small gestures in life, showed off the goody bag on TikTok. The video went viral, partly because people were outraged on his behalf.

While many on social media said they respected Ford’s work ethic and positive attitude, they also argued that he deserved more than a bag of treats for prioritizing his job over his health.

That led his daughter, Seryna, to start a GoFundMe campaign last June in hopes of raising some money for her father to visit his grandchildren in Texas.

x-posted from /r/antiwork by /u/reddit007user

  • Doug [he/him]@midwest.social
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    10 months ago

    This should come up whenever someone says you just need to work hard to succeed and get a better job than fast food.

    This man has grandchildren and hasn’t missed a day in 20 years. He’s not a teenager. He’s not lazy. He’s a real person who has worked his ass off, probably more every day than a lot of CEOs in a month.

    And I bet he’s still happily making your lunch.

    • Screwthehole@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      He got sick on his days off like a real man. Didn’t take a personal day because he was feeling low. Did his job, earning for the man. And he fucking deserved that candy!

      • thefartographer
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        10 months ago

        The Burger King looking at the $400k they weren’t given:
        “Damn, that was some expensive-ass candy…”

  • Custoslibera@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    What do you expect? Burger King is just a small struggling independent mum and pop restaurant.

    They’re not a multibillion dollar international conglomerate that can afford to pay workers to have sick leave.

  • unalivejoy
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    10 months ago

    Some may think he’s a hard worker. I think he’s a sick worker.

    • cubedsteaks@lemmy.today
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      10 months ago

      they have the most annoying commercials ever and I hate that I go to a bar and have to suffer through them while watching sports. Like I can’t even ad block there.

      I usually don’t like to advocate for violence but gooood I want to spit on whoever came up with their most recent ad campaign.

  • AngryHumanoid@reddthat.com
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    10 months ago

    Jeez I didn’t know it was 20 years. I can see a small reward for a few years or something but that paltry of a reward after 20 years…

    • notceps [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      10 months ago

      Honestly no the older I get the more I am against ‘rewarding hard work’ because in praxis it always comes down to people getting pressured to do things that will inevitably fuck over their body or cause other complications down the line. Construction workers that ‘work hard’ by carrying two sacks of cement instead of just the one then later complaining about back problems or slipping and seriously injuring themselves. People working shifts without proper periods between them wrecking their sleep hygenie and getting astronomically higher stroke risk as a result the list goes on. Workplace injuries and complications are almost always down to either social pressure to ‘work hard and hustle’ or a shitty boss that just ignores labour laws.

      It’s not on workers to work harder it’s on management to hire more people.

  • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    10 months ago

    SEE? SEE? BECAUSE ONE PERSON LUCKED OUT OF THE EXPECTED MISERY AND TOIL THAT’S PROOF THE STATUS QUO IS FINE AND GETTING BETTER

    soypoint-1 /r/UpliftingNews soypoint-2