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‘Run’: TikToker says restaurant manager asked why he didn’t work as server March 2020-2021 during job interview

‘Sometimes people don’t use their brain.’

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Cecilia Lenzen

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A New York City server put restaurants on TikTok blast after one hiring manager asked him a question during a job interview. 

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The server, known as James Tison or user @james_tison on TikTok, evidently had a gap on his resume from March 2020 to March 2021. And the hiring manager “had the nerve” to ask why. 

Tison’s TikTok garnered nearly 170,000 views as of Thursday. He has about 52,000 followers on the platform. 

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Of course, during the period from March 2020 to March 2021, the world was in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, and the U.S. was facing various work restrictions due to social distancing guidelines and stay-at-home orders. And New York implemented stricter guidelines, which lasted longer than the guidelines in other more politically conservative states. 

During such times, it must have been hard for a restaurant server to find or keep a job in NYC. And if Tison could have found a job, he would have had to weigh the health risks associated with working in such a high traffic industry. 

But Tison isn’t alone in his confusion. Several viewers commented saying they have had similar experiences during recent job interviews. 

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Other viewers also called out hiring managers for asking such a question. 

“Sometimes people don’t use their brain,” one viewer commented. 

Another user said, “I mean I know people think the pandemic is over but I thought it’d be a while longer before they forgot it ever happened.”

“I just KNOW this restaurant broke every covid guideline,” someone else wrote. 

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Various viewers urged Tison to ditch the interview, saying he didn’t need to work for an establishment that would ask a question like that. 

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“Run,” was all one user had to say. 

User @james_tison did not respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment. 

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