Restaurants and bars can be rough places to work. From grueling hours to demanding customers and coworker drama to incessant call-outs, servers and bartenders often experience burnout unlike employees in any other industry. Almost all of us have had a “menty-b” (mental breakdown) at one point or another, but have you asked for a day off when you desperately need one? Noelle is asking Yianni and Peter whether mental health is a valid reason for needing a day off and pondering questions, including:

• Do you believe in mental health days in the restaurant industry, and does it make a difference whether it’s a man or a woman asking for a break?
• As an owner, have you ever had someone ask you for a day off specifically for their mental health?
• Are we living in a society that has become “too soft?”
• Do employees work for owners, or vice versa?
• What’s the best way to help someone who is going through a mental breakdown?