How did the waitresses - and Mel, for that matter - start early and work all day including the dinner shift and weekends too? that doesn't make sense.

Mel is so mean to them yet they all go on vacation together and to shows and ball games and such. Really? No way.

I just watched the episode where they all went to Vegas together. LOL, no way would they go with Mel. He is a tyrant!

Maybe they didnt take anything personally he said......

How did the waitresses - and Mel, for that matter - start early and work all day including the dinner shift and weekends too? that doesn't make sense.

Mel is so mean to them yet they all go on vacation together and to shows and ball games and such. Really? No way.

I always thought the diner was closed on the weekends, which seemed odd to me. I thought on Sat and Sun is when Mel would have the waitresses to come in and take inventory in the store room

And I agree that Mel is mean, but WHERE could you have a job and tell your boss to "kiss your grits" or call him a "horse's patoot" and not get fired?! lol I know at any job I've worked, you even look at the boss the wrong way and they get all "boss-like" and mutter something like, "Well I guess I'm gonna have to get my Help Wanted sign out"

Maybe they didnt take anything personally he said......

I guess that's true.

I believe the diner was closed Sundays, and that the ladies' regular schedule was Monday-Saturday.

Yeah made you believe that they never had a day off which seemed odd that someone would be in that situation for so many years

There is an episode where the girls strike. They mention they do inventory on Sun. They don't get paid for it for whatever reason, this would seem Sun the diner is closed. There is also an episode where Mel and the girls get locked in the storeroom and he mentions closing on Sun cause the area is dead on Sun.
There are other mentions throughout the show that suggest they are closed Sun.

There are also several references in the show that suggest they have various morning shift times. They all seem to work lunch to close but breakfast varies.
For instance Flo lives with Alice early on and she wants to stay up late but Alice has to go in early but Flo doesn't.

As.for the vacations, it's usually agreed upon by chance. I think someone won a trip for 2 but not being able to choose they opted for 4 cheaper vacation tickets. Different scenarios but always the same basic premise with the group vacations. It never seemed they actually planned a group trip but by chances they ended up with group vacations.

Mel might not have always been nice to them but several.times it is alluded to or mentioned they all actually love him like family.