The Worst Work Day

Have you ever had a bad experience in the work place? Having worked in various restaurants, I’ve had quite a few myself. You’re probably wondering what kind of restaurants I’ve worked in. Am I right or not? After all, the type of establishment will usually, although not always, determine the kind of crew one will have to work with; not to mention management. When I think of fast food, thoughtless employees and big headed managers often come to mind. I would not have expected that from a modish restaurant. Yep! that’s right, my most horrible experience was in an old folks country steakhouse and buffet.

My past experiences at this steakhouse were certainly not memorable ones, until this particular day, when it had reached a breaking point. That was a day when I really wished I would have called off. I know, that’s not exactly the right thing to do, but had I done so, the results would have been far better. How was I to know that I would lose my job that day? You go in; you put forth your best effort, but sometimes it just doesn’t pay out.

It all started that Saturday morning when I was mopping the kitchen floor. It was about 11:15am; a very busy hour indeed. That’s the time when everything’s a hustle. Everyone running amuck trying to keep up with an ever growing lunch crowd, while I’m hustling n bustling around them with a wet mop. Makes it kind of hard not to bump into someone. And I wish I wouldn’t have. Bumping into Luigi turned out to be more than a simple apology. “Don’t touch my ass!” I heard him say as I mopped past him.
“What did you say?“ I asked.
“Never mind,” said Luigi as he went about his business. I just looked at Erika like what was that all about? She was one of the managers that morning.

When I had finished my maintenance at about 11:30, Amanda, who was the store manager, had called me into the office. I walked in. “Yes,” I said. “
“Take a seat,” she replied.
I knew then I was probably in some kind of trouble. Usually when the manager calls you into the office, it’s not good news. Besides, the look on Amanda’s face was not very approving.
“Did you change the trash in the ladies room this morning?” she asked.
“No. They were only a quarter of the way full.”
“So, you haven’t been changing them of a morning?”
“Not every morning. No,” I said wondering what the problem was.
“Well, they need to be changed every morning. They stink! If the health department comes in and sees that, we could be fined.”
“Ok, I apologize. Is there anything else?”
“Yes, she said, “Luigi told me that you touched him below the waist. Is this true?”
“No,” I said, a bit perplexed by the accusation..
“Well Erika seems to think you did.”
“Well, I might have bumped into him, but I honestly did not touch him there.”
“So you did touch him?” she disputed..
“If I did, it was unintentional. I‘m just trying to do my job.”
Amanda warned me if it happened again, I would be fired. I was of course upset, but I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to lose my job.

After my talk with Amanda, I went ahead and changed the trash in the ladies room before making my way to dish. Amanda wanted me to help out in there because Mikee was having a hard time keeping up. I would rather have gone home, but by the looks of things, that simply wasn’t an option. Dish was a mess. There were dirty pans of hardened food scattered everywhere. There wasn’t a single place for servers to unload their dishes. That’s what happens when the three sinks are down; and it’s a madhouse rush..

So there I am scrubbing away wondering when Mikee’s going to unload the machine. He’s everywhere but not where I need him to be. Finally I said, “Mikee, I need you to unload the machine, so I can get these pans run through.“ However, my instructions did not seem to speed him up any. I still had pans stacked a mile high, and dishes were coming in by the handfuls. I was starting to get a bit nervous. I couldn’t understand why Mikee was only unloading one rack at a time. Why not unload both racks, and run those dishes while the next load is in? I thought. Now I know the guys got a handicap, but I thought, this is ridiculous. I couldn’t seem to get Mikee to understand what I needed him to do. As a result, we were falling even further behind.

This certainly did not go unnoticed by the crew who were already complaining over the mounting pile of dishes. Their belittling remarks I scarcely heard over the constant clanging of pots and pans. Usually you can’t hear anything with all that racket. However, when you’re the subject of an ill conversation, suddenly you can hear everything loud and clear. Myra, of course, the wannabe manager, made sure I heard every word she said. “It’s ridiculous the two of you can’t get things caught up,” she remarked as she made her way over to my area. “Move,“ she said. “Let me show you how to load dishes.”
As if I needed instruction, I thought. “I know how to spray off dishes! Can‘t ya see that Mikee’s the one slowing us down?”
“You're not even doing anything!” She remarked. “You need to get moving!” That was easy for her to say. She didn’t have to wash stacks of pans, most of which had dry food stuck to the bottom. No need to mention all the dishes were piling up around me. Despite all this, it was pointless to argue with her.

By the time Myra finished exerting herself, it was already half past noon. At that point, I was bound and determined to get caught up. I was tired of the nonsense, and I wanted to go home. I wanted to be out of there by one. And for a bit there, it seemed like that might just be possible; however, it wasn’t very long before the crew started complaining of dirty dishes. No big deal, I thought. I’m just not scrubbing them enough. I was trying my best to think positive at this point, yet despite my best efforts, more and more dishes were being returned with more of the same belittling remarks.
Suddenly, Myra yells for us to stop. “What now?” I asked. Already irritated by her bickering nonsense. “You guys aren’t even using any soap!” She remarks. Sure enough, she was right. Why, I thought, was everything working against me?

Myra left as soon as Mikee and I changed out the empty soap bucket. I assumed she went to management, so I was trying to find something to say to smooth all this over. I didn’t want to lose my job. A few minutes later, like I expected, Amanda walks in on a war path. “Why were you washing without soap!” She demanded, her hands firmly on her hips.
“I didn’t realize we were out. I’ve been trying to get these pans scrubbed.”
“Without soap!” She exclaimed
I kept telling her that I didn’t know we were out of soap. I knew she was trying to accuse me. You’re right, she wanted a reason to fire me. So for the next ten minutes, Amanda stood there with her arms crossed supervising my every move. “I want those pans rewashed,” she said pointing to the stack of previously washed dishes. “And I want this mess cleaned up,” she insisted. She went on to tell me that if it was not done in the next half hour, I would be fired. I realized there was no way I could get caught up in that short of time. It was already 12:48. I objected, “If you would just stop and consider the situation, you would realize things aren’t exactly routine here.”
“Are you disrespecting me?”
“Yes I am!” I said. "If you don’t think I can do the damn job, then find someone else that can!”
“Clock out and go home. You’re fired.”
That was fine with me. I had had it..

A pretty bad experience wouldn't you agree? Your right, I probably should not have back talked the manager. However, I feel I made a valid point. I guess I should have written a report rather than getting mouthy. That would have gotten me much further. Had I done that, I probably would not have lost my job. Even if I did, I could have appealed through my chain of command and possibly gotten my job back. I could have gotten unemployment compensation. I could have gotten a lot of things. But since I didn’t write a report, I didn’t have any of those options. However, I became a respected Security Officer soon after this. I have learned that integrity may lose you battles, but it will most likely win you the war.
















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