Dumb Things

Why do people do dumb things?  Why do I do dumb things?  Why do employees do dumb things?  I know I have my fair share of boneheaded moments and I often do some very dumb things.  That is part of life and so maybe I should just let this go but I'm not going to.  Today I got to hear about a couple of employees that just did some very dumb things.  One of them got upset yesterday because she didn't get as big of a tip as she thought she would for being at work on Valentine's day.  The fact is that she made her hourly wage and she got tipped out from the wait staff.  I guess she was envisioning it being a much bigger payout but it wasn't as busy as we thought it would be and the tips just were not that much.  So last night she decides to have a temper tantrum and refuses to help out with the salad bar.  She was washing dishes last night and apparently went so far as to refuse to wash any dishes that came out of the salad bar.  One of my waitresses who is new asked her about a container that she could put tongs from the salad bar in when closing it down.  She replied that she was not helping with the salad bar and would not wash those dishes.  After asking again and clarifying all she needed was help with a container to put the tongs/spoons she received the same reply.  Then a third time she asked and finally was directed to a container but was told again that she would not be helping at all with the salad bar.  What the hell?  That was pretty much my response to the situation.  I don't have the stomach for this kind of behavior especially from a thirty something year old woman.  I'll tell you what, she just refused her way out of a job.

I also find out that we have a cook who just decides to up and leave whenever he wants at night.  He already goes out on multiple smoke breaks in a short amount of time and then decides he's done with over an hour left until we close.  Two weeks ago we went through hell with this guy because he was upset about something, he came back last week and apologized for his behavior and this week he is starting it all over again.  Again I ask, what the hell?  Who are these people and why do I want to pay them to act this way?  I don't.  We don't.  We won't.

If you happen to be reading this and are a young person looking for employment please listen when I say employers don't want to pay you to babysit you or to put up with your problems and antics.  If you want a job you need to step up to the plate and work.  Realize that work isn't always glamorous, you're not always going to be in the spot light and your not always going to get paid the big bucks.  If you are in an entry level position you're going to get entry level wages.  Be grateful for it, work hard to earn it, respect the work.  It may not be exactly what you want to do, okay, so what?  Just get in and do your work.  My favorite employees are those that don't get caught up in stupid but come in and get busy.  They don't complain, the don't pretend that they're owed something.  No, they are humble, they work hard and they show that they want to learn and do more.  They certainly don't get caught sitting around and they are not outside smoking more than they are inside working.  There are no tantrums when things don't go their way.  They exhibit a positive attitude and it is contagious.  Those are the employees I like, those are the  people I want on my team.