I decided this morning that I was going to take the chicken-shit way out with terminating the flasher. She was scheduled in at four or five this evening, at which time I was going to be well on my way to Alabama, so I just figured I would make my schedule changes (which included taking her completely off) and just tell the folks working the shift that she could call the manager tomorrow. hehe. I figured that my store manager deserved a bit of her own medicine and needed to be forced to do her job.
Alas, but it didn’t work out as planned. The flasher showed up at 2pm to pick up her paycheck. I let her get paid and then told her that due to her inappropriate behavior we would no longer need her.
She took it quite well actually. She smiled and said ‘ok, do I have another check coming?’ as she bebopped her way out the door. I guess she was just glad that she had a couple of paychecks and would no longer have to work Christmas Day. I wish everyone I have had to fire over the last 22 years took it so nicely. Shit, I even had one lady pull a knife on me back in the eighties. I ended up having to get the law involved and take her out of the restaurant over that one. Somehow I’ve never managed to get my tires slashed although I do occasionally check to make sure.
Terminating people has to be one of the most distasteful things I ever have to do in my job. I get a fucking knot in my stomach every time I have to do it. The ones that cry are the worst. I can’t stand that. Fuck, I can’t even watch a sappy movie without getting all teary-eyed and here is some blubbering fucking idiot making me feel like shit.
The only saving grace is that I don’t fire people unless they REALLY need it. You have to be a complete and utter fool to get fired by me (you know, like showing your saggy tits in the middle of the dining area in one of my restaurants) . If it’s just some run-of-the-mill piece of crap that won’t do what I say, normally just cutting their schedule gets the point across and either they quit or shape up.
I’m all about second chances too. The girl I replaced the flasher with? Someone I fired two years ago when I was still a single unit manager. I’ve gotten much nicer since my promotion. I put up with a lot more shit than I ever would back then. That’s what I don’t get about my managers. They should be running their stores as if their paychecks depend upon their performance (it does) and they don’t. They want all the money and recognition but they can’t get to fucking work on time and want to hit the door at 2:15 in the afternoon. Anyway, when I was a manager I always felt that you should get a couple of tardies and after you show me that you can’t get to work on time I start replacing your ass one minute into your shift. Getting sent home for being one minute late is embarrassing as shit and it usually cures the problem. It’s been quite some time since I did that to anyone. Now I just pretty much shrug it off. I figure if I can’t make the fucking store managers get to work on time there’s not going to be a cure for getting the employees in on time. Although I can give the store manager’s written warnings and make sure that I document everything I don’t have any real power to do anything to them as punishment.
It’s a pretty safe bet that for the next couple of days all my employees will show up on time. I have their Christmas bonus checks in my notebook and I will be giving those out personally. If I’ve left before they get there? I guess they’ll have to hunt me down or wait until the next time I’m there.