Disappointed, Yes - Surprised, No. A Saga Begins...

Note: Longtime employees don't always have the best interest of their employer, other employees, or the business in mind. Sometimes they tend to work the system for their advantage to the detriment of others.  Can't say this was unexpected, but it was more childish than anyone could have imagined. Here's some background.

A drama quean of the first order was out from work for almost a year, having had knee surgery then milking the healing process so as not to return to work until the season was in full swing. This guy has been knocking around the business for over 25 years, (he's worked here for almost 10 years!) so he knows the ropes and how to maximize his return. 

Needless to say methods, procedures, new and better service options were implemented in his absence. When he returned he pulled every drama scene possible to get attention, using the old standard "this isn't the way I'm used to doing it" as a wedge to get other servers to do things HIS way.  It's called BULLYING!  If that doesn't work he has a hissy fit until he gets his way. That hasn't worked with me.

Last Monday he was scheduled to serve the lunch shift. He arrived hot, sweaty, and pissy (for some reason unknown to the rest of us) and announced that he wanted a specific section of the dining room.  I knew I would need him in the section already assigned. He backed off gloating on the knowledge that he was sorely needed, that he was all that and a bag of pig skins chips.

As other servers arrived, enduring the same heat and discomfort, with smiles and hugs all round he promptly shut that down by bossing everyone (except me) around, ordering them to do this or that the "right way" (read, his way). For the most part they humored him, but ignored his orders.  This made him furious.

My primary concern was for the 3 relatively new servers working that day who had not handled more than 3 or 4 parties at one time. I was depending on the DQ (drama quean) and another seasoned server to pick up the slack when we got busy.

An hour into the lunch shift all servers have 2 tables, DQ has 2 parties of 6 and is seated with a 2-top.

Red alert!!!

DQ flies across the dining room screeching to a halt at the host station and announces to the entire city, "I will not do this! I will only take 2 tables from now on, or I'm going home."  The customers were not interested in his hissy fit and I was shocked that a "seasoned profess----whatever" would act out in public. I looked at him calmly and said, "well Kenny will be here in 10 minutes, so why don't you go home."  By the pained expression on his face, you'd have thought I shot him.  Turning on his heels and realizing that his bluff had been called, he went on to take orders from that party of two I had seated minutes earlier.

He continued to use every trick in his bitch-arsenal to make all servers miserable.  I had enough.  I went back to the office and told the boss (only the second time I have done so) that DQ was working my last gay nerve,  disrupting the flow and atmosphere of the afternoon, and I was not going to tolerate his tantrums any longer.  He could send him home, or I would.

The boss took the shrieking harpy aside and calmed him down somewhat. I sent him home an hour later to the relief of the entire staff.  I am not good at this kind of altercation and try to avoid them whenever possible.  But, in-yer-face situations involving a public display really make me angry.


This isn't over. (I wish it was over) I just wanted to share. This has been a wonderful work week, otherwise, but the tension continues. DQ is no longer talking to me - or most of the staff, for that matter. Stay tuned.


And so it goes.
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