semi-crisis

Well, it appears that the one and only Shaniqua is no longer with us
at the restaurant. Stuff always seems to happen on my days off, but at
least I have more than a few sources of info to catch me up! Anyway,
it seems that another waitress (a rather sour puss Hispanic girl, I'll
call her Maria here) told Shaniqua that she heard yet another of the
night shift waitresses (a very lazy, skinny girl I'll call Melinda) say that
Shaniqua was lazy. Before I go into what happened, let me just say that
Shaniqua is not lazy at all in my book. What gets her in trouble, and
lets her fall behind in her work, (making it appear she is lazy) is that
she likes to spend time and talk with her regular customers; since being
at the restaurant, she has garnered quite a few regulars, people who
ask for to sit in her section or ask for her to wait on them (possibly a
source of jealousy from the other waitresses if you ask me). On occasion,
she would lose a bit too much time socializing, but in the end she would
put it another gear and get her work done. Anyway, back to the episode.
When Shaniqua heard that someone (who she doesn't particularly care
for) called her lazy, she blew a gasket, apparently in the middle of the
restaurant. The manager on duty told her to calm down, not to worry
about what other people say, and just to do her job. Well, apparently
she went to the back where she just continued her tirade, loud enough
to be heard out front. So the manager went back to tell her again to take
it easy and lower it several octaves - when she didn't, she got sent home.
I can kind of understand Shaniqua being upset that Melinda, of all
people, called her lazy, as there is absolutely NO ONE lazier in the
restaurant than Melinda. However, to carry on a verbally loud and
way too expressive tirade in the middle of the restaurant is simply
uncalled for. That shows a lack of respect for the manager, co-workers,
and most of all, customers. Just unacceptable. And to be honest, I am
also a little teed off at Maria. She is just a sour person, one who looks
like she just ate a lemon AND is constipated all the time, that kind of
look on her face always. She likes to stir the pot, to say things to get a
rise out of others, and when confronted, immediately denies ever
saying such a thing. I have no use for those kind of people AT ALL.
Yet she is still at the restaurant due to sheer luck. Everytime we hire
someone to replace her, they either don't work out, or someone else
quits or gets fired first. So now with Shaniqua gone, we are still
stuck with Maria, and the lazy Melinda. To make matters worse, this
evening is a huge concert in town, and this weekend we have a home
football game to boot, so basically busy days coming, and we will be
short-handed. Fortunately next week Keisha will be back, recovered
from her hernia surgery. Ah the drama, but all so needless and silly.
At least this evening I will have Kathy on the floor, she is one of the
best waitresses ever, fast, efficient, and friendly. She had a bit of
drama of her own last week. The cab company in charge of picking
her up and taking her back to her "3 hots and a cot" domicile got
fired, as one of the cabbies showed up drunk (hhhmmm, wonder
if he got arrested on the spot?). Then the replacement cab company
messed up on her times, and to top it off, the work release coordina-
tor mixed up her work schedule (which has to be presented the
week before). So the last week or so has been an adventure, wonder-
ing if and when Kathy will be arriving. But it is kind of like the old
Safeguard soap commercials - a little bit is better than none - a late
or restricted Kathy is better than none!