waitress drama

Weekends, no matter what is going on, seem to always be an adventure
at the restaurant. Unfortunately, some of these adventures are the kind
that make you want to pull your hair out. Last night, for example. It
started slow, got busy, got very slow again, got a bit busy, then slow the
rest of the night. Lots of big groups were in to eat, due to some kind of
conference at the hotel next door. Anyway, Shaniqua had asked me early
on that if it ever slowed down to the point where we could get by with
just 2 waitresses (we usually have 3 on Fridays), if she could possibly go
home, as she has been battling a cold. As we did get to that point right
around midnight, I let her hit the road. Of course, that didn't sit well
with the 2 other waitresses, Melinda and Keisha. Melinda I could see
being upset, as 9 times out of 10 she asks to go home early due to all
her phantom ailments and drama at home. Plus she is incredibly lazy,
so with 1 waitress less there would be more for her to do at closing
time. But Keisha's reaction surprised me. She simply has not been the
same person since she got back from her hernia surgery. She is always
complaining that she isn't making the money that she used to, that
Shaniqua is the only one making real money. She seems to have this
chip on her shoulder attitude-wise, and keeps claiming she is going to
find another job. And as much as I hate to say it, she has gotten a tad
lazy, nowhere near the same level as Melinda, but it just seems she is
not a team player anymore; she does, as she puts it, "her" work, the
bare minimum necessary after that, and then just stops. If she is
called upon to pitch in, she gets this look on her face and claims she is
the only one doing any work, while everyone else takes bathroom and
cigarette breaks. So Keisha was also upset that Shaniqua left early last
night without "doing anything" as she put it; she then "promised" that
the next time she (Keisha) gets to leave early, she won't "do anything"
either. By the way, Shaniqua did everything that she needed to do, that
is one of the things I check before anyone can leave. And another minor
reason for sending Shaniqua home was also to help Keisha make more
money since she had been whining about that just a few hours earlier.
Just a no win situation, damned if you do or don't. Hence I see a con-
frontation coming in the near future, and it may get ugly. This is the
nasty side of the restaurant biz....jealousy, pettiness, showmanship....
just ridiculous. Anyway, quick little updates - Roxanne maybe...MAYBE
has found a new amour; he even sent flowers to her, red roses delivered
to the restaurant! And she went on to admit that in one week this guy
has already treated her better and shown her more affection than the
loser she has been breaking up/making up with, and pining over, ever
has in 2-3 years. HINT HINT HINT...but she probably won't get it.
Looks like Tiffany is FINALLY done with her loser boyfriend, as the
other day he went to her place and got the last remnants of his stuff. And
on a kind of disturbing note, Beth has gotten yet another eviction notice
and needs to be out of her latest domicile by the end of the month. This
is the 3rd time in just over a year that she has been asked to leave by a
landlord. A very dubious trend indeed. She keeps claiming that neighbors
are telling lies about them, or that someone interprets her necessary yard
items as unsightly trash, or rent checks that she has receipts for don't get
credited to her.....I don't know, but in my book, if you get evicted 3 times
in such a short time span, something is seriously wrong with YOU!