Steve, get your wife out of your businesses, she's the reason no one will work for you. If she likes intimidating and bullying other women more than she likes making money, in the long run she'll put your store under. No one would recommend that their friends or family work at your store after dealing with her one-on-one. She'll say she didn't say anything to me, but I'm not sure if her level of sobriety supports a good memory. I've never had a woman get upset for no reason and then get that mean. She's too stressed out to run a franchise. Something is wrong and she needs to take a break.
I had my fiance sitting in the store at night while I closed up by myself because more than one drunken dude openly asked me for sex at the register and over the store phone. His colleagues at the PD wouldn't do ANYTHING to at least figure out who was calling and some of these pervert cops ended up asking me for sex as well. I told Brandon, the dude trying to hook up with any 18-22 year old employee, but he didn't do shit either and my man had to say something more than once to guys at the register asking me for sex. They weren't asking for a date, they were asking for specific sex acts because they just came from that awful bar down the street where women turn out for drugs.
BTW, Brandon, I don't judge you but, truth, you're not the best moral example in that company. You shouldn't have told an 18 year old female employee that you were "emotionally connected" to her after she and you hot-boxed your car in the parking lot and you tried to buy her love with groceries. I think you were emotionally connected to her yoga pants. However, your new fiance is pretty bangin and I hope it works out. That's another good example of a woman who doesn't have the patience to work in hospitality.
There wasn't a solution, though, Steve. I couldn't put up with it anymore. I started losing weight to date again and I got too sexy to close up the shop by myself. It's on a corner with all windows and there's me alone inside sometimes until 10PM like, "Hi, you can say anything you want to me because I have no protection." I was even getting followed when I left at night and I was really scared because I've been attacked before. I feel like you let Melissa bully me as well. She KNEW I was getting harassed by both guests and Bacillio Mercado who had just left prison for a rape charge and blew up my phone on Christmas eve of that year because he wasn't getting what he wanted from me. Melissa wouldn't fire him and she and her husband were so, so inappropriate with me. She was always making up stories about me and other people actually quit over her shit talking because my team never treated each other with abusiveness. Her ethic was off-base and she was contributing to the stalking and watching me all of the time so I WALKED.
Anyway, I got married and I'm really happy now. I just make sandwiches for my husband at this point since these other dudes can't be respectful.
Steve, I don't know what happened, but your wife is pretty insecure. God bless her and her family. I couldn't really be nice enough to her to get her to trust me, so I'm kinda done with that relationship. She was taking something out on me and whenever I think about her I pray for your whole family.
Oh--I got food poisoning the last three times I ate there, your staff needs to stop being lazy and actually do temps or get that food prepped out before it gets warm.
Thank you for giving me something to occupy myself when I was recovering from violence, I support you, but seriously, hire someone and give your wife a permanent vacation. She needs a never-ending spa day. If that's not manageable, you should sell all the stores, one of your homes, and do something else. ANYTHING ELSE. The most valuable thing we have is our time because we can't get it back. You and your wife deserve more of each other's time, much less than thankless Subway guests and lazy dishonest employees deserve. Getting out of the restaurant industry is not a failure; it's a step up in life. I'm speaking from 15 years of experience in an industry that sucks the vitality out of families. Get out of restaurants, downsize, re-invest, and never let Dixie have to give a shit about portioning veggies ever again because maybe then she could get a break. Don't get over the top enraged because nobody knows how to ring in the kids toys and we can't inventory them. Imagine not having to do inventory training for the rest of your life. You should lay it to rest for your sanity and succeed at something else. If you put one tenth the work into anything else, you'd be happier, richer, and more fulfilled.
Your fellow vocalist and founder of The Smiley Face Club,
-Cara read more
