Saturday, December 12, 2009

You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?*

You know what really grinds my gears? Restaurant owners. Not all restaurant owners, just restaurant owners who run newly opened comfort food restaurants in the Hunters Point section of Long Island City, New York in the vicinity of a street…or avenue…or road bearing the number corresponding to New Mexico’s order of admittance to the Union...

You know why it grinds my gears? Because guys like this, let’s call him “24,” make certain assurances about positions to be held, monies to be paid and the timeframe therein. Then guys like "24" disregard these assurances, around the holiday’s no less, and don’t bat an eyelash at replacing people with cheap labor.

You know what else grinds my gears? When guys like "24" say they’re gonna do little things like pay people for their sweat equity, and push back the timeframe and then finally pay someone what amounts to say, $2.5 an hour.

It also grinds my gears when people like "24" don’t even bother to pick up the phone themselves and reach out to people to say, “hey, this is the deal. I know you thought this might be the deal, but I wanted to give you confirmation.” That really grinds my gears.

You know what else really grinds my gears? When people go to parties sponsored by certain review websites and spend their time talking-up certain comfort food restaurants. Telling anyone who will listen they should be excited about the pending opening, not knowing that the wheels are turning behind the scenes to use a person’s ideas and sweat equity and then simply kick them to the curb. I bet it would grind your gears if you offered to ask the Editors of food review websites to drum up interest in the restaurant by writing stories and were then thanked exactly once for your trouble. Not to mention looking like an asshole when you have to explain to all of those people why you're no longer involved or drumming up support for the restaurant like you used to. Well, it grinds my freakin’ gears.

Now I’m not telling you to not eat at (or heavens to Betsy, BOYCOTT) this place owned by "24," who treats people in a less than judicious fashion. But imagine if "24" is willing to treat people he knows like garbage and hire guys he can pay less money (well, actually pay money in the first place, but now we’re getting technical) with perhaps less of a trained eye on quality, then what’s he going to do when it comes to people coming off the street.

That really grinds my gears. But I’m moving on…wiser; and now when I treat someone like crap they can thank 24.

* I know this kind of thing happens a fair amount, but that doesn't excuse acting like a dick. And I'm not the kind of guy to just sit there and say nothing...