September 1, 2009

The Sweaty Silverware

Last night was my first day back from my bullshit suspension. Though I walked in feeling completely awkward and uncomfortable, both mangers did a good job pretending nothing happened, while whispers of "I thought she was fired," and "I hear she's been stealing for months" were overheard from fellow employees throughout the night.
It was a remarkably uneventful shift, spent avoiding confrontation of any sort. It was ridiculously slow, and we were asked to start small cleaning projects. I opted to roll hundreds and hundreds of silverware, as it beats the hell out of scrubbing crusted cheese, and layers of spilled sauce under the salad bar.

I think it may be the law anyway, but my steakhouse is what you might consider an equal opportunity employer. This usually means non-biased hiring towards sex, race, or religion. However we have often hired mentally handicapped people as well. Now, please don't leave nasty comments because I will have none of it. My Aunt had down syndrome, and I have a soft spot in my heart for the mentally challenged. I do not, however, think that they belong working in a stressful position like those offered at a restaurant. Our newest hired busser is handicapped. He is very friendly, and does what he is told, problem is it takes him 5 times as long to get it done, and he forgets important parts of each task, which usually takes someone else to clean up, or sort out.

Last night, I thought I would teach him to roll silverware, and smiled as his eyes filled with joy at learning the new skill. We spent about ten minutes together rolling silverware, when he was asked to empty all the trash cans. He returned from the job to continue with silverware, and was completely drenched with sweat. I assumed he had washed his hands, so we continued rolling. We made small talk until I caught him wiping drips of sweat from his forehead with his bare hands. At first I was unsure of what to tell him, so I just watched as he scratched his nose, rubbed his sweaty neck, and returned his hands to silverware rolling. I gagged a bit, and then I reminded him that anytime he touched his face he needed to wash his hands. He nodded agreeably, and took off to do so.

While he was gone, Manager C (the one to suspend me) walked by with her manager meal, said she would be in the office eating dinner if anyone needed her, and reached forward to grab the nearest silverware.

Of course she grabbed the one Busser had just snotted, and sweat all over. And of course I didn't tell her. I just snickered to myself, and told her to enjoy her meal.



22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not that I don't love your story, cause after the suspension thing, your manager deserves a heap of bad karma. The thing is, working at a restaurant is a pretty low skill profession and one of the few places mentally challenged people can work. Unfortunately not a lot of options out there, and frankly, friendly and does what he is told is a lot more than a lot of people I have worked with!

JumpIt said...

LOL perfect!

Jo ~ said...

hahaha! lordy! thanks for that laugh!

Jo ~ said...

ya know I was on my way out and this sidebar got my attention. it read 1 trick of a flat belly, but then underneath it was nutrisystem ad...and God ... Aren't you sick of those commercials with that big teethed Osmond girl! puke.

Anonymous said...

Sweet revenge!

¸.•*´)ღ¸.•*´Chris said...

I have a guy working for me who washes dishes and does housekeeping. He's been with us for 6 years. He is a Vietnam Vet who was messed up in the head by the trauma of that war. He arrives at work on time, never bitches and is damn proud to have his job. He does impeccable work and I never have to get after him and insure he is doing his job correctly. I give him a list of stuff and off he goes. if he gets a bit mixed up, he comes to me and we get it straightened out. He is a joy to work with and I would be screwed if he ever left. I must say, he has adapted quite well to things. We are truly blessed to have him with us.

Anonymous said...

what's more annoying? working with the handicapped, or the self-righteous commentators coming gung-ho to defend the handicapped?

i stand behind my decision.

(to g.h.: you rule. "eat sweat!" is my favorite new term of the day.)

Wendy said...

See? That's what you get when you're a pompous petty tyrant.

(LOL)

Stephan Hoppe said...

That be the karma right there!

Anonymous said...

To the commetator who said "working at a restaurant is a pretty low-skill profession..." Yeah. Try it for a week, then come back and shoot your mouth off.

Anonymous said...

LOL, karma's a bitch.

Baby said...

Um, yeah seriously. "A pretty low-skill". I'd rather work a "pretty low-skill" job and make bomb money doing it then be a condescending jerk.

Anways. I'm a huge fan of Karma! I wish my managers would get some of that their way!

The Bitchy Waiter said...

i am sure the sweat was delicious.

wahreindia said...

Haaa, what a post thanks for that laugh

wahreindia said...

haaa. waht a post thanks for that laugh

purplegirl said...

Excellent! I wouldn't have warned her either!

Anonymous said...

I'm a waiter myself and to be honest it really is a low skill profession. I'm happy being a waiter but i don't see the point in trying to make it sound like it is some fantastic challenging job

Anonymous said...

Lmao!! Sweaty silverware I hope she gets a cold sore from it!

Geans said...

Awesome come-uppance! Also, your suspension was complete B.S.

redgirl said...

Hey...love what you've done with your new format!!

invisible said...

Karma, man, Karma.

Fine Life Folk said...

Any job is decent as long as the one doing it has self-respect and respect for his job (and legal).