I was off Wednesday w the Mister. We were planning a lunch date somewhere in the East End & then a trip to Construction Junction to try to find a new front door then dinner & Game 7 to finish the night. (Penguins Hockey in case you dont know what Game 7 means but if you dont know what Game 7 is GET OFF MY BLOG! jk...maybe...)
So after perusing some menus online we made our lunch choice - Park Bruges in Highland Park. Had some amazing mussels, frites, poutine and crusty bread. It was a lunch full of delicious win. I got the white wine and Mister got the sausage mussels. Shockingly it was packed at 1:30-2:00 on a Wednesday, but that always makes me happy to see any really good small local place doing great sales on a week day. Service was sketchy timing wise, but it also looked like the 2 girls & the owner or manager that was working got their asses handed to them through lunch, and seeing as I am VERY familiar with how awful that can be I forgive them. Well that and it was terrific food & our server was super nice regardless of the timing issues. We will definitely be back.
We are sitting at lunch and Bossman calls me, which is rare when Im off unless something is horridly wrong, asks me if I want his tickets to Game 7. HELL YES I DO!! But I was much cooler when I answered him. I tell Mister & I think he might have actually screamed a little. See, a few months ago Bossman took all the GMs to see a game in a luxury box on a Sunday. One of my manger's girlfriends went into labor, so obviously he couldnt come into work, my GM for that place was just returning from vacation & was going to the game so I didnt want to ask her to do it and yes, I could have pulled rank and made one of my guys do it but that isnt my style either...so I worked it myself & figured I'd just hold that card until a later date when I wanted to use it. Bossman said that since I took that one for the team I could have the 2 tickets he scored (not his season tickets, other ones). Moral of that story? Sometimes when you just suck it up karma rewards you with awesome gifts!
So I got to go my first real live playoff hockey game. And it was a Game 7. And they lost. But I dont care now & didnt care then. It was amazing. It was a real bummer they were shut out so they never scored a goal...but aside from that it was incredible. The energy was off the hook, the noise made my ears ring, the white out was unreal to look at. It was almost sensory overload. I. LOVED. IT.
I got slightly pissy when our own fans began to boo our power play. Ok, I will admit our power play sucked this series. BUT it wasnt totally the Pens fault. Tampa figured out early on, maybe even during regular season, our PP was a dead spot. They then figured out how to collapse on it, block us from even getting into their end after clearing the puck and overall how to shut down our PP. It was already limping along, we had no serious scorers with all the injuries so yeah, thats a problem. It just didnt help at all that Tampa executed a defense that rendered what little PP we have totally useless. All that aside - what kind of fucked up "fan" kicks their own team when they are down?!? What kind of asshole boos their own team in a Game 7 when they are obviously struggling?!? Thankfully there were far more real fans in the stands so when that crap started it was drowned out by "LETS GO PENS" chants. If you were there and you booed any of our guys for any reason SHAME ON YOU. *angry eyebrows & finger wagging in your general direction* You are NOT a fan. You are an asshole.
I was sad to see our season end. I will miss hockey until October. I cannot wait to see all of our guys healthy and back on the ice. Part of me is wicked happy that we were eliminated now. The very idea of having to listen to some of the douchiest fans in the NHL rag on us for being eliminated by them in the 2nd round was kind of nauseating (looking at you Caps fans) and lets be real, there was no way in hell we were making it out of the 2nd round alive barring a hockey miracle. I love my Penguins, but you just cannot suffer the kind of blows they did this year and make a solid Cup run.
Another note to anyone who was bitching Sid wasnt sent out to "save" us...Are you fucking insane?!?! So in order to win 1 freaking series that we stand little to no chance of turning into a legit Cup run you want them to send him out there to potentially incur further injury? Yeah. Not fucking worth his long-term viability. Have you met Eric Lindros? Have you seen what happens to good players (may be stretching the word good there but you get my point) when they try to play through head injuries? Do you really think that if they HAD sent him out there Tampa wouldnt have done everything they could to send him off on a stretcher? Puh-lease. I dont see the Pens staff or team doctors telling us how to do our jobs so hows about all the arm-chair hockey coaches & neurologists just shut their whore mouths and let them do what they do?
Im proud of the boys & how far they made it even with all the set backs. I want to punch every person who is already talking contracts & who we are getting rid of and who they think was useless during the playoffs right in the mouth because with few exceptions I think they all played their hearts out to give us a great season whether we keep them all or not. Related: I often wonder when I hear all these self proclaimed "experts", both professional & amateur, spouting off about the players, coaches & management decisions what the basis of their opinions is. Im pretty sure all they need is a TV & a mouth/keyboard as qualifications to be a sports talking head, the brain is even optional ~ look at Mark Madden. Whats that old saying? Opinions are like assholes - everyone has them and they all smell like shit. This seems especially true with self proclaimed sports authorities :-) Im going to let Shero & Disco Dan figure out whats best for their team since, ya know, thats what they do for a living and just assume that if they ever come into one of my restaurants they wont tell me how to pick & choose my staff....seems reasonable, huh?
And anyone who bashes Fleury needs smacked. If you cant identify defensive holes versus goalie errors you shouldnt be allowed to talk about hockey to anyone anyway. No, hes not perfect, but he's also not superhuman. When a goalie is hung out to dry with bad defensive decisions what's he supposed to do? He's a goalie, a very important part of our defense, but definitely not the ONLY part of it.
I hope I get to go to another playoff hockey game, maybe next time it will be a win. But win or loose, thank you Pens for another great season and this fan will be cheering for you again in October no matter what the team looks like or who's on it :-)
Friday, April 29, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
A kinda long rant...but it has a good point.
I do not get it. At all. What happened to personal accountability? I havent seen it anywhere in forever. I've been looking, too.
I think it is just one of those cycles, they do happen upon occasion, when a lot of other people's drama ends up in my world. It really cant be helped. I employ well over 100 people & my restaurants see thousands of people a week; drama is bound to get all up in my shit every now again no matter how hard I try to dodge the bullets. I get that. Most often I can also deal with it without many complaints...Ive grown quite used to it actually however sad that may be. Long & short it usually just rolls off my back. It has to or I would either be drunk, stoned or institutionalized on a very regular (read DAILY) basis.
But in the last week I have had to deal with some of the most insanely stupid bullshit that all falls back to this one concept ~ when did it become ok to not be held accountable to anyone for anything? When did that sense of entitlement become acceptable? When did it stop being your own damn fault when you do something stupid? In a nutshell - I blame Baby Boomers. The generation above me has bred a generation below me of lazy, entitled, excuse making brats. I know that is a broad generalization, and I also know that from my own experiences there are exceptions to every rule - but unfortunately the rules still exist. And I seem to be dealing with a lot of those rules lately.
Example #1 - A line cook, lets call him Bill, is working the grill station. Its busy, its hectic, it get stressy. He is called a check & misses some stuff. Food is called for pick up, e doesnt have it, gets called out, says it wasnt called. Gets told to fire the food. He continues to bristle about it not being his fault. She tells him to do his job. Bill turns to my Sous Chef, who just happened to be doing some shift coverage that day and was helping out next to Bill on the fry station to get the kitchen out of the weeds, and proceeds to tell him how this isnt his fault WHILE HE STILL HASNT PUT THE DAMN BURGERS ON THE GRILL to which my Sous Chef says Bill she called them, I heard them, it doesnt matter, FIRE THE BURGERS. And Bill finally did.
Fast forward an hour later - rush is over, line is cleaning up & restocking, he asks to go smoke. He goes to smoke, seems calmer when he gets back and gets to work. Sous Chef pulls him aside and tells him that in those situations just get the food on. It doesnt matter whos mistake it was, shut your piehole and fire the food.
About 20 minutes later a fully uniformed cop walks in our door. This is soooooo not awesome. No one likes it when the cops walk into a bar. Ever. He finds my Sous Chef and explains that Bill is his son, and didnt appreciate the way he was being talked to and gets all tight. SC defused the situation by explaining what happened. Yes folks...a 20 year old man called his Daddy because he screwed up at work and was called out on it. I couldnt even imagine how mortified I would be if either of my parents ever called my work or had the nerve to show the fuck up about anything like that ever. Old enough to work old enough to handle my own shit. Even worse - why didnt Daddy tell him to man up, son. He is not doing that kid any favors. At all.
Example #2 - This cook has been having a case of the Mondays for about 3 weeks now and that is frustrating. Having to constantly ride him like a damn horse to get him to do anything is wicked annoying. Hes a good kid, hes just lazy - but thats manageable as long as you dont have a whole staff of those. He comes in at 11am all pouty, mopey and blah. KM gives him his list. Hes been at work for 20 minutes at this point and decides to go have a smoke. KM sticks his head out the back door and tells him to go home and he can smoke all he wants to. Attitude ensues. He ends up going home in the end.
An hour later cooks Mom calls to yell at my KM, tells him she wants to speak to his supervisor because no one talks to her son that way and so on and so forth while he rants in the back ground. KM handles it, tells her who to contact.
Havent heard from Mom yet, dont know if we will. Either way its ridiculous. You cant come to work & not expect to have to work. This is our future. Oiy Vey!
Example #3 - and this one is my favorite. Six months ago guy is at our bar on a Sunday by himself. He has a few beers and some mussels, hes there for about 4 hours and leaves. Guess he got a wicked hangover, told her it was bad seafood. She finds the check & we figure its a hangover. We all have a chuckle about it.
Week later she calls again. She talks to one of my managers and they go back & forth about how its our fault he drank that much. Its an awkward conversation really, how do you address that?
A month later she calls again. At this point I really want to talk to the husband and tell HIM to man up and call her off. We didnt do anything at all wrong outside of serve him. She rants, she raves, she threatens, they give her my email address and tell her to contact me - I never hear from her. Phew...bullet dodged.
Until today when she call and tells me a completely different story. Same tune, different lyrics. We have a ridiculous back & forth about it. Again, I dont really know what to say. I ask a few questions, to clarify the differences in the story, she isnt totally helpful but was in a huge hurry.
Im not sure what it is she would like me to do. I cannot control what her husband decides to do, and I am very sorry that he made a bad decision that led to further problems, but it was his decision, not ours. She want that bartender disciplined? And a refund and some other shit. Me: Stunned. Passing that one off to the boss.
Its infuriating to me. Why is the world such a mess? Because it is being run by a group of people who do nothing but point fingers and place blame taking no responsibility for their own actions.
You cant call my son out for making a mistake at his job, it hurt his feelings. Yes, I can. And I dont care if I hurt his delicate sensibilities.
You arent allowed to make my son work when hes at work, hes delicate and needs special consideration. No, hes not. And no, he doesnt.
Its all your fault that my husband came to your bar, drank more than he should of, got a wicked hangover from it and lied about it to his wife. Um no.Not at all, really.
We cant give kids failing grades when they fail because itll make them feel bad. We cant make sure kids are passing all of their classes in order to be eligible to play sports because itll make them feel like failures. We arent allowed to discipline children in anyway that may actually work because reasoning with a 4 year old monster is better for their self esteem. We cant make adults do their jobs because its not fair to have expectations. If you loose your job because you suck at it you should be able to collect off unemployment for as long as you need to because you cant be expected to actually DO the job you were hired & paid to do so it must be the employers fault you suck. Its ok to expect more and do less.
Actually its not. At least not in my world. In my world I bust my ass for what I have. If I need money I get a fucking job - McDonalds is always hiring and if you dont have a job any income is better than none. I own my bad decisions and the consequences of those actions. In other words Im a grown up and I thank my mom & dad for popping me when I deserved it, holding me accountable when I fucked up, instilling in me a work ethic that allows me to earn my way and for letting me know that I am not some delicate little flower that needs to be coddled and protected. They made me tough enough to survive in a world that isnt always easy and made me smart enough to know how to make my life as cushy as I can. They also didnt raise me to believe that I was any more important than anyone else, that what I do effects everyone around me and to be aware of that when I make decisions, that I am entitled to only what I earn and no one is going to hand me my happiness on a silver platter wrapped in a pretty bow.
Thank you Mom & Dad. As rough as I ever thought you were I could not be happier that I did not turn out a whiny, ego-maniacal tool bag.
I think it is just one of those cycles, they do happen upon occasion, when a lot of other people's drama ends up in my world. It really cant be helped. I employ well over 100 people & my restaurants see thousands of people a week; drama is bound to get all up in my shit every now again no matter how hard I try to dodge the bullets. I get that. Most often I can also deal with it without many complaints...Ive grown quite used to it actually however sad that may be. Long & short it usually just rolls off my back. It has to or I would either be drunk, stoned or institutionalized on a very regular (read DAILY) basis.
But in the last week I have had to deal with some of the most insanely stupid bullshit that all falls back to this one concept ~ when did it become ok to not be held accountable to anyone for anything? When did that sense of entitlement become acceptable? When did it stop being your own damn fault when you do something stupid? In a nutshell - I blame Baby Boomers. The generation above me has bred a generation below me of lazy, entitled, excuse making brats. I know that is a broad generalization, and I also know that from my own experiences there are exceptions to every rule - but unfortunately the rules still exist. And I seem to be dealing with a lot of those rules lately.
Example #1 - A line cook, lets call him Bill, is working the grill station. Its busy, its hectic, it get stressy. He is called a check & misses some stuff. Food is called for pick up, e doesnt have it, gets called out, says it wasnt called. Gets told to fire the food. He continues to bristle about it not being his fault. She tells him to do his job. Bill turns to my Sous Chef, who just happened to be doing some shift coverage that day and was helping out next to Bill on the fry station to get the kitchen out of the weeds, and proceeds to tell him how this isnt his fault WHILE HE STILL HASNT PUT THE DAMN BURGERS ON THE GRILL to which my Sous Chef says Bill she called them, I heard them, it doesnt matter, FIRE THE BURGERS. And Bill finally did.
Fast forward an hour later - rush is over, line is cleaning up & restocking, he asks to go smoke. He goes to smoke, seems calmer when he gets back and gets to work. Sous Chef pulls him aside and tells him that in those situations just get the food on. It doesnt matter whos mistake it was, shut your piehole and fire the food.
About 20 minutes later a fully uniformed cop walks in our door. This is soooooo not awesome. No one likes it when the cops walk into a bar. Ever. He finds my Sous Chef and explains that Bill is his son, and didnt appreciate the way he was being talked to and gets all tight. SC defused the situation by explaining what happened. Yes folks...a 20 year old man called his Daddy because he screwed up at work and was called out on it. I couldnt even imagine how mortified I would be if either of my parents ever called my work or had the nerve to show the fuck up about anything like that ever. Old enough to work old enough to handle my own shit. Even worse - why didnt Daddy tell him to man up, son. He is not doing that kid any favors. At all.
Example #2 - This cook has been having a case of the Mondays for about 3 weeks now and that is frustrating. Having to constantly ride him like a damn horse to get him to do anything is wicked annoying. Hes a good kid, hes just lazy - but thats manageable as long as you dont have a whole staff of those. He comes in at 11am all pouty, mopey and blah. KM gives him his list. Hes been at work for 20 minutes at this point and decides to go have a smoke. KM sticks his head out the back door and tells him to go home and he can smoke all he wants to. Attitude ensues. He ends up going home in the end.
An hour later cooks Mom calls to yell at my KM, tells him she wants to speak to his supervisor because no one talks to her son that way and so on and so forth while he rants in the back ground. KM handles it, tells her who to contact.
Havent heard from Mom yet, dont know if we will. Either way its ridiculous. You cant come to work & not expect to have to work. This is our future. Oiy Vey!
Example #3 - and this one is my favorite. Six months ago guy is at our bar on a Sunday by himself. He has a few beers and some mussels, hes there for about 4 hours and leaves. Guess he got a wicked hangover, told her it was bad seafood. She finds the check & we figure its a hangover. We all have a chuckle about it.
Week later she calls again. She talks to one of my managers and they go back & forth about how its our fault he drank that much. Its an awkward conversation really, how do you address that?
A month later she calls again. At this point I really want to talk to the husband and tell HIM to man up and call her off. We didnt do anything at all wrong outside of serve him. She rants, she raves, she threatens, they give her my email address and tell her to contact me - I never hear from her. Phew...bullet dodged.
Until today when she call and tells me a completely different story. Same tune, different lyrics. We have a ridiculous back & forth about it. Again, I dont really know what to say. I ask a few questions, to clarify the differences in the story, she isnt totally helpful but was in a huge hurry.
Im not sure what it is she would like me to do. I cannot control what her husband decides to do, and I am very sorry that he made a bad decision that led to further problems, but it was his decision, not ours. She want that bartender disciplined? And a refund and some other shit. Me: Stunned. Passing that one off to the boss.
Its infuriating to me. Why is the world such a mess? Because it is being run by a group of people who do nothing but point fingers and place blame taking no responsibility for their own actions.
You cant call my son out for making a mistake at his job, it hurt his feelings. Yes, I can. And I dont care if I hurt his delicate sensibilities.
You arent allowed to make my son work when hes at work, hes delicate and needs special consideration. No, hes not. And no, he doesnt.
Its all your fault that my husband came to your bar, drank more than he should of, got a wicked hangover from it and lied about it to his wife. Um no.Not at all, really.
We cant give kids failing grades when they fail because itll make them feel bad. We cant make sure kids are passing all of their classes in order to be eligible to play sports because itll make them feel like failures. We arent allowed to discipline children in anyway that may actually work because reasoning with a 4 year old monster is better for their self esteem. We cant make adults do their jobs because its not fair to have expectations. If you loose your job because you suck at it you should be able to collect off unemployment for as long as you need to because you cant be expected to actually DO the job you were hired & paid to do so it must be the employers fault you suck. Its ok to expect more and do less.
Actually its not. At least not in my world. In my world I bust my ass for what I have. If I need money I get a fucking job - McDonalds is always hiring and if you dont have a job any income is better than none. I own my bad decisions and the consequences of those actions. In other words Im a grown up and I thank my mom & dad for popping me when I deserved it, holding me accountable when I fucked up, instilling in me a work ethic that allows me to earn my way and for letting me know that I am not some delicate little flower that needs to be coddled and protected. They made me tough enough to survive in a world that isnt always easy and made me smart enough to know how to make my life as cushy as I can. They also didnt raise me to believe that I was any more important than anyone else, that what I do effects everyone around me and to be aware of that when I make decisions, that I am entitled to only what I earn and no one is going to hand me my happiness on a silver platter wrapped in a pretty bow.
Thank you Mom & Dad. As rough as I ever thought you were I could not be happier that I did not turn out a whiny, ego-maniacal tool bag.
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