So, I moved out to Colorado almost a decade ago. This was my first time living out of my home town, much less an entire different state but I needed a change. You only live once as they say. I've worked mainly in the restaurant service industry basically my whole career, going on almost eighteen years now and I'll tell you, you don't see many places where you would want to finish a career much less hang around for more than two years due to middle/general managers trying to be more than what they were/should be intended to do. We all know the type, micromanagers, ones that won't take doctor's notes, make you feel bad for being sick or missing shifts for legit reasons, I can go on. I was so happy to find the restaurant I did when i moved here. First one I applied at and got super lucky! I had to start out as a host even though I had thirteen years, at the time, experience but I could get a second job and they would work around their schedule. I could pick my shifts i wanted to work and had chances of moving up to serving and bartending fairly fast if I proved competent. I had serving shifts in about two months after showing i was responsible and showed up for shifts on time, did my work, blah blah. After I was on board I had a set schedule, i was serving full time, and working with some really great people, I still chat regularly with my coworkers even though its been months since I left. Not only that but NO MIDDLE MANAGMENT! I cannot tell you how nice that was, no one telling you how to do your job, the owner's just trusted us to do it and guess what, IT GOT DONE! Heaven. We had a GM who would do our schedules and another manager who did payroll and that was really it. If we ever had a complaint that required a manager, our bartender on duty was technically the manager and they did a great job fielding complaints although their were rare usually. Both head bartenders had been there for 10+ years and everyone liked them. Four great years go by, then the pandemic hit.
Bars and restaurants have to shut down. We think it'll only be for a couple months but know one is sure. Then around April or May we can open back up but limited to outdoor dining and take out. Owners rent a giant tent to have outdoor seating, thankfully we had a decent sized parking lot and were able to fit at least half the original restaurant's indoor seating capacity out there and still had a patio area that could seat at least thirty people even with six foot space rules in place. So, while other restaurants were struggling I was fortunate to have hardly any lapse in my income. From 2020-2021 we actually improved due to being the only restaurant around from a million dollar store to a five million dollar store! About this time we notice that the owner's girlfriend is becoming more involved in the restaurant.
Enter from stage left: Owner's Girlfriend, OG for short. OG from what we had learned had already crashed and burned two businesses, one being her own, now she is starting to run our daily shift meetings and talking about branding and having more of an online presents. We were a brewery and made some pretty good beer so it made sense to have her on to do the marketing side of things sure, but then at meetings she starts talking about changing things up on the floor, but assured all of us that had been there before nd during the pandemic that we we're valued and nothing would happen to set schedules but she was taking over the GM responsibilities now and would be doing the schedule from here on out. OG couldn't understand the first GM's way of doing the schedule so then we all had to download on our own phones a scheduling app and then reinput our availability for every week. Frustrating but okay, we wanted to show that we we're willing to help her and welcome her on board as one of us.
Now OG gets tired of doing these tasks of taking pictures of the beers for company's Instagram and website and having to keep up with GM job so they hire a new GM, we'll call him Snake, cause he was a total snake in the grass. Snake, came in and first off hired about four new people, a couple from his old job. Remember, before when I got hired we all went through this vetting process where we started out as a host, then food runner, then onto the floor. We did this so as a host you could learn the table numbers and locations. Second you moved up to food runner, it also came with a raise and better tip out, but you learned everything in the food. Finally you move onto the floor and make big bucks, so its worth it. Plus, it gives us, the coworkers time to vet people to see if their work ethic is up to at the very least ours. New GM doesn't like that and starts instantly putting his people on the floor and in the best sections. We complain and are ignored by Snake and OG and owner, weird. Next section rotations are gone, we wont know if we are working outside or inside or closing or first cut till we get to work now. We complain again to just shrugs and “This is how it is now” statements.
After enough of hearing complaints we are now told seniority no longer matters, its now who is gonna be onboard with the new way of doing things. Those of us that had been there and earned out serving shifts were now being told we all had to pitch in and host and food run again once a week. Some of us, not me, had to host and food run for 15-20 months before server shifts opened up. The head bartenders who had been there for 10+ years were told by Snake they we're replaceable and at that point it went from feeling like I had hit the lottery in the job department back to every other job I've had in the service industry. Mentally, I checked out at that point but at least I still had my set schedule, the one thing I actually worked hard for to get and wanted. I had to wait years to get onto Thursday nights, big money making shift, also to switch from Monday nights to Thursday night was awesome cause the I had Sunday night through Wednesday morning off every week. Was almost like having a 3 day weekend every week.
Out of the blue, i was scheduled a Tuesday night shift, food running at that. Didn't ever look at my schedule cause it is a set schedule right? A coworker called me who happen to know I never work Tuesdays and asked if I had seen I was scheduled. I'm like WtH? I go to check the app and see my availability has been changed… I didn't change it so again WtH? I text Snake and explain the situation, hey sorry I'm not available to work on Tuesdays, never have been. I actually had legit plans to renew my driver's license and renew my car registration that day and we all know how the DMV can be. Mind you i have never voiced an opinion of complaint to any manager or owner since I started working there. Even with all the changes I've still worked at way worse places, but my set schedule, the one thing that was promised to not be screwed around with has now been screwed around with. Snake's response was, “Scheduling availability is my responsibility and checking the schedule is also my responsibility” I explain I've had a set schedule since I've started here, Its only changed one time at my request that's it. The app we use lets me set the availably on repeat until a given year of my choice and I chose 2030! Now, here's my small but legit mistake, the app lets you chose to set it until whatever year you choose but once you hit accept, it only sets it for 365 days no matter what. How was I supposed to know that? It took me resetting my availability twice notice it and it doesn't prompt you. I bring this to his attention and still sorry bud, you gotta work the shift scheduled. Okay fine, so at the encouragement from coworkers I text OG to let her know what's up since she made the promise of set schedules not being screwed with. She texts me back the exact same textbook response that Snake sent me. Okay, I know where i stand. I go into work that tuesday night, like scheduled, work the shift. OG thanks me and hugs me ugh and the owner comes up and shook my hand saying you showed your good character today, thank you. I was steaming for a bit, my character was in question? My now 6 years here mattered that little? Kinda eye opening so after my shift, I found Snake and gave him my two weeks, I told him, it wasn't truly him I was quitting for but, promises were made and not upheld, I've been down this street too many times to get taken advantage of again. He shook my hand and I shook his with every intention of completing my two weeks mainly for my coworkers. I love them dearly and would hate to make them have to pick up my slack cause I wanted to get one over on the managers. not even an hour later I get a text from OG, I still have it in my phone so I'm gonna type it verbatim; “Hello, TxTrekkie, We're told you gave your notice tonight. We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. You're not responsible for covering your shifts moving forward.”
My first thought was laughter, did she really just fire me for putting in my two weeks? I checked the app just to make sure and yup kicked off the app. I feel sometimes that i overreacted to the situation but, I just feel like I've been down that road too many times. Like the old man says in Pet Cemetery “Lotta history down that road.” Since I have left one of those 10+ year bartenders has left and all the older servers are looking for new work. I've received texts from the old GM and the old payroll manager expressing their sadness that I've left so I know I have good references moving forward, just sad how fast a new manager team can come in and completely wreck shop. Don't fix what's not broken is the moral here.
TLDR: Great serving/bartending job gets ruined by owner's girlfriend's new management team and style. I got fired for putting in my two weeks