So last week I had an issue with the owner where I work. It was a Friday, I had just clocked in and literally was on the clock for one minute when I heard him in the back say, “Look at this kid, he’s just going to stand there. He’s lazy, that’s why he couldn’t keep his pizza place in Wallingford open.” That pissed me off. That’s personal business that’s no one’s business but my own. Yes, I did have a pizza place of my own, and yes, I did have to close it. It wasn’t because I was lazy, though. I worked there from 9 in the morning till usually 10 or 11 at night, often staying well after midnight, even leaving at 2 or 3 in the morning sometimes. I was even there on Mondays, too, the one day I was closed. On average I worked between 80 and 90 hours a week. The reason I had to close was that I was competing with 29 other pizza places all using inferior products and selling their product for much less. I was also underfunded. I basically ran out of money before I could change tactics. That was my first real business, a great learning experience, but one I ultimately failed at. I have no doubt were I to do it again, I would make it work. But that’s not for this guy to talk about in front of everyone in the kitchen.
I went right up to him, and said, “Is there something you need me to do?” To which he replied, “I shouldn’t have to ask.” I disagree. As a driver it isn’t my job to second guess the owner or to be a mind-reader. As it turns out, he wanted me to cut pizzas. Fine. No problem, but more than one driver has stepped in to cut pizzas only to have him push them out of the way and say, “I’ll do it, I want it done right.” That being the case who would volunteer to potentially get abused? Lately he’s been there more and more, getting in everyone’s way, making people make mistakes, yelling at people, generally pissing everyone off. One guy got so fed up he refused to do any work one day. He was fired on the spot, although when he threatened to get unemployment the owner changed his tune and said he still has a job. Another guy walked out that same day. The day before another guy quit. I’m sure the owner was thinking they just weren’t team players, but the truth is he forced them all to make the tough choice to leave. This is a guy who’s said over and over to us he doesn’t care about his employees, that we need him, he doesn’t need us. Nice guy, right? If everyone could agree to walk out en masse I bet he would care.
The bottom line is I am not the guy to fuck with. I am not stupid. I know a little about how the business runs and if he wants to play games with me, I can play them right back. I can find another job like this fairly easily (took me one day of looking to find this one). The question is can he take the repercussions of his actions? Fortunately for him, I’m not spiteful, but if I were, I could make his life very uncomfortable there. Nothing illegal, mind you, but every business has it’s secrets. If you know them, there’s a chance you can ruin them. And guess what? I know some of them.
The Driver (Adam Smith)
© Adam Smith and drivershout.wordpress.com, 2009. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Adam Smith and drivershout.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
“Kick Rocks” Pizza Delivery Nightmares by Adam Smith is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License
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