The Rest Of The Story

Last night's adventure with the new manager continued to be "interesting". After the last reservations were in and midnight rolled around we finally closed up shop for the night. As I said, I tend to avoid spending any more quality time than necessary with the new manager. I also don't follow co-workers around, making sure they do this or that. I'm not expected or paid to. The vibe around work is that you pretty much police yourself on that front. Unless something goes terribly wrong, one of the things I love about my job is that nobody is micro-managing how I use my time.

So it wasn't until the end of the night that we were thrown together out of necessity. I need to train him on the closing procedures. Registers need to be cashed out. Waiters need to turn in their charge slips, paperwork, money, etc. Change banks need to be verified and re-set. It's thrilling. Really. And it's honestly not that hard as long as you're methodical about it. You need a system. And you need to do it the same way every night. That way it becomes second nature and you generally don't forget to deposit the money or leave the safe unlocked over night.

Wow. Those first two paragraphs are crushingly boring, no?

In a nutshell, the new manager couldn't close because he was drunk.

He has a serious drinking problem, despite his attempts the other night to list all the reasons he doesn't. So instead I did the entire close for him. Which is kind of pointless because I already know how to close. And after thinking about it over night and taking in to account the fact that before he was "promoted" to his current position there were several instances where he had to be disciplined for drinking-related problems, I ultimately decided I'd had enough and went to our supervisor. I related what I observed and avoided making any dramatic pronouncements. But I did point out that, god forbid, who knows what would happen if we were to leave him alone one night and something serious were to happen when he was drinking. The potential to be shutdown and/or sued would be a massive risk. After a brief back and forth debate between myself and another manager and our supervisor, we decided that he will be relieved of his position right after New Years.

I feel bad (In a way) that I had to be the one to "pull the trigger" on this problem. But someone had to. And I hope it serves as a wake-up call for this man to see that his drinking is out of control, and so is he. But I doubt it. I don't get the impression he's ready. And you don't just realize one day you have a substance abuse problem. You have to be ready to see.