Do you mean raspberry tea?

The chicken restaurant journey is continued...

Disclaimer Part I: California contained some of the most ignorant customers I have ever served. This chicken restaurant was a new concept for them. They got mad about not having baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, etc. They didn't know what sweet tea was and thought we were being a smart-ass when we said it is tea made with sugar. They wanted everything on their sandwiches with no extra charge, and even though we had a strict policy of not putting condiments on sandwiches or salads, they wanted us to do that for them as well. I hate to say this, because I loved my little California life, but most people had a sense of entitlement.

Disclaimer Part II:
I know that I made the last owner seem completely horrible; however, the owner in my hometown is ten times better than the owner in California. I just need the reader to understand that fact first…

Jeffrey and I moved to California in 2005. I was scheduled to start school in early September, so we moved in August to get a job, find a place to live, and figure out the area. We were basically working without a net. With the help of the Louisiana restaurant, which I had so many problems, I was able to get an interview at a store in California. Jeffrey needed a job, and the owner was willing to interview both of us. We went into the interview thinking this would just be a short time gig because we really wanted to use our bachelor's degrees and make careers out in sunny California.

The owner told us that we would be able to start the next week and told us that we could work similar shifts but not exactly the same shifts. We stated that as long as we could both be off by 3 (because of my night classes and the fact that we only had one car) that we were willing to work that out, so our life in Cali began.

The owner was very young and was part of the expansion team for California. This store was not making any money, so he was just making a salary as was his wife. This store's sales were 1/2 of the sales of the tiny restaurant that I worked for. We lived and worked in an area of hundreds of thousands of people, but the store was rarely busy. As a result, there was no motivation. Not a lot of people worked since we were rarely busy, and it was pretty boring most days.

The next week was our first week. Jeffrey had training the first two days, and they just threw me in there like I knew what I was doing. I did not know what I was doing. This was a sit down version of the restaurant. I worked at a little drive-thru version of the restaurant. They had new fancy registers, and I didn't know how to work them. It took some getting used to, and I finally was able to pick up some stuff. The manager, Unique, was different. She was originally apprehensive and unsure of me because I had worked for this company for significantly longer than she had worked there, I was older than she was, and Jeffrey and I already were college graduates.

It wasn't long before we realized that we would be here for a while because we couldn't find any jobs in California. People did not want to hire us as outsiders. The first month I decided that was a mistake. I decided that we needed to return, but we were too much in debt. We talked with some people, and we just decided to stick it out. The beginnings of our California adventure were not going well, and the chicken restaurant did not help. As a result of our age (22/23), we felt like outcasts at the store in the beginning.

Eventually the manager saw that we were intelligent, educated people that were just trying to pay the bills. We weren't causing drama. We just needed a job. She finally opened up to us, and this was one of the first big steps. We also became good friends with a group of workers at the store. Socially – things were much better, but the problems with the store persisted.

I was accused of coughing and sneezing on people's food and still serving it to them. I was not believed, and there were no cameras to back me up. The rules for employee meals and working long shifts were completely different.

Jeffrey and I had a hard time being told to do mediocre jobs when we knew that we were capable of much more. It didn't take long for me to get promoted as a manager. This store ran quite differently than the other one. There were only 3 managers before I was promoted, and I made 4. We were responsible for a vast majority of the work, including paying the bills. Jeffrey promoted himself to head of deliveries. He even ordered himself a new shirt. He unloaded the stock truck by himself every week. He was never given any help.

While at the restaurant, I became the Training Director for the store. I was given the title and promotion, but I was told that I could not be paid for the work that I did for the store. They just didn't have the budget for that. I stupidly agreed to the conditions. I had to do all training “off the clock”. Anything that I did for that store was not considered payable. I worked a ton on getting the employees trained, but I was never given credit. Another problem with the store was that Unique and the owner liked things their way, even if it wasn't the store’s method or trained way. They made me teach people the wrong way of doing things, so that it was done their way.

That was only the beginning of the problems at the store. Another problem was the night manager, Lupe. Lupe was the owner's favorite employee. She was bilingual which was very beneficial and very helpful where we were located. However, she was not reliable, and she was lazy. She had been going to community college for 6 years and had not completed her core requirements. At this store nobody could count down their own register; however, you were not allowed to leave until someone counted down your register. Lupe would take an entire hour to count down mine or Jeffrey's register when I had to leave to get to school. She would sit at the end of the counter and talk to employees and have to recount and recount registers. One day Jeffrey and I left because we had been there for one hour after we were supposed to get off. This is an ineffective use of her time and an ineffective use of her labor hours. If the drawers were wrong, they could just get us to sign
 the book the next day, but that would be a logical and reasonable way to help the problem. Since this was not the owners method, it did not matter. It also seemed that the owner, although married, had feelings for Lupe. I do not have proof of this, but he always worked her entire shift with her. He would sit in the office with her during her shift from 2-close every night even though his crew would be suffering. Nothing would get done, and most of the time everyone would leave frustrated.

Every morning we operated the store with only five people until 9am. One morning an employee did not show up for their shift. I called everyone I could think of to come in, and I couldn't get anyone to come help us, not even the Owner. That morning Jeffrey, me, and two kitchen workers had to do all of the prep and run the store. I had to make the cold items in the back with the drive-thru headset on. Jeffrey would call me on the headset if he needed me. He ran the front by himself until the 9am person showed up. That means that there was still no-one to run breaks. There seemed to be no support. There was no system for punishment for people calling in or being late to work either.

Let me not forget the problem of the kitchen crew. Every day the kitchen crew would eat on the clock from the time that we opened until the time that we closed. They were caught with food in their mouths and would still state that they weren't eating any food. One morning the kitchen manager decided at 10am to stop making breakfast even though it lasted until 10:30. She refused to make the product. The problem is she didn't tell us she was doing this until people had already ordered breakfast food. As soon as the owner showed up (randomly for him) she acted like she had forgot about the breakfast food. She started making the items on the screen but people waited for 20 minutes for their food. She did this almost every day. I told the owner, and he said he would take care of it. It still happened up until the time that I left the restaurant.

I do not like stupid rules that people just make up. If you have a valid reason for something, I will listen and decide if I think it is warranted. BUT when we are busy, it is not necessary for me to neatly stock the dipping sauces. I want to get through the rush, and then I will stock the sauces neatly. One day we were actually busy, which was rare for us. I ran out of all of my sauces. Therefore, I just threw them in my bin and continued taking orders. I was screamed at by Unique about the sauces. I told her that neatly stocking was not my concern at the time, and if she wanted to come and stock the sauces, she was more than welcome to do so. She told the owner that I was being insubordinate, but I never did neatly stock the sauces again.

In California working more than 8 hours in one day counts as overtime. We usually worked 6-3 which would quantify as about 30 minutes of overtime. I can honestly say that I hardly ever saw this overtime. It wasn't until after we left that we found out the owner was going in and manually changing people's hours, which is completely illegal! I have no way of proving this because it will always be his word against mine.

When we had store meetings, they were always on Sundays, and we never got paid. They were also mandatory. This is against what this restaurant believed in; however, there was no time that showed we were at the store on Sunday. Again it is his word against mine.

The owner also tried to talk college aged students into quitting college in order to come and work for him full time. He said that they could just finish their degree later. This is completely unethical. Even if you don't think this was unethical, he paid us like crap, so it was not a good decision. This is why Lupe was still in school. She was working for him and not putting her education first. There were several people that complained that the owner had done this. He promised them more hours and better pay, but nobody saw it. He tried to talk me into quitting my master’s degree program in order to try and get my own store. It was completely ridiculous. I only came out to California to get my masters, and he was trying to get me to quit. It felt like a manipulative situation.

After a while at the store, we noticed the employees started to get restless. They started wanted to be supported more. And since I am co-dependent and think it is necessary for me to save everyone, I stuck my neck out for them. This did not end well. I was accused of cavorting with the employees to overthrow the management. I was on the management team, so why did I want to over throw them? One of the other managers would have also been on the side of the “over-throwers” and maybe one of the others. When two or three out of the five managers is suspected/accused of "overthrowing" anything, people should have noticed a problem.

Eventually -  Jeffrey and I ran out of money, and we let the owner know that we were going to have to move back to Louisiana. We gave plenty of notice. During that time, Lupe and I got into a disagreement about how she was running her night crew. I also was very upset that every time that I had to get off, I had to wait an hour for her to count down my drawer from the day. The owner was out of town and I let him know my disappointment in her actions. He took her side and refused to finish the conversation with me. I immediately put in my two week notice. The next week he called me into his office and let me go, which goes against the policies and procedures. I gave enough notice, but again he has all the power. He called Jeffrey into his office and told him he had been let go too. Jeffrey did not do anything. He never got into an argument with anyone. He did his job. He was never late. We could have sued him for this, but I was worried that again it
 would be his word against mine.

I learned several things from this experience. When people say they have an open door policy, don't believe them. That is never true. They say that to make you feel better, but in reality if it isn't their opinion, it doesn't matter. Even if a boss says they are ready for change, it means that it has to be their change. When you give suggestions, even good ones, if it isn't their idea, they will hate it. When you have valid, legitimate reasons behind your hurt, it never matters. It doesn't matter if you aren't the favorite. It doesn't matter if you have helped grow profit, helped grow employees, or helped run the store while the manager is going back to school. It only matters what they think. Writing this down has made me realize that restaurant employees might need a union or someone to protect them from their bosses because even the best ones have secrets.

This owner was stealing our time, stealing our money, and hitting on married college-aged girls. Not long after I left, I found out that he had become inappropriate with many of the girls at the store. Lupe ended up leaving because the owner made the following comment: "Why can't my wife look like you?" Unique's journey with this place ended much like mine and Jeffrey's. If we didn't agree with the owner, we were let go. EVERYONE THAT WE WERE CLOSE WITH AT THE STORE WAS GONE WITHIN A YEAR OF OUR DEPARTURE. The store is still not making money. But since he is a favorite, he is still in charge. The experience at this store with him was my first clue in realizing that this restaurant was not what it was built up to be.

I'm sorry sir, was I speeding?

As some of you know, I am currently a Family Therapist with The Center for Children and Families. I drive to West Carroll Parish, Richland Parish, and Franklin Parish every week. It is a lot of driving, especially for me. Anybody that knows me well knows that I hate to drive. I zone out, I get bored, and I am not aware of my surroundings. Well this week it happened. I got pulled over by the police...TWICE! 

I have only received one ticket in my life before this incident, and luckily I got it moved to a non-moving violation. That was 3 years ago. This time around I got pulled over in Pioneer, LA. Pioneer is a little town between Oak Grove and Delhi. The speed limit changes from 55 to 45 around a curve, but you don't see the sign until you get into the town. 

I saw the police officer in his black SUV and immediately dropped my speed, but it was too little, too late. He pulled me over, and he said he clocked me going 57 in a 45. I immediately apologized because I knew I was speeding. He took my insurance and driver's license. I waited patiently. He gave me a ticket without lecturing or yelling at me. I told him thank you for just giving me my ticket and letting me go. I explained that I have been in the car with others and the police officers can be complete jerks for absolutely no reason. He said, "Well it's just my job to give the ticket. It's not professional for me to yell at you”. I told him this would be my first real speeding ticket on record since my last one was changed. He told me that I could ask the court to change this one to a non-moving violation as well. I said thank you and went about my day. 

Later on in the day I was driving through Rayville, La on my way home. I was driving down the main road in Rayville and was stopped by two red lights. Since I received a ticket earlier in the day, I was being cautious and making sure I was not speeding and paying attention. As I entered the interstate ramp, I see blue lights behind me yet again. I immediately pull over. I was very unsure of what I was doing, but I just waited. As soon as I pulled over, the police officer passes me and pulls someone else over. I got back into the driving lane, and I went on my way. I drove about five miles, and the police officer was back behind me. 

I pull over again. The office got out of his car, walks to my window, and proceeds to tell me that while in Rayville, he clocked me going 40 in a 25. I immediately began telling him that I was not speeding. I had my cruise set the whole time because of my previous experience. He then told me that he saw two white Honda Accords (I drive a silver Honda Civic), and he thought it was the other car, which he stopped first. He then told me that “it had to be me” because I had darker hair, and he was sure that it had to me. I tried my best to explain to him that it wasn't me, I stopped at two red lights, and if had been me, he would have been able to stop me sooner.
He did not believe me, which, I mean, he doesn't have to do. He is the one with all the power. 

I tried to explain to him that I had already got a ticket earlier in the day, and if he could help me out in this situation or give me seatbelt ticket or something other than a speeding ticket. He asked to see my other ticket which I showed him. He said you were speeding today.  Without hesitation I admitted to the earlier speeding. I think that he felt sorry for me and simply let me go with a warning. 



In a series of unfortunate events it seemed, I had several police officers randomly follow me from Rayville to West Monroe (30 minute drive). It was like they were watching and waiting for me to make a mistake because they just knew that I was speeding. I am not a perfect driver. I do speed sometimes. But the way the second officer handled that situation was not professional. He admitted that he was unsure of who was speeding; he made an ID with just my hair color, and despite the fact that I did not drive a white Honda Accord, he still pulled me over. The other car he pulled over was actually a white Honda accord. What confused me even more is that I also have a LA Tech sticker on the back of my car as well as a CBU sticker, which would help him identify my car. But…he did let me off the hook, and for that, I am grateful. 

I called Pioneer this week to see my ticket cost. It was ONLY $175. I guess I’m grateful because I was expecting the ticket to be a lot higher. I went by their Town Hall, and it is only the size of a 200 square foot house. I was raised in a small town my whole life. I forget about how small "small towns" really are and how they operate. I also forgot that this is how they get their money...by speeders. So for now, I will make sure to set my cruise every time I get in my car. I am not getting another ticket....Well at least not for a while.