Public Behavior of Restaurant Staff in "Uniform"

[lperry]

Mr. lperry and I happened to see a restaurant employee, dressed in uniform (OK, it's a T-shirt, but the logo is unmistakable), on his walk to work.  He threw a still-burning cigarette down, and there was a trash can a meter away.  Perhaps 120 cm, but still, well within reach, and it even has one of those things on the top where you can stub out a cigarette.  Said piece of garbage was flung into a storm sewer with a prominent "No Dumping, Drains To Potomac River" sign on it.  People still litter?  Really?  Passersby looked on with a mixture of shock, horror and disgust, and, based on the conversations that followed, this is the type of neighborhood where there are enough choices that something like this will have an impact on where people choose to go.

So.  Is this one of those times when the management wants to know, or do we just let it lie? 

[jasonc]

This scenario came up in the last Game of Thrones episode (The Viper versus the Mountain).  Ser Barristan Selmy (who all in Westeros agree possesses an unimpeachable sense of honor) opted to confront the person in question first, before going over his head.

Ser Barristan was correct - that is the right thing to do.

[Mark Slater]

Are you serious? Someone threw a cigarette and you're bent out of shape and onlookers are in horror? Get a freaking life.

[The Hersch]

If onlookers respond to someone throwing a cigarette into the gutter with shock, horror, and disgust, I think we must have solved the really serious problems.

[Cooter]

Are you serious? Someone threw a cigarette and you're bent out of shape and onlookers are in horror? Get a freaking life.

What Mark said. Notwithstanding the fact that this isn't exactly the crime of the century, what exactly do you want "management" to do about this?

To answer your specific question, is this one of the times that management wants to know, the answer is an unequivocal no.

[lperry]

Are you serious? Someone threw a cigarette and you're bent out of shape and onlookers are in horror? Get a freaking life.

Got one, in a neighborhood where people care about keeping things clean.  The people most angry were pushing prams or were with little kids.  Perhaps it was a teaching moment.

If onlookers respond to someone throwing a cigarette into the gutter with shock, horror, and disgust, I think we must have solved the really serious problems.

I think this is the point, no?  Littering the neighborhood is something easily within peoples' control.

What Mark said. Notwithstanding the fact that this isn't exactly the crime of the century, what exactly do you want "management" to do about this?

To answer your specific question, is this one of the times that management wants to know, the answer is an unequivocal no.

I don't particularly want management to do anything, as it is not a place we patronize.  Having spent quite a bit of time on this board hearing about how management wants to know of problems, if some place saw a drop in sales because of a passel of pissed parents, maybe they want to know why?

[Mark Slater]

As a restaurant manager, if someone told me that they saw one of my waiters throw a cigarette in the street 3 blocks from my restaurant, and that mommies were pushing babies in their land-cruiser prams, I would laugh out loud and ask them what the hell their problem was. Seriously , aren't there more pressing problems in the world?

[DonRocks]

There are few more pressing problems in the world than man's disregard for other man which is exactly what this was, in my opinion.

lperry, is it possible this person could simply "own" a restaurant T-shirt? I'm not sure I feel strongly enough about it to call their employer, but I do feel strongly enough about it to register a domain name.

Years ago, hillvalley publicly dressed me down for calling someone or something retarded - I had no idea that was an offensive term, and didn't know I was doing anything wrong! (And before anyone judges me by today's standards, go here.) But I still haven't forgotten being chewed out about it, and haven't uttered the word since.

Also years ago, I was taking a walk on the W&OD trail when a youth (perhaps 18, and who probably could have taken me down in a fight) was strolling slowly, and threw a bag of fast food down on the trail. I ran forward, picked up the bag, walked by him quickly, and said in a disgusted tone, "I'm going to throw your trash away for you." I thought he was going to pick a fight with me; instead he said from behind me softly, "I'm sorry," probably because I was non-confrontational and was willing to back up my words with action. I turned around and said, "It's okay" and just kept going. I'll bet he's never forgotten that either.

[lperry]

As a restaurant manager, if someone told me that they saw one of my waiters throw a cigarette in the street 3 blocks from my restaurant, and that mommies were pushing babies in their land-cruiser prams, I would laugh out loud and ask them what the hell their problem was. Seriously , aren't there more pressing problems in the world?

Don, I agree with your first statement, and would add that I think this conversation would have been completely different had I thought enough to change "cigarette butt" to "Coke can," "potato chip bag," or "plastic cup," none of which I think people would deliberately throw into the river that is the source of our municipal water supply.  I don't particularly care if people want to smoke or not, but I do care about fouling our own nest.

The neighborhood where this occurred is adjacent to ours, and is known for civic pride.  If the guy had been standing instead of walking at something of a clip, I'm fairly certain he would have been bludgeoned with strollers and artisanal dog biscuits, then given a talking to.  Now that I think about it, there's probably zero chance that one of these people didn't head straight over to the restaurant later and let someone know.

[DaveO]

I agree with Mark.  If one person in a neighborhood complained that one of our staffers (wearing one of our t shirts--> staffer or not//I'm not sure) littered in a neighborhood...and it was the neighborhood where the restaurant was located or nearby ....I simply would not care.  At all.  Case closed.  If I heard it a lot from a lot of neighbors it would peek my curiosity and probably go on my agenda.

But it would be so low...so incredibly low.

Here is why.  If I manage or own a business or more particularly a local restaurant I have immeasurable number of issues every day.  Often immeasurable.

Below is a type of problem that can hit a local restaurant that is infinitely more likely to occur and cause big problems.  This issue was articulated by both a customer and a restaurant owner in Dr.com not long ago.  Its infinitely more serious and requires more time:

A customer/member of DR.com had a terrible dining experience at Alba Osteria and wrote about it.  The owner responded in that same thread here   (I thought that was a fantastic owner response).   In the 2nd paragraph of the owner's response he referenced that the restaurant has had "challenges".   He acknowledged "service issues".

I checked into it.  I scanned yelp reviews.  There are a lot.  There are positive and poor reviews.  Over time there are a variety of reviews that reference similar levels of "service problems"

(On a side note--the owner responded to the poor review at DR.com.  I didn't see owner responses on yelp--> interesting on an entirely different level).

Persistent service problems.  That is a far far far more serious issue than a staffer (or not) littering on a street, while not working at the restaurant.   As a manager its issues like that where I and other staff have to focus.

They MUST be solved.  It actually requires a lot of time and staff power to cure those issues.  Meanwhile there are other issues.  They occur all the time.

So when one person from out of the blue references that one person wearing a shirt advertising my restaurant (who may or may not be a staffer--and the person reporting this point doesn't know if the person is a staffer) reports that the shirt wearer is a litterer.....I don't care.  I don't care at all.  I don't care a whit.  Not a sou.

If I repeatedly heard this from a lot of different people it would grab my attention.  Otherwise I just don't care.  I don't have the time to care.  I never have the "time to care about 1 complaint..out of the blue"  I'm not that shirt wearer's "nanny".   If the issue that causes negative response keeps repeating itself...than I care.

Multiply the above "challenge" by dozens.  Then multiply the singular types of comments I receive from one different individual whose perspective might reflect a teeny teeny minority or maybe nobody else.

To tell the truth.  I can't afford to care.

[DonRocks]

To tell the truth.  I can't afford to care.

Well, that depends if the cigarette butt thrown out the window is extinguished quickly, or if it starts a forest fire.

[And, speaking as moderator, telling a respected member to "get a freaking life" just because they wrote a post that seems unimportant to you, when in fact it might be of great importance to them, is uncalled for.]

[DaveO]

I can't speak for Mark.  If I had responded first, I'm not sure what words I might have used.  My reaction though is similar.  I detailed some reasons why.  Every restaurant (and every business) are going to get a variety of complaints and comments.  No matter how well a restaurant runs there will be days and incidents when things go wrong.  There will be times when some people are going to complain and some people are going to be unhappy.

You'll never make every customer happy on every visit.  Some issues will take precedence.  Some will be of lessor importance.  This issue would be one that would drop to the bottom of the barrel in my eyes.  I detailed some specifics above why that is the case.  There are a myriad of others.