The PS7 Firings

[DaRiv18]

I agree that it was a harsh reaction and completely over the top given the source. However, I thought Sietsema should have taken more responsibility for posting it in the first place. Reading both the chats and the tweets made me feel like I was watching a school girl start a rumor and then feign disbelief with her buddies in the lunch room when it hit the fan.

The more I digest this, the more I agree with lggl's post. Sure, we don't know the diner's identity, but not only did Sietsma choose that particular comment (out of hundreds, probably) to answer, but he co-signs the complaint with this gem:

Tom Sietsema: Wow. She drank from your companion's GLASS, at the TABLE? That's just wrong. Good thing you didn't complain about anything on your PLATE, huh?

And to those of you who think it may have been a hoax, well, Sietsema has something to tell ya:

Did it really happen? Right now, I'm not certain. *Could* it have happened? Well, I've witnessed similar incidents elsewhere before, and last week's post had an air of reality: the chatter wasn't hateful, for instance, and had a sense of humor about what he or she said they saw. "We still had a good time," the chatter concluded.

And I'm sure the chatter is still having a good time, especially if they're following this thread.

Without knowing him personally, I can see why Peter Smith was put in a tough position. Sure, he fired the waitresses the next day after the chat, but it looks like he did alot more due diligence than Sietsema did here. I don't hear any calls to boycott Sietsema's chats, but that would be my first choice if I were upset about this episode. After all, I understand Smith's wife is a lawyer, who probably knows someone who provided similar advice as this:

the chef/owner of PS 7's . . is well within his rights to terminate the group based on a customer complaint, particularly one that would have a much broader (negative) impact on his business. He would have opened himself up to more risk had he done something like try and guess which waitress fit the general description described by the patron and only dismissed one.

Three cheers for Restaurant Week.

[jayandstacey]

Amen to all.

Are we done?

[B.A.R.]

Could I just point out, as a "grizzled restaurant veteran", that nobody can drop a tray of drinks in a restaurant without anyone on the staff noticing it, especially my friend Gina.

Precisely. What has me so puzzled about this was that if you assume everything stated in Tom's chat DID happen, it is still a horrible decision.

A server is so cavalier about her profession that she consumes diner's beverages at the table, and no one notices.There's a possibly drunk waitress on the floor and no one notices. A server drops an entire tray of drinks and no one notices. A bartender remakes a round of drinks and no one notices. A customer has a bizarre, if not horrible dining experience and no one notices.

The restaurant tries to investigate, but every member of the staff has been so weeded, for days, that they cannot remember a thing. The POS system, which tracks every voided drink ticket, has so many voids and comps that you cannot even reconcile voids with actual checks.

If the TS complaint DID occur, the waitress is solely responsible for her conduct. But whomever is supposed to be overseeing the FOH of the restaurant is ultimately responsible for all of the above. If you wanted to make a statement, to show that these type of instances are unacceptable, you fire the manager, who bears responsibility for everything, not three innocent waitresses, and MAYBE one guilty one.

[Pat]

Could I just point out, as a "grizzled restaurant veteran", that nobody can drop a tray of drinks in a restaurant without anyone on the staff noticing it, especially my friend Gina.

The first several times I read the account, I read it as a tray full of drinks being dropped, and it seemed an odd pairing with getting several drink orders wrong. (She dropped a tray full of drinks, had them remade, and then brought the wrong ones? It couldn't have been that the ones on the dropped tray were wrong because they weren't delivered for someone to discover that.) A more recent time I looked at the description, I realized that it could have been the tray the drinks were on but after the drinks were delivered. That would certainly fit with being fumbling and clumsy but would not attract anywhere near as much attention as dropping a tray full of drinks on the floor. As for whether any or all of this actually happened, I've got no idea.

[dcs]

I feel compelled to note that collective punishments are considered war crimes under the Fourth Geneva Convention:

Article 33. No protected person may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.

[porcupine]

I feel compelled to note that collective punishments are considered war crimes under the Fourth Geneva Convention:

We're getting dangerously close to Godwin's Law here.

Are we done?

Apparently not, as people are still enjoying the discussion. If you're done, you can skip over this thread.

[dcs]

We're getting dangerously close to Godwin's Law here.

You're right. A better analogy would be the Fourth Grade teacher who keeps the entire class after school because the pupil who threw the spitball did not fess up. If you treat your staff like children, do not be surprised if they start acting like children.

How many of us would work in a place where if office supplies start disappearing, the company fires everyone who had access to the supply closet?

[Dave Pressley]

How many of us would work in a place where if office supplies start disappearing, the company fires everyone who had access to the supply closet?

I'm not great at math, but I'll guess ZERO.

Hey, I got one for you...if a plane crashes on the border of North Carolina and South Carolina, where would the survivors be buried?

[Barbara]

I'm not great at math, but I'll guess ZERO.

Hey, I got one for you...if a plane crashes on the border of North Carolina and South Carolina, where would the survivors be buried?

Dear God, my brother pulled this one on me when I was a little girl: the "Survivors" don't need to be buried.

[mame11]

I've been reading about Jack the Ripper. Apparently he killed and horribly mutilated a number of women, and nobody has been able to find out who he was. This happened about 120 years ago. I guess the swig-the-drink-at-the-table-gal will live in similarly obscure infamy.

maybe like JTR, the she was really a he! and the server was really just trying to cure the victims of their alcoholism. (impressed you brought JTR into this conversation_..... )

[DonRocks]

maybe like JTR, the she was really a he! and the server was really just trying to cure the victims of their alcoholism. (impressed you brought JTR into this conversation_..... )

Maybe if PS7's was serving Pollock that night, you could have brought in Jack The Dripper.

[leleboo]

Maybe if PS7's was serving Pollock that night, you could have brought in Jack The Dripper.

[ol_ironstomach]

[ Oh hey look, we've actually posted jumped the pollock shark. ]