A co-worker, who I will call Ryan, recently left the pub for a new job. Ryan was one of the cooks in the kitchen and had been at the pub for nearly ten years, so he was well known to staff and customers, including the sucky ones.
There were many occasions at the pub where regular annoying customers would come in and immediately ask if Ryan was on duty. If he was, they would smile and request that Ryan personally handled their entire meal because he was the only one who could “get it right” and he was the only one they trusted with their food. There was one family in particular who would come in three times a week and annoy the staff by repeatedly saying “And make sure Ryan does it. No one else. Do you hear? No one else in that kitchen can cook like Ryan can.”
I’m not going to bitch about Ryan. He was an awesome co-worker. He worked hard, was hilarious to do a shift with and prepared good food. However, he was no better than the rest of the kitchen team, and it always annoyed them when they would hear of customers saying that they weren’t doing a good enough job. The bar staff also agreed and took to lying to customers, telling them that Ryan would be making their food when in fact he was on his break or doing the washing up, sometimes when he wasn’t even on duty at all. Of course, the customers would praise the food, and when their plates were collected they would say “Make sure you thank Ryan for a brilliant meal!” despite the fact it was either cooked by me or another kitchen employee.
Of course, there were times when they were told Ryan wasn’t in.
“Where is he? He’s the only one that can get my order right!”
The food would be sent out to them. It would be the exact same quality they would always get, but because they already knew that Ryan wasn’t in, they would find fault with their food. They would use flimsy excuses for making complaints such as:
“The plates weren’t pre-warmed for long enough!”
“These fries are under/overcooked!”
“This meal is hot, but it is not piping hot like I normally get!”
“I think this is a slightly smaller portion!”
And of course, they would end their complaint with “This would never have happened if Ryan was here.” Compensation or refunds were never requested. They would just bitch and whine about Ryan not being in and the rest of the kitchen staff being incompetent.
And then the news broke that Ryan had quit.
“I heard from a friend of a friend of a friend’s aunt’s pet dogs cousin that Ryan has quit! Is this truuuuuuueee?”
After it was confirmed that Ryan was leaving, they would scream “You HAVE to stop him! Give him whatever money he wants! He can’t leave!”
There are three or four families that take part in this continual whining, so during Ryan’s last two weeks, we saw a lot of them. Those two weeks were filled with:
“Well, I guess we’d better enjoy the good food from Ryan while it lasts, because it will all go downhill from here.”
“I guess we’ll be looking for somewhere else to eat, seeing as you are letting Ryan go.”
Letting go? He quit remember. And the food they were enjoying wasn’t even prepared by Ryan. I really wanted to tell them but the manager absolutely forbade me from doing it because he knew that within minutes they would start inventing stomach cramps.
And then Ryan was gone. But the customers still continued to come back.
“We will just have to hope for the best, seeing as we know Ryan won’t be cooking it. When’s he coming back anyway?”
And then the food would go out to them. Same standard they’ve been getting for years.
“It’s just not the same without Ryan. It just doesn’t taste as good.”
It has been a month since Ryan left, and they are still doing it. They also keep asking “Why did you let him get away?” “When are you going to bring him back?” “This place is falling apart without him.” Despite the fact that nothing has really changed.
There were many occasions at the pub where regular annoying customers would come in and immediately ask if Ryan was on duty. If he was, they would smile and request that Ryan personally handled their entire meal because he was the only one who could “get it right” and he was the only one they trusted with their food. There was one family in particular who would come in three times a week and annoy the staff by repeatedly saying “And make sure Ryan does it. No one else. Do you hear? No one else in that kitchen can cook like Ryan can.”
I’m not going to bitch about Ryan. He was an awesome co-worker. He worked hard, was hilarious to do a shift with and prepared good food. However, he was no better than the rest of the kitchen team, and it always annoyed them when they would hear of customers saying that they weren’t doing a good enough job. The bar staff also agreed and took to lying to customers, telling them that Ryan would be making their food when in fact he was on his break or doing the washing up, sometimes when he wasn’t even on duty at all. Of course, the customers would praise the food, and when their plates were collected they would say “Make sure you thank Ryan for a brilliant meal!” despite the fact it was either cooked by me or another kitchen employee.
Of course, there were times when they were told Ryan wasn’t in.
“Where is he? He’s the only one that can get my order right!”
The food would be sent out to them. It would be the exact same quality they would always get, but because they already knew that Ryan wasn’t in, they would find fault with their food. They would use flimsy excuses for making complaints such as:
“The plates weren’t pre-warmed for long enough!”
“These fries are under/overcooked!”
“This meal is hot, but it is not piping hot like I normally get!”
“I think this is a slightly smaller portion!”
And of course, they would end their complaint with “This would never have happened if Ryan was here.” Compensation or refunds were never requested. They would just bitch and whine about Ryan not being in and the rest of the kitchen staff being incompetent.
And then the news broke that Ryan had quit.
“I heard from a friend of a friend of a friend’s aunt’s pet dogs cousin that Ryan has quit! Is this truuuuuuueee?”
After it was confirmed that Ryan was leaving, they would scream “You HAVE to stop him! Give him whatever money he wants! He can’t leave!”
There are three or four families that take part in this continual whining, so during Ryan’s last two weeks, we saw a lot of them. Those two weeks were filled with:
“Well, I guess we’d better enjoy the good food from Ryan while it lasts, because it will all go downhill from here.”
“I guess we’ll be looking for somewhere else to eat, seeing as you are letting Ryan go.”
Letting go? He quit remember. And the food they were enjoying wasn’t even prepared by Ryan. I really wanted to tell them but the manager absolutely forbade me from doing it because he knew that within minutes they would start inventing stomach cramps.
And then Ryan was gone. But the customers still continued to come back.
“We will just have to hope for the best, seeing as we know Ryan won’t be cooking it. When’s he coming back anyway?”
And then the food would go out to them. Same standard they’ve been getting for years.
“It’s just not the same without Ryan. It just doesn’t taste as good.”
It has been a month since Ryan left, and they are still doing it. They also keep asking “Why did you let him get away?” “When are you going to bring him back?” “This place is falling apart without him.” Despite the fact that nothing has really changed.
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