[Rick Lee]

I'm not defending how it works, just stating that's how it works and why it's that way.

Think about it. If you're a server or a cook in a restaurant and they tell you they're closing down on X date, what are the odds all the staff is going to keep coming to work until that day? How about zero? It's not like the salaried white collar world where people give two weeks or more notice and then collect their vacation pay. In fact, the only time I ever saw notice given in a restaurant is when students told the boss when they were going back to school. Vendor and employee theft doesn't mean the employees are treated poorly or even underpaid. It's just the nature of the business. I never felt mistreated or underpaid. I knew going in that servers got $2.10 per hour plus tips, which usually averaged out to $10 per hour or close to $100 per shift, plus a decent meal. You think I turned him down when the bar manager used to feed me beers in the parking lot when I was 18 or 19? He was stealing and, technically, I probably was too, not to mention putting their liquor license at risk. And I was one of the straighter arrows.

When I went to work at McConkey's and the doors were locked, I didn't even go home. I went to apply for jobs at three more restaurants. The last one I went to said they had nothing, but to fill out an application anyway. Five min. after I got home from that, the phone rang, they had just fired someone and asked me to come right back for dinner rush. So, although I was laid off and had never felt mistreated at that job, I basically missed not a single day's work and landed an even better job within a few hours. That was 18 yrs. ago and that restaurant is still there.

Sure, I've worked for some a$shole managers, but I never complained about the general restaurant business culture. I liked it. It's the customers I usually couldn't stand.