Friday, March 09, 2007

Not At GD Anymore, Still in The Drama...

Tuesday was my 21st birthday. Dan and I had made plans to go to GD Friday (today) because one of the managers is a friend of ours and he said he'd make me a Flaming Bob Marley for me after I turned 21. I was also planning on trying one or two other drinks while we were there for fun and my buddy G said that he'd buy me one of the drinks he likes so he was going to meet us up there.

It's been exactly three weeks today since I was told that I was fired. I've been up once or twice to say hi and visit with the people that I miss. But today was going to be fun because I was 21 and I could have a few drinks, not to mention I was going to hang out with two of my coolest friends while having drinks at a place that I still like to hang out in. Even though they fired me, they still have food that I like, they still have employees that I like, and it's still a cool atmosphere to hang out in, I have no hard feelings towards GD as a restaurant at all. I've been looking forward to tonight for several weeks now. I'd even requested not to work from my current job so I could "go out" tonight.

We've been sitting at our nice little table in the corner for a little while now, when the manager comes over to talk to us (not the first or last time tonight) and mentions that "what's her face up that the door" (K from my last entry) was really pissed at me for something I had put on myspace. He was paraphrasing what she had said (or what he had heard she said) and she claimed that I was saying how she was sleeping with the managers and all this other B.S. We laughed about it and I said that I never said her name, and while I didn't recall my exact wording (it was weeks ago that I had written my previous entry and I'm not in the habit of reading over my stuff again very often), I was pretty sure I never said she slept with anybody. I may have hinted that or indicated it but I never came straight out and said it and I never said her name either.

A little while later (after our cheese fries had come out but before my alcohol), K came over to our table. She said that she had heard about something on my myspace (she's not my friend that's for sure) and said that she had heard that I said she was sleeping with the managers, I was blaming her for getting me fired, she was catching a lot of crap from a lot of people who still work there, and she didn't appreciate my blog at all. 0.0 Excuse me? She goes up to a table and tells PAYING CUSTOMERS that she doesn't appriciate somethign that she's a) never seen herself and b) something that's on somebody's personal page where they're free to put WHATEVER they want? Oh, no, no, no, no. I told her that I had posted a blog about why I wasn't at GD anymore (at which point she interrupted me about not being the reason I got fired) and that I had said I wasn't willing to flirt with the managers to keep my job. At which point she said something else to the effect of what she had said before and left. She didn't really want to hear what I had to say, she just wanted to yell at me and make it clear that she knew about what I had posted and she wanted me to know she was mad.

Well guess what lady?

Not only am I not taking that entry off my page, I'm posting another one. She left before I had a chance to say anything about how I can post whatever I want on MY pages because of something called The Constitution, more specifically, The First Amendment. Secondly, nowhere in my entry did I say that she slept with any of the managers, just that she flirted with them and that she was their little pet and could do whatever she wanted (I know this because I went back and read it just to be sure). Everything that gets said at GD is usually inflated and blown out of proportion, especially when you're not hearing it from the main source. She never actually read my entry herself, she only heard about it because she was catching crap from a lot of people there because of it. She thought that she KNEW what I had said when in reality she was just repeating what had probably gone through several people and been pumped up a little bit along the way. She had no idea what my entry really said and was speaking to me like I had no business saying what had happened that Friday night (and believe me I left A LOT of stuff out) and my side of the story.

She spoke to me like a child, like she did on Friday night, and she didn't want to stick around to hear what I had to say. She was very lucky that Dan didn't lose his temper and let her know what HE thought of her coming over to our table and interrupting our meal. He knew better than to say what he was thinking to her face and the next time the manager stopped by our table, we asked about making a formal complaint. The manager said honestly, just e-mail corporate that way The Beaver's boss will see it too, and that is just what Dan is going to do once I get off his computer, and believe me, I will be posting it for everyone to see.

The only reason I was able to enjoy the rest of our time at GD was because I was having fun with Dan and G and everybody else that stopped by our table to say hi, and the few drinks I did have didn't hurt anything either ;) (I had a Flaming Bob Marley, Stoli Vanilla and Coke, and a Washington Apple, the last one was my favorite followed by the Vanilla and Coke). I was also able to enjoy the rest of our time there because I knew that Dan was going to be writing up a letter to corporate very shortly and that I would have access to a computer and would be able to post how she didn't like my last post. Seriously, if you have a problem with something somebody else posts in a weblog, you need a life, especially if you supposedly know what they're saying isn't true...

Maybe that's why she had a problem with what she thought I put in my blog...

*NEW! LETTER TO CORPORATE*

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to you today because of an incident that happened in your Pasadena branch restaurant on Friday, March 9th. I was taking my fiancée out to dinner to celebrate her birthday. She used to work for your company so all of the servers that were there stopped by and said hello and happy birthday and were really friendly like we have come to expect of GD. Shortly before her termination, my fiancée had a disagreement with another employee. The employee’s name is K and she also stopped by our table but she was very rude and nasty to my fiancée, continuing to carry out this personal disagreement.

Management, before my fiancée’s termination, handled the original disagreement and the reason K came over to our table Friday night was for a blog entry that my fiancée had written to let her friends know why she was not working at your Pasadena location anymore. K had heard about it through second and third parties, she never actually read it for herself and took gossip for gospel. She claimed that my fiancée wrote that she was sleeping with managers and blamed her for being terminated, neither of which is true. She also wanted my fiancée to take it down, even thought she has never read it herself and does know what is actually in it. She never asked to see it, she didn’t calmly ask my fiancée what was in it, she just spouted off how she felt about it and walked away before my fiancée had a chance to explain anything other than “I never said you slept with managers.” My fiancée’s blogs never mention anyone by name, except her and myself, and the entry about the disagreement was no exception. K would have known that if she had actually read the blog.

I spoke with the manager there that night and he said he would see what he could do. He also said that if we were really unhappy we should send a letter to the main corporate office. After some one is no longer a co-worker and is just another guest trying to enjoy their meal, causing a scene in the middle of the restaurant on a busy Friday night is extremely unprofessional. She had no business being at our table, she wasn’t our server, she wasn’t even one of the hostesses that took care of us on the waitlist, and she made it very unpleasant to stay and enjoy our meal. But the manager and the other servers who knew my fiancée apologized for K’s behavior and went out of their way to make the rest of our night enjoyable.

My fiancée and I have been regular guests of the Pasadena GD for years, even before she started working there, because we like the food, the people, and the atmosphere. I don’t want to be forced to call and find out if K is working so we can go to another restaurant (one that we don’t like as much) just to avoid a verbal harassment, but I will if I have to. It would have been one thing if K was professional while she was on the clock and addressed her concern with my fiancée another time, but she did it while she was working and while we were guests and that is unacceptable to me.

Thank you for your time.
Dan Gibson

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