Fast Food Free For All

The other day I saw a video on YOUTUBE that I couldn't believe, maybe you saw it also - a patron at McDonald's climbing over the counter to punch one of the Crewmembers out, reportedly because he was told that the restaurant ran out of fries!

Now, I love McDonald's fries as much as the next person, but this video disturbed me greatly.  First of all, the restaurant was filled with young people. The man climbs over the counter and runs straight to his adversary and they lock up right away.  There are several crewmembers at the restaurant at the time.  They didn't run - they were successful in subduing this guy. There was a manager taking stock of what happened. There was a young lady taking the video, admonishing the manager in duty, and laughing hysterically at the same time - it was very hard to follow the smartphone video,but  the videographer was so busy telling people what their role was and cracking, you can understand her distraction.

A few things, however, were clear:

The Crewmembers didn't seem very alarmed that a man was standing in the counter and pushing the register out of his way, does this happen often at fast food restaurants?

The man got across the counter in time to be photographed, long before someone called the local police, security, or even the owner.  I think that if I were the owner, I'd like to know that my business was being attacked.

The manager seemed to be in no rush to rectify the situation, and the guy spent several minutes behind the counter - the video I saw ended before he left on his own or was taken out in handcuffs.

The Crewmembers beat the man handily, but he looked a little out of it. I guess you have to be if you want to climb over the McDonald's counter.

Here are my brief words of wisdom, as a former fast food worker at one of busiest intersections in the Midwest - 79th and Stony Island, back in the day:

You're not there to fight- call security or a manager who has some sense

If someone tries to cross the counter, you need to leave the facility - lock your drawer if you can, but break camp - that person is crazy and you need to be safe - if you're cooking, turn off the stove and depart using the closest exit

CALL THE POLICE, even if it's from your house after you get home !

No amount of money or product is worth your life - don't engage the person, just go

Don't work at a place that doesn't have security - in this day and age, that's a must. It might limit your choices, but it will lengthen your life.

This man didn't have a weapon, but be warned - carrying a concealed weapon is allowed everywhere now, and the next one won't come unprepared 

Several years ago, an entire crew was killed at the Brown's Chicken in Palatine, Illinois - learn from their mistakes, or you may wind up frozen in a meat locker at a $8 an hour job!

Hospitality has changed

In one of my favorite scenes in "Casino", Robert De Niro's character laments the demise of old Las Vegas - the part that was dedicated to making sure the guest was completely comfortable.

It's quite true. Back in the day when I was working at the Park Hyatt and the Palmer House and later at the Marriott, all in Chicago, things were quite different.  In my day a guest made a reservation and the first thing we did was check to see what room they stayed in last time. We tried to put them in the same room.  We tried to make sure we had a list of the things they had in their room previously. While I was working at the Hyatt, my first job was to file the guest info cards so that the Front Desk Manager would be prepared. I got to see what Billie Dee Williams had in his room and which brand of champagne Carol Channing likes to drink.

When I went to the Palmer House, I learned to wake people up in five languages ( French, Spanish, German, Italian, and Japanese) because wake up calls were manual back then and you actually called the room until the guest stopped sounding groggy.  I learned how to order a replacement wedding ring at 3:00 am and I learned how to find out where a guest was without seeming intrusive.  We took our jobs seriously and that meant making sure that even though there were over 2,000 bedrooms at the Palmer House, we cared about each guest completely.  We made them feel that they were at home and taking care to make sure they enjoyed every minute of it. When they checked out, we asked each of them when they were coming back - if they didn't give us a new reservation, we were not doing our job.

Now you check into a hotel and no one knows how to pronounce your name and no one even has the sense to ask - they throw you a key and the room may or may not be clean.  If you need something to eat, the person at the desk probably has never eaten at a place in the area, unless it's McDonald's.  No one takes note of your return, back in my day we had a bed check list to make sure there was no one we had to search for. If we didn't send you out with our driver, the doorman called us to say the guest was returning.  Consequently, none of our guests wound up wandering off into the lake or dead in an overnight brawl. We always had 

Make the NCAA go legit

The time has come for the NCAA (National College Athletic Association) to stop exploiting young people and create a partnership that assures their future and prepares them for the next phase of their lives.

If they aren't going to pay student athletes, they need to agree to give the athlete a full education and guarantee that they will pay for their medical expenses, no matter how long it takes to get them back on their feet.

Right now people think that student athletes have it made.  They get to go to the college of their choice, they get a college degree ad can even get a master's degree if they play their cards right.  That's not really the case.

A student athlete gets to select a college out of those that express interest - not necessarily their choice.  They can attend that school as long as they are viable but that doesn't mean that their scholarship can't be yanked if a better athlete comes along during the time they are in school.  It's constant try-outs and constant measuring up.  

If they don't graduate before they exhaust their eligibility to play - the Cinderella carriage turns back into a pumpkin and there are no glass slippers.  The most they can hope for is a back-up fairy godmother and a chance to play as an undercard or a chance to play in Canada or Europe.

If the athlete gets injured and can't play anymore, it's back to the homestead and building a new dream on your own with a lot of people clucking their tongues and talking about how sad it all is.

The NCAA should be able to guarantee the athlete a degree, so at least they are getting something that will help them move on to the next phase of their lives - whether it's a golden pro baseball, basketball, football, or hockey career here or in a foreign country.  It will mean they will be more selective and there will be no more scandals where athletes pay people to take their SAT's for them, and the student and coach have to leave the school before the school loses credit for its entire season.

If an athlete is injured, the NCAA should be required to return the person to their maximum medical improvement level, just like what happens in workers compensation.  They can afford the insurance, and if they can't they need to get safer anyway.

We all see the fanfare and balloons and parents cheering in the beginning, but it's the friends who see the crying and the ambulances and the rehab and the unceremonious rejection from the dorm when the keycard doesn't work anymore and a kid goes from being Big Man on Campus to persona non grata.

The present NCAA program isn't fair. The NCAA needs to read the 13th Amendment - slavery is over.