Burdens, disillusionment, and management.

There's a relatively new manager at the place I work. There's something about her. I'm not sure I can boil it down to a single word. It's a kindness. A determination to satisfy everyone. I've seen it before in others new managers. And ultimately it withers. Because you can't please everyone. As a manager you have three bodies you deal with. Your customers, your employees, and your bosses.  And it's impossible to satisfy all three. Eventually you're going to have to say "fuck it" to someone. Some managers say "fuck it" to the employees. They put up a wall and guard themselves from personal investment. They don't care about individual fairness, rules are rules. Others take a different approach. They'll roll their eyes at asinine corporate policies. They think about their job from the employees perspective. Some say "fuck it" to all three. These ones have checked out. There was a manager at a place I worked named Steve. He often was drunk on shift and I believe the only joy he got was talking to children with finger puppets the hosts used to give away.

I've seen this disillusionment so clearly. At the aforementioned establishment, the owners did away with the middle management and replaced it with a robust management staff. Two of the middle managers took promotions to full management and there was an air of hope. These two middle managers spent years as servers, they would be our voice in the paradigm's new direction.  But just as one of the other managers was preparing to take maternity leave, another was fired. The staff of five became a staff of three. Never have I ever seen someone as over worked as those three. Over the next few months, I would witness idealistic determination buckle under burden and finally crumble into apathy.

Eventually a new manager, Matt, was brought on. The process of finding and training him almost exactly coincided with the return of the manager on maternity leave. However, Matt never seemed to get the hang of it. He always seemed behind the curb. I pitied him. Granted he had a beautiful wife and two adorable children. But his suit was never tailored and he commanded no presence. The fact that he came to me for advice on food allergies, at first was fine. But a few months into the job, this persisted and it robbed me of confidence in him. I left that place for New York not too long after that so I don't know if he ever found his grove.

For this new manager, I'm not convinced I've seen the true her. I'm seeing someone still putting their best mask on. It's a noble effort. But ultimately I am not convinced it can persist.  I can see the exhaustion wearing at her. Hopefully, soon she'll get the "hang of it." Because it's really only then, when you fully understand the goings on of the restaurant, are you really able to be the manager your true personality will let you become.  So until I see her with her mask discarded, whether it be from frustration or from finally owning the position, I cannot trust her.


Today's song:
The Ravonettes - Hallucinations
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw91tPJyPyI