Tis the season! Some of you have heard this before, but many of you haven’t. So let me tell you a little story...
Every year for the last 7 or so, I go to Salvation Army & give my list of needs & requirements to their job coordinator.
For those that don’t know, I am an event manager. Weddings, corporate events, company holiday parties, festivals, art shows, you name it, I’ve probably done it.
I usually need an extra 20 or so servers/bussers/dishwashers/etc during the busy season. Anyway, years ago I was managing a restaurant for the same people I work for now.
I have a Salvation Army success story that started my tradition of going to them for excess staff. Guy was a vet. Came back to no family & a serious bout of PTSD. Turned to drugs. Was arrested multiple times. One felony, of the nonviolent variety.
He walked into the restaurant I was managing (same people I still work for), applied, & had me sign his sheet showing he applied for work for his probation officer & the SA.
He started to leave & then turned back & asked me if I would be the one deciding. I told him yes. He asked if he could have an impromptu interview, we were not busy, so I indulged...
He pleaded his case. Said he made bad choices. Nothing & no one was to blame for his hard times. Not the Army, not Iraq, not his ex wife, not his shitty dad. But that he knew he could turn it around if he could get one break.
One person that didn’t have to excuse his past, or overlook it, but to just give him another chance. Prove to them & himself that he could do better.
I told him I’d give him the chance, but I run a tight ship. I appreciate life circumstances, but would hold him to expectations. I gave him when & where to be that weekend for a dishwashing shift at the restaurant & a busser shift at one of my events.
He was early, worked hard, & was great with customers. I talked to his P.O. & the SA rep to ask if he could get a curfew extension to work more events that tend to run later.
They complied & we had weekly check ins until he was done with probation 4 months later & saved enough money to get a room with a coworker of ours. He was finally independent & became a regular on staff.
I trained him to wait tables, bartend, & eventually he became a manager at one of our establishments. 7 years later & he owns a fairly popular bar with 3 other guys downtown.
SUCCESS STORY. I know they won’t all be that, but I always think and am ready to risk the chance that any of them might be another Greg.
Tidbit: he is now married to a lovely woman and has a 3yo and 3 month old. He is truly living life.
And to be very clear. HE DID THE HARD WORK. He lived it, came through it, & made it all happen. He is an example to us all.
