The Good, the Bad and the Ugly at Pinecone Hollow

From the opening game on April 15 to the last on Labor Day adventures in Pinecone Hollow Cafe I have blogged. It’s time to wrap up that adventure of research on leadership from the bottom up with this Good, Bad and Ugly critique from my cashier’s view.



The Bad


Tall Boss went off on me when I asked him if the soda machine, which was broken for 3 weeks,  would be fixed.


With the exception of tools for the cooks there were no tools to make our job easier, like opening 12 cardboard boxes a night. A knife was no where to be found. I brought my own box cutter. No more manicures sacrificed.


Today’s way of doing things is the opposite of yesterdays.


The temps in the Café ranged from 95 degrees at the registers to 115 degrees at the grills. Why pay big bucks to go to a sweat lodge when you can work at the Café and get paid to sweat!  It's a promise sweat will roll down your back.


The Ugly


Placido embarrassed all of us when he had a melt down and cursed where customers could hear him. At the same time he was slinging hot greasy squirrely fries into the trays so most fell on the floor where they were stepped on. Grease was tracked all over the floor so we had to walk very carefully during the busiest time of a sold-out night.


The Good


The big boys that cooked all the food were my angels. They reached boxes in high places, hefted heavy boxes I couldn’t and watched my back. And they made sure my food orders were filled in a timely fashion.  Bless those guys.


Wonderful music played by great bands serenaded us as we prepped for the evening’s work.  Usually it was beach music, my fave.  How did they know? 


Several customers tipped us.


There was usually a breeze on the ‘veranda’ on the second floor concourse, outside the Café door.


Many things happened to blog about from getting fired and rehired because the boss forgot he fired me, Hiker hit on me, and the antics of Pinces and Princesses.


And finally once on a sold out night all systems were on – everyone showed up 100%, even Princesses put their attitudes on hold for the jam. All jived perfectly – Dancing with the Stars couldn’t have done better. We created hundreds of happy fans. We proved we could work like a well-oiled machine.

And what did I get out of the whole experience? Compassion for the servers of the world who help me by doing their job, no matter what it is.  I'm kinder and gentler for having been a Squirrelette for the summer of 2010.