Recently I had the rather distasteful opportunity of being privy to a rather shocking display of gross mismanagement of staff at Al’s Diner, located at 535 West st. in Pittsboro, NC. I had the opportunity to later interview the young lady this happened to, and I must say, in my years as a manager of people, I have never seen such disregard for other peoples feelings and rights in this country.

The following information is part research, part recalled interview, and partly my own opinions and thoughts and should not be construed as anything else.

When new waitresses are brought in they have been said to be less than well trained. Some customers have been quiet about the subject at hand and that is where it is going to change. We sat down with a former waitress at Al’s Diner and now everyone can know the truth behind the little family owned hometown restaurant.

“I was trained for a few days just following around the manager (Allyson Jimmerson) and watching what she was doing. Then she threw me out on the floor to work on my own. I didn’t know the menu very well and she never sent one home for me to review until the last few days I worked there. At one point I made a mistake with a customers order and the customer brought it to the attention of the manager. She started lecturing and yelling at me about the whole thing. Through the whole time the customer was in Al’s the manager would keep giving me mean remarks and being rude. I apologized but I was so upset that I started crying and went to the bathroom. I tried to calm down but I was crying so hard that I ended up throwing up and got the okay to have my mom come and pick me up. When I came out of the bathroom to head home the customer that had the problem came to me and apologized. She said that she was sorry that the manager took what happened like she did and she realizes that I was new and she was really sorry about the way the manager had treated me.”

From my own experience in restaurants: Many waitresses, cooks and hostesses make mistakes when it comes to working in a restaurant and management is there to make sure that customers are always happy and have a great dining experience. Though when a customer has to come to a waitress and apologize about the way management has treated them then that customer is in some way not happy at all with the way that that restaurant is running things.

“A week or so after that I had found out that I had a Skills USA Competition for the school and I may not be able to make it to work that day. So I called in and told the manager everything and she said that I was going to have a meeting because I shouldn’t go on a field trip and miss work. I tried to explain to her that this was not a field trip and that it was something I could put on my college application and something that could help my future. Then after the Skills USA Competition she called me and wanted me to come in late or not. So I did and she said that the school related Skills USA Competition was inexcusable, and she already had two waitresses call in that day after I had. So I worked that night and the next day she fired me.”

My opinions: When a fifteen-year old has to choose between work and a school opportunity and she chooses to go to the school opportunity than that shows maturity and a job should realize this. Not to mention that any job is no more important than school could ever be! They knew she was a student when she was hired. And any job that has a sophomore choose between their work and school should not be open for business.

The end result?
When friday rolled around, this young waitress went to Al’s diner to pick up her final paycheck. Her mother rightfully went with her to ascertain what transpired. During the exchange the mother had to ask the manager, Allyson, why she was yelling, whereas the mother was calm an merely asking questions. During the exchange, Allyson stated things like “she couldn’t comprehend what she was told to do”, (opinion: implying stupidity?) and that “she (the manager) had never yelled at her (the waitress). It should be noted that the customer who was displeased with the, new and in training, waitress in the first place actually apologized for saying anything, that she would not have if she knew the manager was going to react in that manner. That alone says volumes to me.

Apparently, when frequent denials of yelling at, or mismanagement of the waitress, did not work in the face of calmness and factual rebuttals, such as the one about the customer apologizing, and a scholarly endeavor, the mother, merely protecting her daughter in a calm, peaceful, and (in my opinion) extremely restrained manner was threatened, again by the manager, Allyson Jimmerson, to have the police called to forcefully eject her from the premises. That in my mind is understandable as I am sure customers could witness the exchange and make up their own minds about the management at Al’s Diner.

My take on the whole matter? Just say NO to Al’s Diner in Pittsboro, North Carolina.