We Walked Out of the Restaurant

Restaurants do lots of things to be "edgy." They try gimmicks to differentiate themselves from the competition. An Italian place has its servers write their names in crayon, upside-down and backward, so
the table can read it. Another joint's employees hurl rolls at each other from across the room. And the Smokey Bones chain apparently leaves hand-written "jokes" on the table.

Today was our first visit. We went to the store near Easton. Seemed like an okay place at first. They sat us relatively quickly. But when we got to the table, we found The Note. No, it wasn't directed at us. It was waiting for whomever the next patrons might happen to be. 

That didn't make it any less offensive.

"Do vampires get AIDS?" it said in big, hand-written, yellow letters.

"Well, that's just ignorant," I said. It's inappropriate on at least a dozen levels. There is no reason for that to be on a restaurant table. It speaks volumes about the education and sensitivity training that still need to be done.

I was ready to walk out immediately. Dan was calm and cool... unphased... willing to give them the benefit of the doubt... until the server arrived.

The guy showed up at the table all smiles. Dan handed him the note and said, "The bus boy must have forgotten to remove this." "Oh no," the server said. "That's supposed to be there." Benefit of the doubt relinquished, Dan --who is not usually one to cause a scene-- instantly rose from the booth and declared, "That's just ignorant. We're outta here." The kid was stunned.

As we headed for the door, we asked for a manager. The server handed him the message before sending him over to us. He told us "the kids bring in lists of these jokes that they print from the Internet." He says he usually pre-approves what actually goes to the tables... but this one got through... and he agreed it was inappropriate. He didn't make any effort to try to win back the two customers he had just lost. The discussion was brief... and, it seemed, fell on uncaring, unsympathetic ears.

We will not go back. And we shall not speak kindly of the establishment.

Whoever thought it was funny needs a serious lesson in customer relations. There's a fine line between "edgy" (as the manager called it), and downright offensive.

Key West: The Return Trip

All the details of the trip... including the nightmarish 39-hour voyage home... are on the travel blog.

Wanna get REALLY angry?

Check out Media General's SEC filings from last month.

Here are links to the "Definitive Proxy Statement" and the "Annual Report."

In the 2008 Annual Report, Media General reports a net loss of $631,854,000.

But despite the layoffs, downsizing, furloughs and massive cuts... the Company's upper management did pretty well for itself.  Seems everyone ELSE had to make cuts.

Here's what the SEC filing says about their "Total Compensation for 2008:"

Marshall Morton, CEO                  $2,767,867
Reid Ashe, EVP/COO                    $1,555,073
Graham Woodlief, VP                   $1,000,616
George Mahoney, VP/General Counsel    $1,064,601
John Schauss, VP Finance/CFO          $  884,856

Even shareholders had to sacrifice because "due to the economic uncertainty, the Board of Directors suspended the dividend in January 2009."  But management still got eye-popping paychecks.   Shouldn't the shareholders be outraged?

And the Annual Report says employees will continue to make sacrifices in 2009.  The Company is 

"delaying compensation increases, suspending payment of dividends, suspending the company match on the 401(k) plan effective at the beginning of April through the end of the year, and employee furlough program; additionally, the Company does not anticipate a level of earnings in 2009 that would generate a 401(k) plan profit sharing contribution or warrant management bonuses."

In other words:  no raises, cost of living or otherwise... nothing for the shareholders... no retirement contribution... and more mandated, unpaid time off.

Hmmmm... the only sacrifice upper management is making... is giving up its bonuses.  THE COMPANY LOST $632 MILLION DOLLARS.  And all you're giving up is your BONUS?  Are you kidding with this?!

Many Media General employees live paycheck-to-paycheck. Taking pay cuts and furloughs makes it very difficult for people to make ends meet. Some are even trying to pick up second (or third) jobs to make up the difference.  But upper-level managers still want us to think they're making sacrifices.

Let's review the Company's Values Statement:

Our mission is driven by our core values of Integrity, Quality and Innovation. We have a long-term commitment to our employees, our customers, the communities we serve and our shareholders.

So, what happened to the "long-term commitment to our employees?"