So, I am totally my dad...

So, I am totally my dad.

My dad is a tile setter, has been forever. When I was younger anytime we would go into a restaurant where he hadnt laid the tile, he would have something to say about it.

Grout lines are off in the bathrooms.
Did you see the bullnose over there?
They didnt rinse the water well enough, look how cloudy the tile is.
Should have sealed that.
Do you see the crooked cut on that tile?

When I see tile setters using spacers now, I laugh, my dad could get straight as a ruler grout lines by sight and fast.

So, when I was in my twenties, I would see tile jobs that werent my dads and compare them to the way I was taught to sight a good job or a bad job, by my dads standards.

I walk into a public restroom at a fast food restaurant, first thing I notice is the tile job. If the grout is sealed, if the grout lines are straight, did they put a decorative border in the right way?

These are things that nobody else probably even notices, but I notice because my dad loved his job. The way he spoke about someone elses work wasnt as an insult, it was almost as if it hurt his feelings that someone else didnt love the job as much as he did.

So, is it any surprise that after working with Jon for seven months that I have begun to see fast-food restaurants with his eyes and his standards?

One thing that he has gotten me looking at is the first thing you notice about a restaurant. According to Jon, its the parking lot. Is it clean or is it a mess? If it is a mess, your next thought will be is the bathroom a mess and if the bathroom is a mess, what else is?

So, now I find myself looking above eye level and below knee level to see if things are dirty or out of place. I find myself looking under stuff. I look for things cluttering up counters or workspaces. Is the condiment stand clean? Is the ketchup stocked? Is the dining room swept, wiped down, and put to rights? Are the outsides of the garbage cans clean? Are the window ledges clean? Is there garbage outside? Hows the service? Were you greeted as soon as you walked in?

We had a huge discussion about how it seems that other fast food restaurants are moving away from personal service. Their goals are just fast food faster.

I like our philosophy better. The five foot rule says that if you are within five feet of anyone to acknowledge them. Simply saying hello to someone and smiling can change their day. Just be nice, is just a way of offering more personal service when and where you can during the day.

So, imagine my surprise when I stopped into a sister store that is open 24 hours and immediately started looking through my Jon glasses.

First, this is a restaurant that I expect a certain level of service at and I was still wearing my work uniform. Second, when you dont get the level of service, you start looking at other things. Lastly, no matter what, I knew that my food would be great and just what I was looking for.

I waited for two sandwiches, an order of fries, and a drink for over ten minutes. Now, since I work at a similar restaurant and it was midnight and there was a thirty dollar order in front of me, I was willing to cut them some slack and hang in there.

The thing that upset me was that I wasnt greeted. Not once, not by any of the five people I saw that night except for someone saying, next to take my order.

After the first three minutes I started looking around. I started to notice things that probably werent as noticeable to others, but made me uncomfortable to be wearing my uniform.

The dining room was messy. There were four people sitting at one table still eating. There were at least seven tables that were in serious need of clearing.

The condiment stand was horrible. It was sticky as if someone had spilled a soda. The ketchup dispensers looked goopy and a little gross.

The straws were well stocked, so much so I couldnt get one out without pulling ten other straws with mine. No napkins on the stand at all. The garbage can next to me was full and smelled. The door to get behind the counter was broken and hanging on by the bottom hinge. It looked dangerous and a little like nobody cared.

There was garbage all over everything. There were napkin wrappings laying on surfaces. Fries were all over the floor. The fry station, which is directly behind the registers and you can see if you are a customer had lids for various red and yellow containers, fry boxes, salt boxes, and garbage under it.

The staff was talking so loudly that I could hear them. They were talking about how customer service doesnt really matter after midnight, customers expect to have to wait for their food. This statement really upset me, of course customer service matters, it matters at 10AM and it matters at 11:59PM. There is no difference.

Now, after all of this. I wasnt expecting much.

Even after all of this, even after being so disappointed and a little upset that the store wasnt right, because it reflects on me too, standing there in my uniform, even if it isnt my store, because apparently I have inherited my dads and Jons ability to be hurt when it doesnt seem like others care as much as you do.

Even taking all of that into consideration, the selling point was this:

The sandwiches and fries were hot and delicious.