They Did What? by Cornelia Gamlem

Author:Cornelia Gamlem
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-09-18T18:44:45+00:00

Chapter 11

Slipping & Sliding

I really love my job. I really love my job. Stuck in horrible traffic on the expressway on my way to work, horns honking around me, I kept repeating this mantra while remembering my attitude about HR when I first entered the profession. It’s wonderful. What we do is so valuable for the employees and the organization. After dealing with a crazy competitor of Kings yesterday, and now watching someone trying to cut in front of the car next to me, I’m questioning whether or not anyone really thinks anymore. Trust me, I am not a negative person who likes to wallow in self-pity but there are days...

Here’s what happened yesterday. I was on a flight back to Chicago from the annual Hospitality Industry HR Conference and, as usual, the flight was totally full. Sometimes I think I am the only one who only brings two carry-on items on the flight as I noticed people struggling with bags. The poor flight attendants were doing their best to help, but no one seemed to even acknowledge them.

I settled into my window seat, plugged in my earphones, and turned on Mozart—my music of choice when I need to tune out the rest of the world. After we took off and the flight attendant offered drinks, I asked for a soda. Before I put my earphones back in, I heard the man behind me order a double Scotch. He sounded like Alex Holmes, who works for a competing restaurant chain also based in Chicago. Funny I hadn’t seen him board or even noticed him in the boarding area—but, from the sound of his slurring voice, maybe he’d been in the bar and this wasn’t his first drink of the afternoon. He has the reputation of being a pretty aggressive guy who works and plays hard. I considered turning around to say hello but thought better of it. While I am usually friendly to everyone, even competitors, we don’t know each other that well, and I just wanted to chill. It was a curious thing, however, that since he boarded after me, he didn’t say hello or acknowledge me at all. Then again, I was sitting in a window, not aisle, seat. Anyway, it wasn’t my concern nor that important.

Whoever he was talking to, Alex was bemoaning his company’s drop in profits at some of their restaurants in the Midwest markets and complaining about the very innovative new menu items Kings had introduced in the last quarter, almost implying we were working to either put his company out of business or buy them out. He talked about Ralph’s family and how they’d been able to stay in business for so many years and wondered what our secret to success might be, hinting that maybe we were unethical. The more he drank, the louder he got, and when the flight attendant finally refused to serve him, he got very angry. I was really concerned we would be seeing an incident of air rage.

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