Drug usage in Restaurants!!!

[foodpump]

Money comes from customers. People are fickle when it comes to money, cheaper is usually better, and quality doesn't usually factor into the equation. 20 years ago there were fewer people on this planet, fewer chain restaurants/fast food places, and much less convienience products. But the times they are a changing, and more people have to eat, and they want to eat cheaper, and the industry has responded accordingly. Not a good scene, but a realistic one.

Currently there is no standard for cooking, people with little or no training call themselves "Chef", the only qualification being ownership of a poofy white hat. There are many culinary schools, some good, some lousy, some call their graduates "Chef", and alot of them B.S. the student into thinking that upon graduation they'll be a in charge of a brigade of 30 cooks and earn $80-100,000 per year. The schools do not share a similar curriculum or even a textbook, many do not answer to anyone but their shareholders or board of directors. No one has the power or guts to take the culinary schools to task, this is free enterpirse, caveat emporium and all that. Then again, no one has the power or guts to actually define what a cook is or what a Chef is; benchmarks, standards, tests etc. Competition between restauarants and between fast food places has driven down the price and quality.

[Sam_2007]

I once had a waiter share a line of charlie with my commie, for me i feel that service is better stoned. I have cought many a waitress in the kitchen with my waiters, me and my girlfreind "met" in the kitchen!

[foodpump]

Good luck with your future and your life....

[Sam_2007]

Was that aimed at me?

[iconoclast]

i believe so.

[Jim]

PLEASE keep it professional and stay on topic!

[foodpump]

Originally Posted by Jim

PLEASE keep it professional and stay on topic!

Maybe I should clarify my post.

There is a line between the "recreational" drug user who has some control over his/her life, and the drug addict/ alcoholic who has virtually no control over their life. When someone has to work stoned/ drunk, and endorses working stoned or drunk they are deep into the addict camp. I don't hate the addicts/ alcoholics, but I hate, absolutely loathe the drugs, the damage, and behaviors they cause.

The damages and behaviors are pretty obvious, ranging from the no-shows/send homes, and the immediate stress they put on the rest of the crew, to the no-notice court dates and appearances, time wasted talking to cops, credit people, and slimeball debt collectors who demand that you garnishee the poor schmuck's paycheck; to the theft, fraud, broken relationships, and in one particular case that still haunts me, suicide.

Most druggies/alkies I've worked with fall under two groups: Those who have reached their peak and are thier way down, and those who continue to climb while doing drugs and then fall down--very fast, and very hard. But with both groups they always fall down, never up. The repeats usually bounce back-usually never getting anywhere better than before, but the others hit rock bottom and almost always stay there.

I do not tolerate the use of drugs in the workplace, I've seen the damages caused first hand. What you do on your own time is your business.

[abefroman]

Originally Posted by Sam_2007

Was that aimed at me?

Yeah, of course that was aimed at you. That pretty low self respect for yourself if you have to rely on drugs to get women and think they improve your work, or other people are able to work better while abusing a controlled substance.

I hope your employer and any future employers see your post.

[rat]

Originally Posted by abefroman

I hope your employer and any future employers see your post.

OOOOHHHHHH..... I'm gonna tell on you!!!

[abefroman]

Originally Posted by rat

OOOOHHHHHH..... I'm gonna tell on you!!!

Yep, it probably wasn't a good idea for him to post that on a thread with posts from a guy named "rat"

[bbay]

Originally Posted by Alisha

...Is drug usage really that common in the restaurant industry?...

hi i'm new here but thought i'd opine anyway...

in the 15 or so restaurants that i have worked in, yes, drug use has been common.

i don't think to excess, but definately there.
maybe drug tolerence at the workplace has something to do with the country/city/community in which you live.

drugs are everywhere. they're in your school, they're in your workplace, they're at your home, they're at your church, your fishmonger is high, your baker is high, your nanny is high, your president is high.

i don't worry too much about it. if someone isn't pulling their weight, i fire them. whether they're high or whether they are just a terrible worker.

[abefroman]

Originally Posted by bbay

in the 15 or so restaurants that i have worked in, yes, drug use has been common.

So you've worked with a lot of scum bags then. I doubt its that common especially among people who are the top chef's/sous chef or anyone who take their work seriously. What start restaurants were these that you worked in?

Also, I doubt any of the chefs on the food network are users.

[foodpump]

[quote=
i don't worry too much about it. if someone isn't pulling their weight, i fire them. whether they're high or whether they are just a terrible worker.[/QUOTE]

Worry about it. If you, as a manager, incur a workplace accident caused by drug/booze/substance abuse, guess who's responsible in he eyes of the local Labour Board, Worker's Comp board, or insurance Co.? No, not the drugged out worker, imagine that, being held responsible for their own actions, but you, the manager. If a high/drunk/stoned waiter/ess upsets a customer--tells him off, insults him, cheats him or otherwise pi**es him off, who suffers the monetary damage and damage to reputation? You again, and if you don't own the place, the owner will come down on you hard and fast.

Smart and good managers don't tolerate drugs or booze at the workplace, period. They know the odds, they know the consequences, and they don't want the t-shirt.

[iconoclast]

Originally Posted by Blueicus

The President of the United States probably took some drugs (I mean, look at his splendid daughters). Anyone can do it and appear perfectly normal or upstanding.

George W. Bush substance abuse controversy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Rivitman]

Anybody that doesn't want to admit that there is an industry wide drug and alcohol problem, one directly related to the fact that food service workers are treated and compensated as an economic underclass is either kidding themselves, or have not worked in many places.

I'm going to add mental health issues to that mix. The number of people I have worked with with mental health issues or mental deficits, or disabilites, is staggering.

Not only that, but a whole charity based social programs system has evolved here locally, to funnel recovering addicts, alcoholics, the homeless, and the learning disabled into kitchen work. Local State funded tech schools with culinary programs have an unwritten policy of steering those with minimal capabilities into the culinary programs. It's a telling concept that educators and charitable organizations automatically think of kitchen work as the most suitable work for those with problems or impairments. They think that, because they simply mirror what the general public thinks.

While it's good to get these people out of whatever horrid circumstance they are in, most relapse and fail because kitchens are seldom a good place for persons with serious issues to heal themselves.

And the fact is the niether the public, nor employers care. The consider kitchen help disposable, and easily replaced. You will find exceedingly few employers int the USA with employee assistance programs.