Some People

I was at my usual bar, when a old high school friend came up to me. I see him between zero and 2 times per year. We chat, he goes back to his group. A bit later, I'm enjoying some music on the jukebox when a woman that looked kinda familiar asks the bartender is she knows who sings the song on the jukebox. I overhear and thought I'd help out.

Me: It's Scandal.
Her: I think it's Pat Benatar.
Me: I know it's Scandal.
Her: I positive it's Pat Benatar.
Me: I put it in the jukebox - it's Scandal.
Her: Pat Benatar.
Me: I have the album at home, I just converted this song, "Goodbye To You", to mp3, and I put it in the jukebox. I'm pretty sure it's Scandal.
Her: No, I KNOW it's Pat Benatar.
Manager walking by: Oh Scandal...with Patty Smyth (but he pronounced it Smith).
Her: It's not Patti Smith.
Me: Scandal, featuring Patty Smyth.
Her: (wandering away) It's Pat Benatar...

Interesting - the more she was confronted with information, the more sure she was that it was wrong. She never contested that I DIDN'T put in the song, just that I didn't know who I had put in. This was extra funny to me since I had to type in "SCAND" to find the artist's available songs to download "Goodbye to You". I'm pretty sure I would have noticed I was typing in "PAT BEN".

A little later, I see the woman walking next to my old high school friend and remembered that she is his wife. That will be a funny encounter next time I see them together. I'm sure she did not recognize me then, but probably will in the future after that exchange.

A little more later, I put a Pat Benatar song in just in case the opportunity arose to point out what Pat Benatar sounds like...

The Market Works

My favorite pizza place (a block from my house) recently changed their closing hours. This, after a shrinking of their menu (sandwiches went bye-bye), seems odd. If you are struggling for business, being open less often merely reduces your payroll. And your revenue.

So, I know it takes 30 minutes to make a stuffed pizza, and 15-20 for an unstuffed. I conscientiously try to call with enough lead time to allow them to clean up before they close. But they didn't tell me the new hours. A few weeks back, I showed up late for a pizza only to find the employees EATING it. When I ordered the pizza, they asked for my phone number - the same one I've used for years - but never called to find out if I was on my way. Why ask for a phone number if you are not going to use it in that situation? When would they use it?

I was miffed, but got over it. Tonight, I was in the mood for a stuffed pizza, but was still ignorant of the closing time change. I called at 1:10 for a 30-minute pizza at a place that I thought closes at 2:30am, but in reality closes at 2am. I thought I was safe. Wrong. Only unstuffed was available. I groused a little, but ordered the thin stuff.

The more I thought about it, the more I was beyond miffed. I stroll in at 1:30:
Me: why I could I not get a 30-minute pizza at 1:10?
Stoner: we stop making stuffed at 1am (fully 1.5 hours before bar time).
Me: why?
Stoner: cuz we stop making them at 1am.
Me: I heard you, but that's not a why answer.
2nd Stoner: We need time to clean up.
Me: Then list your closing time as 1:30 so people know when you actually stop. Or 1.
2nd Stoner: You need to talk to Jim about that - he sets the hours.
Me: Should I call here during the day?
2nd Stoner: You won't get hold of him.
Me: Why?
2nd Stoner: He's never here.
Me: How would I get hold of him?
2nd Stoner (with Stoner's agreement): Don't know.

So, how nice of them to recommend that I talk to a person that, for all I know, doesn't exist. At best, he's just not reachable ever.

I'm just guessing, from all my previous experience, that as you get closer to bar time, drunks think more about that last unneeded meal of the day. Staying open until just before the drunks are loosed on the town seems odd. Might as well close at midnight.

This reminds me of a deli (also near my house) that had a nice selection of hot items for lunch. They kept them around until 5pm and then put them away. This bewildered me: the slowest time for food is between lunch and dinner. If you are going to not have food available for dinner, why have it available between 1 and 5pm? Or, if you have food still available at 5, why put it away? People on their way home might actually give you currency in exchange for food items in a semi-warm state. That place closed shortly after making that policy.

I wonder how long my pizza place will be there. Reducing access to the product seems like an odd way to stay in business.

In the day of 24-hour everything, these visionaries foresee a day when you can never find their product available. I guess that's one way of creating artificial demand: give the perception that your product is rare and hard to get.

Muddled Management Model
(updated minutes after original posting)

Ever work in a place where employees generally agree something should be done in management ranks, but nobody in the management ranks is clear who should do it? I call that the Muddled Management Model. Defined as:

* lack of clarity of roles prevents accountability
* no "change anxiety" since nothing really changes
* attempts to fix the model are unsuccessful since the people being fixed don't agree on who has authority to fix them.
* ample opportunity for micro-management, since no time is spent on larger issues
* same discussion, different meeting
* passion about work is discouraged in order to prevent passion from reaching the upper tiers

How does this happen? Lack of vision and attention to coordination of management actions are my favorite theories.

What can you do? Survive. There are worse places to work. And there's always a chance a new top leader will appear and clarify responsibilities.