I hate when people grovel

So I had a big beef going the past three months with the restaurant on the same block as the store. The owner wanted me to go in business with him as we would transform it from an old school Italian restaurant to a new bar bistro style that will bring in a lot of new people in the neighborhood. Now the building was for sale and I tried to see if I could maneuver one of my clients into buying the building which would net us a favorable lease. I was very interested in doing that because I always wanted to own a bar/restaurant and I have a lot of experience in this field. But the owners just wanted way too much money for the building and a deal was not to be found.

In the meantime I had my dinner after my big trunk show in September with all my big vendors. Now I went and greased everybody in the place from the waiters to the dishwasher and gave them all some money because we were keeping the restaurant open very late for them which is about midnight in real time. (No big deal right?) Anyway that night was a fiasco. The waiter and waitress sat at the table and stared at us with their heads in their hands and they refused to give us coffee at the end of the meal. Now first of all that is against the law but second of all I had a lot of people who were drinking and needed some coffee to straighten up ya know.
So we had a big beef.

That really opened my eyes. You see the owner was on vacation and the person I had the beef with was a close family member. But what it showed me was if I got involved in this I would have to fire everybody and it would all be on me to run the joint. I just couldn't take that on with the way the world is now, I have to concentrate on Lee Lee's.

Well the world crashed and the money wasn't there for a sale so the owner offered a lease. I had to tell him I wasn't interested any more because I couldn't deal with what was involved. I can't spend every day fighting with someone to do things the right way. Plus I was very pissed at the complaints I got from my vendors about that night. I spent a lot of money and got hosed. So I had no reason to go back at all. I have had events subsequently at other restaurants and it went as smooth as silk. Plus when we go out my check is now generally about $50 less a meal for basically the same food. So I haven't been in since September.

Anyway the waiter guy comes in Sunday drunk out of his face to appolgize to me and the wife. He goes "I love you guys...you were always very good to me...I appolgize..I was tired and I made a mistake...I don't care if you ever go back ....I just don't want you to hate me."

Well it was a long time since September but he finally came in like a man and appolgized and I accepted. I mean what are you gonna do. His boss was proably torturing him every night over the fact that we don't come in anymore. It was a big junk of his business as we ordered lunch a lot and ate there three or four times a week and had several events there a year. I figure that I spent between $8,000 and $10,000 there last year. Sounds like a lot right. Not really. It's about $192.30 a week. If anything it was more than $10,000. That he lost. For good.

But being the soft touch that I am, I plan to go in once a month or so. I will have a meal and treat the people with my own patented brand of genial contempt. I am saving a lot by eating in other joints and can stay out of the mix when they have problems which they were always bringing to me. Maybe it will take some pressure off the waiter guy. Maybe not. But that's about the best I can do.

I just hate to see people grovel. It's unseemly.