ATE01
NUMBER: ATE01
PRIORITY: DINER
DATE: 28-6-17
CUSTOMER & ORDER: STAFF MEMO
SERVER: PAYROLL
I’m not going to kick the Manager out. Yes, he made a mistake. A really dumb, reckless, stupid mistake. But… look, things happen. I won’t lie and say they don’t. The Coffee Trade has never been straightforward, never black and white, never entirely safe. And coming right off of dealing with Umbra, Aka, and now Pleasant… I can see why the Manager might’ve overreacted. It’s… hard. It’s hard to serve both the Darkest Coffee alongside much, much lighter Affogatos and Mochas.
But we are still trying to serve Coffee—Black. Pitch black. Dark as the darkest night. And, as much as we all might be on edge about it right now, we need the Manager. And I’m not just saying that because we’ve been “dating” recently (though you know how much I hate labels, Big Guy). No. He’s the best barista we have—even if he doesn’t want to admit it. If we lose him, we might as well just pack it up and stop trying to run a Cafe. We can’t do it on our own… I can’t do it on my own.
That isn’t to say I am letting this slide either, and he’ll be punished far worse than having to hitchhike back to the Cafe. I just… I’m not sure what to do. What can be done. But I think the most substantial punishment I can hand down right now is forcing him to keep working in the Cafe alongside us. I won’t let this incident allow him to weasel out of working for the Cafe and Diner. At the same time, I agree with Big Guy… I can’t trust him on the little stuff anymore. And if I can’t trust him on the little stuff, how am I supposed to trust him on the bigger stuff?
Maybe… I don’t know. Maybe I can get some outside help to get him into shape. I’ll think about it. But for now—he’s not going anywhere, but he’s definitely not off the hook either.