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Rum Runner and Restaurant Rampage · Cocktails and Corporate Chaos

• Arianne: She crawls under his leg. And you know, like people are just scattering. Shannon: Ever had a workday so wild you literally couldn't make it up? Welcome to Cocktails and Corporate Chaos. I'm Shannon. Haidee Griswold: And I'm Heidi, and we're bringing you the messy, hilarious workplace stories that usually require a double margarita to process. Shannon: So pour yourself something strong because the chaos is about to begin. Haidee Griswold: All stories on our podcast are true, but names may be changed or conveniently omitted to protect the innocent, the guilty, and ourselves from corporate HR emails. Yeah, exactly. I'm like, you put the kids to bed. Mama's gonna drink. Okay, listeners. Today's guest is a natural born leader. She's worked in management for years, taken the leap and started her own business, and most recently dominated in corporate sales. She loves a nice wine and a good vodka, but can't handle too much of either, honestly, She's what I like to consider My first boss because she's my older sister. Welcome to our happy hour, Arianne. Arianne: Hello, hello. I'm so happy to be here. Haidee Griswold: Mm-hmm. Shannon: And I'm very happy to meet Heidi's sibling in the flesh because you're the first of alternative, Arianne: Ha ha ha ha. Haidee Griswold: You can tell us apart, right? Shannon: yes. Yeah. Well thanks for joining us. What Arianne: Yes. Shannon: are you sipping on today? Arianne: I went with the hard liquor. Haidee Griswold: Yeah. Shannon: Yeah. Arianne: today I was like, I'm in the mood for something sweet, which I've stayed away from sugar for quite a while. First of all, I want to say this real fast. I love that Heidi's in a closet. Right. Shannon: Our one of our co hosts is not sober and she dropped shit, so just pardon her. Haidee Griswold: It's just Arianne: I love that Heidi's in a closet and it looks like you're in a bathroom. Like this is the best. Haidee Griswold: Haha! Shannon: Okay. Haidee Griswold: You picked on it so fast The things we do for this podcast, Arianne: I went with a rum runner. I have not had a rum runner in a very, very long time. Probably it has two types, a light and a dark. Haidee Griswold: You're also not a rum person. I'm a little nervous, but excited. Shannon: What is in a rum runner? Arianne: I know. A light and a dark rum. yeah. I know I was like Shannon: we're mixing colours of liquor. Haidee Griswold: She winked to listeners. Listeners, she's she gave us a good wink on the Shannon: Yeah. Arianne: it has orange juice, pineapple juice, a little bit of grenadine, banana liqueur. I put in some blackberry brandy, just a splash. So it's basically like a canker sore in a glass, but it's tasty. Shannon: I'm sorry. Did Haidee Griswold: For you. That Shannon: you have all of these yes, Haidee Griswold: sounds like sex on a beach. Shannon: did you have all of these ingredients in your house? Arianne: I did, yeah. I have quite a variety of randomness downstairs. Now, the banana liqueur is probably as old as Heidi. I can't really say one way or another for it. Haidee Griswold: Listeners, that's that's quite a a young alcohol that she's referring to. I'm I'm so youthful. Arianne: It does people. the story I'm telling today, this was the signature drink at the place I worked. Shannon: I love it. I feel like I've never had one of these and now I'm intrigued to go sample one. Heidi, what are you drinking today? Haidee Griswold: I'm having a delicious rose because you know in a warm weather environment I love a cool beverage that I can have. Mmm. Shannon: All day. Haidee Griswold: What are you having, Shannon? Shannon: Well I am having a Milano Torino. It's like an Yeah, Haidee Griswold: double Italian. Shannon: it's like a Negroni but without gin. And I knew your sister was very into the, restaurant y world, so I was like, I'm gonna class myself up today. Haidee Griswold: Milano Torino feels like an Olympic cocktail. Shannon: Yes, totally. What are both of your guys' hot takes on office gossip? Haidee Griswold: I'll go first. I love it. I love all of it. Shannon: Yeah. Haidee Griswold: I'd I pretend not to participate in it, but I love it. I like the it's like real housewives but real life version of it. Arianne: Okay. Haidee Griswold: What do you think, Arian? Arianne: I agree with that 100%. And I'm unfortunately the first person to tell someone else, don't get involved in this. You know, it will take over, don't, you know, worry about this or this or this. And at the same time, I'm putting my ear to the ground, I'm loving every second of it. So it's Haidee Griswold: Ha ha Shannon: Wait, does somebody tell you information and then you pass it on and say, Don't get involved in this. Here's the information. Well, what do you mean by Haidee Griswold: Ooooo do you perpetuate the gossip? Arianne: I wouldn't go that far. I would tell people more like they give me some dirt and I'm like, let's not get wrapped up in this and then as soon as we part ways, I either sit in my office or get in my vehicle or whatever, and then I completely like wrap myself up in it. Gossip is I think in a way we all love it. Honestly. Shannon: I also love office gossip, but I feel like I'm the person for whatever reason too many people bring their gossip to. I'm more like how do I carefully navigate this where people still tell me things because I like them to do that, because it's the hot gosp. But then Arianne: Mm-hmm. Haidee Griswold: you and my sister have this unique quality where strangers will come up to you and tell you life stories. Both of you have this about you that I've never understood. People just feel like they need to unload on you. Arianne: It is a superpower. 'Cause you're almost a like a borderline interrogator without really even having to sit anyone down. It's impressive. Haidee Griswold: You should both work for the CIA. Arianne: Well, I'm high anxiety. That's what they seek out. You're Haidee Griswold: Daddy. Arianne: so hyper aware of everything. Haidee Griswold: Ha ha ha Shannon: well, thanks for coming on today and would Arianne: Yes, of course. Shannon: love to hear what story you want to share with us. Arianne: I come from the food industry, so started in restaurants and went all the way into corporate sales. the food industry is very exciting and fun, but it also has that corporate mentality of especially from the late nineties, early two thousands, that dates me, but you still have that, and it's a not the best term, but that company man mentality. Shannon: Mm. Arianne: Especially from those corporate levels. So after Haidee Griswold: Mm. Arianne: I worked my way in the restaurant, worked my way into management, and became a manager at, you know, your basic American style chain. I'll just leave it at that. And it's more like the right. Shannon: Like a McDonald's just kidding. Arianne: Everyone's got ribs, everyone's got chicken dinners, everyone's got burgers, you know what I'm talking about. And they're slowly dying. But anyway, so Shannon: It's called GLP ones that are killing that. Haidee Griswold: Ha ha. Arianne: Right, right. Actually it's called millennials. The millennials are like, this is crap, we don't want this anymore. We want craft beer and we want, you know, food trucks once I went into management, it was a big thing and I was twenty two years old, which was really, really a little overwhelming because you don't realize the expectation of that is you're gonna work eighty hours a week and that is may or that may or may not be good enough. Once again, you have to be a company man. So no matter what happens, you need to always put the company first. But I have a hell of a story from when I first became a general manager. So I believe very much you learn, you know, there's different positions in e in any type of industry, but you learn departmental management. And then as you grow and grow and grow Shannon: Wait, what does departmental management mean? Arianne: Well, in the restaurant industry, I would say like you're a kitchen manager, like you focus on heart Shannon: Okay. Arianne: of the house. or you focus more on bar and service in front of the house. Heart of the house, Shannon: Did you just say heart of the house? Heart. Arianne: yep. H O H. it used to Haidee Griswold: I thought it was front or back. Shannon: Ooh. Yeah. Arianne: be front or back. your kitchen's where all your money sits. In a restaurant. So that's really truly the heart of the house. It's where everything is made and presented. So up front is service, which service can make or break a restaurant, truly. But what you're eating, people go there for the food. They do. especially this day and age as the bar is starting to, at least here in the Midwest, the bar is becoming less and less of a thing. But during the years that I was there, it was at it's like heyday. And you know, we had happy hour and Shannon: Two bucks a drink. Haidee Griswold: Quarter shots. Arianne: yeah. Right. Like it was insane. And people would come in and sit at the bar, you have to shut them off, you have to call the police sometimes, you always have to get cabs. I mean I remember having so I went Haidee Griswold: Damn. Arianne: I know. It was pretty intense. Like we had lists of different this was before Uber as well, but we had lists of different cab drivers and stuff that we could call and say, it's it's Bob again, you know, like come pick him up. Da da da da da da I know, right? Do not overserve. Well, in corporate Haidee Griswold: Do you have that picture of the person in the bar where you're like, do not overserve this person? Shannon: Yeah. It's like you're a regular, but not in a good way. Arianne: but not in a good way. Haidee Griswold: Ha ha Arianne: anyway, so I'd been promoted and I signed all the paperwork, and then you know, they this is one of the things about corporate that kind of drives me nuts is it's oversold. And then under delivery, like, god, this is gonna be Shannon: Always. Arianne: so easy, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 40 Haidee Griswold: yeah. Arianne: hours a week. No, it's not that way at all. Really high expectations that are not communicated from the get-go sometimes. so I get transferred actually from Missouri to Indiana. and the thing about corporate restaurants at that time, I don't know if all companies are that way, but you're kind of like a baseball player. You have to be traded. So after I'd been Shannon: Ooh. Arianne: out there and I wanted to come back home, you know, I'd spent I was supposed to only go for a year and I had already been there three at that time. And I wanted to no. Mm mm mm. It was Shannon: Did you want to be there? Okay. Arianne: we need you to do a favor. We have an entire area out here. Shannon: Three years is a long time for a favor. Arianne: It's a very, Haidee Griswold: Yeah. Arianne: very long time. So I went out there to be a manager and help fix some things as they built up a region. And in that process, I became a GM, general manager. And like I was saying with departmental managers, you learn how to be a departmental manager. And then the the training of being a GM, there is a lot of it is fly by the city of your pants, figure it out as you go, or change it the way you want to to make it work. And that takes a lot of emotional work. You're Shannon: Did you also have a therapist? Arianne: not at that time, right? Not at that time. Not then. Haidee Griswold: Good question. You're like, not then, but now Arianne: so I get transferred out to Indiana and I become a GM. And my boss, he was like, We have this great training program. I'm gonna spend a lot of time with you. Da da da da. So I think I saw him tw Shannon: And are you in the like, I'm so excited, you wanna spend time with me or you're like, no Kind of cringy? Arianne: I know that may be an inappropriate word to use, but some say douche canoe. I know. Haidee Griswold: Kinda tell toe. Shannon: What does kinda dildo mean in this context? Haidee Griswold: Yes. W could you explain kind of dildo to us? Shannon: I know what a dildo is, but I don't know what kind of dildo means Haidee Griswold: Not in a corporate setting. Shannon: yes. Arianne: Not in a corporate setting. Shannon: I need to use this term, so continue. Haidee Griswold: I'm hearing fake. Arianne: Well, one he very much so. He also looked like one. He was a small bald man. but he was also in his early sixties and the twenty year old hostess of the restaurant when I got there was his wife. Shannon: No. Haidee Griswold: Mm-hmm. Arianne: So we're talking full douche canoe, like that was like full on Haidee Griswold: Douche canoe That is a corporate term Shannon: Yeah. That's my new favorite corporate buzzword. Arianne: Corporate term. Douche canoe is a definitely corporate Right, right. Haidee Griswold: gosh, a sixty year old with a twenty year old. Ooh. And you know that Arianne: and it was bad. And they sho Haidee Griswold: twenty year old is like, I've made it. I found this sixty year old and ooh wow. Okay, please. Arianne: Yes. Yes. And she was pregnant, which Shannon: Ooh! Arianne: is probably why they got married. And he was divorced with four other children that were fully grown. So recently divorced, clearly. So there was a lot of that going on. Douche canoe. Mm-hmm. In every way. Haidee Griswold: gosh. So douche canoe. That is the formal definition. Got it. Got it, got it, got it, got it. Arianne: And rather sexist. Like he definitely, when you would employ someone new, he wanted to make sure, like, what does she look like? Da da da da da. Where are you putting her? If she doesn't have this look, she needs to go into the kitchen. It was very much that way. And I struggle with that. I know. I Haidee Griswold: gosh. Hence canoe over Shannon: I hate this guy. Arianne: so you know, he was gonna spend all this time with me, training me, and I was really looking forward to that, so I had that knowledge. in the year that I was a GM there, I saw him twice. And so that was frustrating as well. Right, right. I don't know, but Haidee Griswold: 'Cause he had a new baby on the way. He was busy. Shannon: Or he was too busy making more children? I'm confused. Where is this guy? Arianne: he never showed when he said he was gonna be there, and so that trust starts wearing down. so I'm I'm brand new GM. I've been there in that role about six, seven weeks, learning the ropes, struggling. You've got a team that you've come in, they loved their old GM that was terminated for stealing money, but they loved her. So there's Shannon: Hmm. Outside. Haidee Griswold: Wait, pause stealing money? Arianne: yeah, like siphoning money out of petty cash on a weekly basis. Correct. Haidee Griswold: I that's called embezzlement. Okay. So sh the former the former leader was embezzling, but everybody loved her. Got it. Okay. Arianne: Yes. Right. So you've got all that on you anyway. And then one day, it's a Friday night. We're rocking and rolling, right? Rocking and rolling. So I'm the GM. We're on a Shannon: Rockin' and rollin' on a Friday night, what does that even mean? Arianne: That means full weight, Haidee Griswold: Ha. Arianne: usually an hour long. you're cranking out the back. You have tickets just rolling out of the printer because you have so much coming in. the drinks are sitting across the bar because there's not enough people to run them. You're just slammed. Slammed. Mm-hmm. Abs everyone's ordering a rum runner, which is true, which Shannon: Just taking it out the back. Haidee Griswold: Everybody's ordering a rum runner. Taking it out the pack. Arianne: has four liquors in it and is hard to make fast. No time for cigarette breaks. There's a lot going on. And Haidee Griswold: No time for cigarette breaks. You have never been a smoker in my entire life. I love that. We call them crying breaks most of the time. Arianne: For those of us in the restaurant world Nope, never even tried one. Never even tried one. But crying breaks, that's true. Shannon: That's impressive. Arianne: Right. those of us that that have been in the restaurant world for a really long time, those nights are some of the best nights of your life. Cause that organized chaos, like when it's done, you're like, dang, we just dominated. Even when it's bad, it's still just I mean, there's a high with it. So anyway, we're rocking and rolling and I'm Shannon: As their cocaine in the bathroom as well. Arianne: there's always cocaine in the bathroom at a restaurant, especially full service. I mean I'm not gonna lie. Haidee Griswold: That was my first Shannon: Perfect. Haidee Griswold: experience first, yes, to cocaine. Not my last. Arianne: Ha ha ha. Haidee Griswold: As listeners will know, but that was my first experience with cocaine. Arianne: You're first. That's true. Was it transferable through underwear? I'm just asking for a friend. I'm just asking. It is. Okay, sounds great. Shannon: Yeah. Haidee Griswold: You know, turns out it is and we'll come back to that. Arianne: Sounds great. so we're rocking and rolling, there's a lot of stuff going on, and I have a server. She's relatively new. She was one of my first hires there, and she had locked herself in the bathroom. So her section was Shannon: Idie's done this before too, it's okay. Haidee Griswold: How do you lock yourself in the bathroom of a public bathroom? got it. And yeah, Shannon's right. I have de Arianne: Y like in the stall, she locked herself in the stall and no one could get her out. She was Haidee Griswold: that's my cry space. Like I Shannon: Yeah. Haidee Griswold: will go into a bathroom and cry. It's either my commute Arianne: Yeah, I think. Haidee Griswold: or a bathroom. Like no one needs to see it. I need to do it in private, but those are my places. Arianne: Nope. Mm-hmm. I I agree. So she had locked herself in the bathroom. She was supposedly bleeding because she had cut her hand on a broken plate. That is what I was told. And I'm back at expo, like pulling food out as fast as I can, trying to maintain everything and keeping my eyes on the whole big picture. And like I said, we're on an hour wait up front. I go, I have to, I'm pulled away. I go into the bathroom. I try to get her out. She tells me I need five minutes. So I have another employee, one of the hostesses stand at the door and let the guests know that need to come that it'll be just a minute that we're cleaning it. So I go back Haidee Griswold: They were cleaning the stall or cleaning her wound? Arianne: cleaning the bathroom, the whole bathroom. Shannon: Mm. Haidee Griswold: Okay. While she's in there. Arianne: Because she was bleeding. Yes, because she was bleeding out because she had cut her hand. So, but not bad. And I asked, Do you need stitches? What's the plan here? How can I be of assistance? Do you need to go home? What's going on? And she's like, No, it's just a bad cut. I can't handle the side of blood. I'm freaking out. I'm like, well, we need to be able to dress it. Right. I mean, it wasn't like a crime scene, but it was definitely Shannon: So I just sprayed the entire bathroom with blood? I'm confused. Yeah. Arianne: not something you want out, you know? Like right, right. Ugh. Haidee Griswold: Crime scene. Who hasn't sprayed with blood? I mean you know, it's a Tuesday. Arianne: so I have to go back to my role back in the kitchen and guide everything. She says she needs a couple minutes. I'm like, We've got a full first aid kit, you just let me what you need. So the next thing I know, and it's been a few minutes, the dishwasher, who was a very lovely, very large man with a large black trash bag over his body that he would put on every time he worked just to keep himself from getting Wet. But anyway, it's a so many that's it's kind of a thing. I'm just saying right, Shannon: So many questions. Okay, continue. Haidee Griswold: Yeah. We'll come back to that. Okay. Arianne: right. So he's right. Shannon: I might execute on this in my future dishwashing in just my own kitchen. Haidee Griswold: Ha ha. Arianne: Take one of those 55 gallons, just tear a hole up, put it over your head, you're good. You're good for the day. You are. but he hollers my Haidee Griswold: You're good for the day. New fast fashion Arianne: name and I turn around, I look, I was like, What's going on? And his name was Wes, and Wes is like, There's blood all over over here. And I come over and look. She had come out of the bathroom, took one of the broken plates that he was picking up, and cut herself again with it. So she cut her palm with it. And then there was blood out all over the dish area. So at that point, we have to completely shut it down. Shannon: no purposefully. Haidee Griswold: Jeez. Wow. I mean we've all done what we had to do to get a personal day off, but this is intense. Arianne: Right? I mean a stressful Friday night at work. I get it. I mean, I get it. But still. Haidee Griswold: Ha. Shannon: But she could have already left just from the other cut, whatever that happened Haidee Griswold: Yeah. Shannon: to be. Arianne: I know. Well, and on top of that, I'm like, just don't come to work. I mean, we should always respect our jobs, da da da, but this was not brain surgery. If you were having a day and you needed to take a day, communicate. So, Haidee Griswold: Yeah, take it. Arianne: well she had ran off. She did it and then ran off. And so I'm like, my gosh. And I'm dealing with that situation where all kind of like, what's happening here? Haidee Griswold: What? Like ran off like left the restaurant. Arianne: Like ran out the front and we assumed she left the restaurant through the front door. So I'm like, someone please go get her if she's gone out front. I need to know. We need to see if she needs stitches. I need to get her some help. Meanwhile, the for fun, someone's changing the Dr. Pepper bib and pulls off the entire spigot and the whole thing blows out all over them. So yes. Haidee Griswold: Wait, when you say bib, walk our listeners through what that means. Arianne: A bib is a bag and a box. So when you order any type of fountain soda. It comes from a bag in the box and that's all that concentrated syrup and it mixed with the CO two and comes out at the fountain with a carbonated beverage. So those Shannon: So all the stickiness just exploded. Haidee Griswold: So Arianne: it was intense. Haidee Griswold: How do I get like a Diet Coke box delivered to my home? Arianne: Meanwhile there's blood on the floor between the bathroom and the kitchen as I'm Haidee Griswold: which people are coming in and they're like, Hey, I want a table and then they see blood on the floor. Ugh. Arianne: Right. It's a problem. Now, granted, once again, full weight. So there's people standing outside on a weight, waiting to get their table. So, I'm like, I need someone go get her. And then I we have this huge mess over here because the Dr. Pepper explodes, and it's like a thinned-out molasses. It's that thick. So people are stepping in it, slipping and falling in it. It's just a huge mess. It's like a Will Farrell movie. It's pretty bad. So, but we're all kind of laughing Haidee Griswold: Ha ha Arianne: at the same time, and you're just like shell-shocked. And The next thing I know, I'm told from my bartender, you need to get out of here right now. She's running up and down the the aisles of the restaurant with a steak knife, saying that she was sexually molested by the devil in Mammoth Cave. Yes. Yes. She was fully. Haidee Griswold: Wait, what? Okay, first of all, how Shannon: Does she have clothes on? Haidee Griswold: have I never heard that story before? This is wild. I do not remember this. You had me at Molested in the Cave. Arianne: I feel like I've shared this story with you. This is my craziest story. Okay. In a cave. Yes, she had been molested in Mammoth Cave by the devil is what she was screaming Haidee Griswold: What mammoth cave? Arianne: with a steak knife running around. So Haidee Griswold: to be fair, where we grew up there were a lot of caves. It is the the Arianne: True. Haidee Griswold: if you wanna Google it, Missouri is the cave state, so there's a lot of caves. So it's not unheard of to be Arianne: Yes. Mm-hmm. So it's not on hard. Shannon: Caves. Haidee Griswold: in a cave in Missouri. But to be molested in a cave, you're adding a little bit to it. Arianne: You're adding bit to it, especially if that person or that thing molesting you is the devil. Shannon: Okay, so then this this was a new employee ish. Hadn't been there for that long. Wait, okay. Arianne: Yes, five weeks in. Mm-hmm. Five weeks in. First week out of training as well. So Shannon: And sorry, are there Haidee Griswold: okay. Shannon: benefits involved in this job? Arianne: Are there other benefits involved? Is that what you said? Shannon: No, are there benefits like Arianne: if you're full time, yes. And she was not full time, nope. Shannon: She was not. Okay. Haidee Griswold: so she wanted benefits. Arianne: I think there were a lot of things that she was confused on. I don't know if benefits Haidee Griswold: Yeah. Arianne: were one of them. I don't know if the lack of benefits were really the problem. Haidee Griswold: But she wasn't confused on which cave because she did name Mammoth Cave. Arianne: No. Mammoth Cave. Yes. Which, as you can tell by the name, is very large. Anyway. so Haidee Griswold: Her flash. Arianne: she's doing this and she's running, and I'm like, my God, I have to go get her. So I'm trying to like catch her on both sides because the way the restaurant's designed is it's the bar sits in the middle, the front is up front, and then the all the seating goes down both sides, and you can access it from both sides of the kitchen. I'm trying to get Yes. Shannon: And then there's also peop there's like other customers who are already at the table and stuff. So it's not like, let me just jump on top of her and flatten her to take her out. It's like Arianne: Right. You can't Haidee Griswold: But do they think this is like a circus sole, like you're getting entertainment while they're eating, Arianne: Right. Right. No, and there was a lot of traumatizing going on. Like the a lot of the customers are like, what's happening? Several had children. You know, we had booths and tables on each side. So there's just a lot going on. Plus, she's bleeding out. So it was just really, it was the same. Yes, the same hand. And it wasn't a wrist. Yes. Mm-hmm. Yes. Haidee Griswold: Jeez. Like from the same wrist, right? So s t two injuries happen in the same hand, hand, yes. Arianne: And she had, I later learned she cut herself the first time and cut herself the second time. So I knew Shannon: Oof. Arianne: she'd cut herself the second time, but I didn't know the first time. Haidee Griswold: Yeah. Arianne: So this is being done. At this point, one of my assistant managers calls our regional manager and explains to him, this is what's going on. Ariane is doing her best out here to try to fix this. we need you pretty much. So we at this point, yes, the hostess, Haidee Griswold: No one's called nine one one though. No one's called like authorities. Arianne: at this point, the hostess did call 911. Haidee Griswold: okay. Arianne: because I said I was like, I need help here. We need police here. So Haidee Griswold: Got it. Arianne: the hostess had already called 911, which fortunately they were already right because we were on a major highway, they were right there. I mean, they were there in less than a minute, which was fantastic. So I'm trying to get a hold of her and to keep Haidee Griswold: Hold on. Yeah. Shannon: It's impressive. Arianne: her from hurting anyone else. She kind of barrels through that hostess center, that whole front door, and people just start scattering because she's got this knife and they start scattering. The police walk in, there's two police officers. Haidee Griswold: Wow. Arianne: She goes up to one of them and stabs him. With that knife Haidee Griswold: Hmm. Arianne: right here in that shoulder where their vests come down, it stabs him Shannon: What? Arianne: right here in that shoulder into his clavicle bone. Haidee Griswold: Wow. Arianne: Yes. With a steak knife, which I will tell you is it went in. Shannon: Wait, did it hit him or there was like the the heart Haidee Griswold: jeez. So this police officer walks Arianne: It went in. Like into yes. And it was like, my God. Haidee Griswold: in the door and immediately gets stabbed. Arianne: Yes, immediately gets stabbed with this. She crawls under his leg. And you know, like people are just scattering. So there's so much chaos. She crawls under his leg and runs out and goes down trying to get to the highway. And between the highway and the restaurant, the end of the restaurant, it's kind of a really deep valley of a ditch. So she goes and trips and falls and is like rolling down there. And the other police officer goes after her, jumps on her, and gets her down. And then they Haidee Griswold: Wow. Arianne: arrest her and da da da. So there's that's the situation. Shannon: I'm just imagining being another patron like I just came out for dinner tonight and this is what you're witnessing. Arianne: Alright. Haidee Griswold: What a show. Like you gave them a better show than Cirque des Arianne: Ha ha Haidee Griswold: Soleil than any other type of show that you could possibly have. Arianne: and it was such a hot mess. And so then from there you have all these customers that are f scared, full of rage, want to leave. They're dashing because they've they've already gotten their food, they've eaten and they Shannon: Want their bills paid? Yeah. Arianne: just left. Right. So there's all this happening. The Haidee Griswold: Also great opportunity to be like, I just have the flame mignon. I can't afford this. Let's just leave. I ordered way Arianne: Right Let's just leave. Shannon: Bye. Haidee Griswold: too many of the rum runners. I need to get out of here. I'm not tipping. Arianne: It was a mass exodus, truly. So everyone's leaving, you know, people the servers are all crying. I get it's a huge mess. So we have to lock the doors, turn everyone away. Anyone that was still there that would allow us to cash them out, we did. And I mean it took about an hour, hour and a half to get everything settled. So here we are on a major Friday night. And I had to close that whole restaurant down at six fifteen. Yeah. So yeah, it was early in the shift. No, Shannon: There's blood everywhere. This was whoa. Six Haidee Griswold: She six eighteen It wasn't even later in the night Arianne: no. Haidee Griswold: In my mind this was at least ten. Yes, agreed. Nine, ten o'clock. Shannon: I was thinking this was like nine at least. Yeah. Arianne: No, mm mm. This was early on. It wasn't even dark yet, so it was early on. And so Haidee Griswold: I don't really scream about the devil until at least ten o'clock. Arianne: Right, right. So you know, there's I have to give a statement. I have to go through this. They're questioning a lot of other people as well. The other police officer that was stabbed, he's obviously goes, he didn't go in an ambulance, but because it was a minor wound, but still, I mean he was stabbed. So two other police officers come in, including a detective, and we go through this whole thing and they had arrested her and taken her off. they get my statement, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, so the regional manager he comes up there immediately is like, Why are you not open? We've got why are you not we we can't lose these sales tonight? Shannon: Okay. Arianne: And I'm like, if you want us to reopen, I don't have the staff and we are not gonna have I mean there's the news are out here right now. Like there's news vans. We can't this is done. This is done. So he and I kind of argue a little bit about this and when I get and I was young, it was twenty three. my adrenaline was still pumping. I was very shocked. I was also frustrated because not that this kind of thing happens in restaurants often, but I had no training to handle this from an HR standpoint. No training. Haidee Griswold: Wait, you didn't nowhere in your HR training said if someone freaks out and says the Arianne: Ha ha ha ha ha. Haidee Griswold: devil molested them in a cave, they're gonna stab a police officer that wasn't in your training book? Arianne: It was not in the manual or the modules that I had to do. I was shocked. Shocked. Haidee Griswold: that is surprising. Yes, yes. Okay. Shannon: Yeah, this is very surprising. Arianne: so anyway, to kind of so that concluded all that. Turns out later we find out not only was she bipolar, she had been on lithium and had stopped taking it and she drank a ton that day and literally just snapped. She just snapped. Shannon: Okay, hold on. What does on lithium mean? Arianne: lithium is a medication for extreme bipolarism. Yes. Mm-hmm. Shannon: okay. And then so she was on that and then the shifts probably started at like five thirty, six o'clock. four. Arianne: Four. Four. Mm-hmm. Shannon: And she had been already drinking a lot earlier before her four PM shift. Arianne: She had, now she had not checked in with me. So we do a lineup before each shift. She had not checked in with me, I would have smelled it all over. I would have known it instantly. So everyone else kind of knew it, was hiding it. And yeah, so you take you. Shannon: Is that a normal thing? like how often have you checked in somebody for work and you're like, You're too drunk? Arianne: well now that I'm almost fifty and I've been in the industry since I was technically eighteen, I can tell you more than I can count. Shannon: Whoa. Haidee Griswold: Wow. Arianne: Yeah. I mean, it happens frequently. Mm. Very, Haidee Griswold: I thought I was a daydrinker. Like this is intense. Arianne: very frequently. I mean, even in sales, corporate sales. I would go to restaurants, you know, da da da, get their food orders, blah, blah, blah. And half their staff is out back drinking or taking shots. I mean, it's just it's the industry Haidee Griswold: Take. Arianne: itself. It really is. it's an intense industry. Right. Right. Haidee Griswold: Meanwhile, Shanna takes a swig. I just love that. She's like while thinking about this day drinking Shannon: I'm more like I need to go suss out something at like one PM and see what's happening. Arianne: I know right. yes. There's a lot of things you can pick up at the back of a restaurant. Haidee Griswold: So th that's what happy hour means. Got it. Okay. Arianne: Exactly, Shannon: Ha ha ha. Arianne: exactly. so all that's said and done, it finally relaxes. A few days later we find out, you know, we found out food chain that I worked for did not press charges on her directly for the situation. And even though she stabbed a police officer, I don't know what happened with that. I was never privy to that information. when I say press that the food chain did not press charges on her, they did, but it was just a misdemeanor. They pressed charges on her for stealing a steak knife. Haidee Griswold: What? Shannon: Wait what? Haidee Griswold: That was the thing? Arianne: That was it. That was the thing. So here's where it gets really fun and exciting. This is the thing about corporate that blows my mind. As a general manager, 25% of our entire annual salary was based off quarterly bonus. So it's it was important. You pushed and pushed and pushed to get it. since there was officially stolen property from by an employee, I lost my entire annual Shannon: GOH! Arianne: bonus. Haidee Griswold: Yeah. Arianne: For that. So I lost a quarter of my salary that year. Haidee Griswold: Because she Shannon: What? Haidee Griswold: stole a quote unquote a steak knife. Arianne: Yes, because she stole a steak knife and I did not retrieve it. Shannon: Wait, where was the steak knife? In this guy's chest or Haidee Griswold: In the police officer. Arianne: It was evidence, yeah. Because it was it had stabbed a police officer and then it became evidence. So I mean it Shannon: This feels easy to replace if you just go buy one and What? Arianne: Right. And let me tell you, every month we had to buy new ones anyway, because people throw them in the trash left and right. it infuriated me. It was ultimately, Shannon: That's insane. Arianne: yes. I Haidee Griswold: Wow. Arianne: mean, it l in the end, it cost me tens of thousands of dollars in terms of pay. And Haidee Griswold: Damn. Arianne: it was the ultimate reason why I quit and I stopped working for them because there was nothing Shannon: As you should. Arianne: about that fair. Right, right. And Haidee Griswold: You take it out of the police officer and say, This is now back this is restaurant property. Mama needs to get paid. Arianne: Right. I know, right? Right. Shannon: Yeah, I need to get my bonus, so fuck you. Arianne: Yes. And I was, once again, 23 years old. I mean, in all fairness, no one should have to experience or go through that or even manage that. there is no training for it. Haidee Griswold: wow. I mean I've never had a story that involved a steak knife, so one that is net new. Two Yeah. And to stab a Shannon: With a police officer. Arianne: Mm-hmm. Right? Getting stabbed. Haidee Griswold: gosh. Arianne: And can you imagine being one of the the guests at the front door, like waiting on a w and you're just like, What's Shannon: Yeah. Arianne: going on here? I don't Haidee Griswold: I came for the salad bar, I stayed for the drama. Like how often does that happen? What Arianne: Stayed for the stabbing. All right. Shannon: And now I gotta go 'cause there's charges. Haidee Griswold: a story. Arianne: And meanwhile there's families all around that are like, Hey guys, we just got this free meal because there was once again a stabbing. I know, right? Haidee Griswold: Look, I'm not paying for my rub runners because someone got stabbed. gosh. That's wild. Arianne: But anyway, yeah. That I think is of all my restaurant stories, that's the most crazy. Shannon: Yeah, that's insane. Haidee Griswold: so it's time for our last call, which Arianne: Mm-hmm. Haidee Griswold: I mean nothing is as exciting as getting, you know, a police officer stabbed with a steak knife, but Arianne: Ha ha ha Haidee Griswold: here are some quick questions to get the juicy, unfiltered Arianne: Yeah. Haidee Griswold: insights into your world. if sales so something you've worked in for many years, if sales had an official cocktail, what would it be? Arianne: Hmm. it's Tito's on the rock, straight up, no mixer, nothing. Nothing. Just take it straight and move on. Shannon: And do you tell Haidee Griswold: Just take it straight. Arianne: Mm-hmm. Shannon: if somebody asks you what are you drinking, do you say that or do you say water? If you're like in the sales Arianne: No, I Shannon: environment. Arianne: in the sales environment, I think if I'm going to be drinking Tito straight up on the rocks, one, you could smell Tito's from a million miles away. Vodka is just what it is. Haidee Griswold: Uh-huh. Arianne: But I would immediately turn it into a sales opportunity. I would say, This is Tito's on the rock, love an American made vodka. And on top of that, vodka, just like potatoes, will adapt to any flavor around it. And then you can start in Haidee Griswold: It's funny you say potatoes. Shannon: Mm. Haidee Griswold: I think of it as like chicken. Arianne: Yeah. Haidee Griswold: Like chicken will absorb any flavour around it. Arianne: That is true. That is true. But it does. I mean, that's one of the things about vodka that's impressive is it absorbs all the flavors around it. And that's what sales is. You have to be almost a different person with every every new client you have and every established client. You're a different personality even. Shannon: Or you can just drink it straight and say fuck it. Arianne: Right. Cause your soul is actually leaving your body, so you need it. Yes. Mm-hmm. Haidee Griswold: There you go. You have no soul anymore. In the restaurant world, what's one ticket item or we'll say special request that instantly tells you that this person or table is a nightmare to deal with? Shannon: Ooh, good question. Arianne: Yeah, that's a very good question. Mm-hmm. Haidee Griswold: For our listeners to know, are you a Karen or are you not? Shannon: Yeah. Arianne: legit. I would say one of the first questions for me would be when they ask what chemicals we wash our glassware in. Shannon: I'm sorry, what? Haidee Griswold: what? Arianne: Yes. What chemicals do you use to wash your glassware in? Shannon: Blas that? Arianne: Yes, which implies that they are already judging every tiny little thing you're gonna do. Or if they make a statement about the parking lot. Shannon: Is this a person that's like an undercover Haidee Griswold: really? Arianne: Like a mystery shopper? No. Shannon: what are they called? Yeah. Mystery shopper. Is that what Haidee Griswold: Like critic or yeah. Shannon: these This is d normal everyday people do this. What? Arianne: Yes. And in fact, I would say, especially with the parking lot comments, whether it's because there's lack of parking or they feel the parking lot needs maintenance or anything, they are coming in from the get-go with the intention of what can I get for free? And how can I make this as tough on them as I possibly can? And sadly, I do think there are people who enjoy doing it. I've seen it over the years. Haidee Griswold: your walk in freezer could talk about what it has seen, what's the Shannon: Ooh. Haidee Griswold: first story it would tell? Arianne: the first story it would tell is about a group of cooks back in the back sticking cucumbers down their pants so they could come out and traumatize all the female servers. Shannon: That's first of all, hilarious, but I was expecting something else to happen with the cucumbers and the multiple males. Haidee Griswold: Ha ha but also still funny. Arianne: I know. Shannon: No, I'm like I mean I'm more pleasantly surprised that this feels P G fourteenish, that I think. Arianne: Right, right. Haidee Griswold: Fourteen. Shannon: ever catch anyone as a manager having a little What? What would you do? Arianne: All the time. Prep cooks. Prep cooks, prep cooks, prep cooks. You just bust them Haidee Griswold: What? Arianne: and then you're Do you want me to go home? Do I need to split you up? Because at a certain point you're like, I'm gonna make a stand. I'm gonna say this is there's just certain things you're like, if I I I can't beat this, so I just need to manage it as best way as I can. I use the word beat appropriately, but still, you just have to I Haidee Griswold: Ha ha ha ha. Arianne: mean you just have to pick your Shannon: Okay, wait. Arianne: battles. Shannon: all the time means like once a week, once a month. Arianne: I would say two to three times a month probably. Shannon: That's impressive. Can you imagine, Heidi, like Arianne: More some locations than others, but yeah. Shannon: your manager walking in on any one of your coworkers, banging somebody else? Arianne: It's generally a cook and a server or a hostess, generally in the back. Yep. Always on a prep table. Always. You're like, really? It's always on the prep Haidee Griswold: Wow. Arianne: table. I mean, they're convenient. Shannon: my god. Arianne: They're large. They're usually well secured. Haidee Griswold: they're convenient. They're here, Shannon: ex I was expecting Haidee Griswold: they're physical. Shannon: in yeah. I was expecting in the freezer. This is like out in the open. Arianne: It's tight. The freezer's tight. There's a lot of stuff. Plus it's cold. you go into the walk-in. That's true. Mm-mm. Shannon: So you've thought about this? Yeah. Haidee Griswold: Yeah, men are gonna like that cold environment. That is not helping their case. Okay, last question, 'cause I love this for everybody, which is what is the corporate buzzword that you could ban if you had the opportunity to? Arianne: That one I know 100% is circle back around. 100%. I hate Haidee Griswold: Ugh, I hate that one too. Yes. Arianne: it. I absolutely hate it. Mm-hmm. Shannon: It's awful. Okay, why do you hate it? Arianne: I hate it because it's not a solution. And what it really does is it just leads to more conversation, about more conversation, about more conversation. I'm like, ugh, right. It's like, exactly. Instead of, once Shannon: have a conversation. Haidee Griswold: Tell us about it. Let's converse about this. Arianne: again, solution-based, find the issue, fix it, move on. That's success. If you're circling back all the time. Shannon: Too much. Well, thank you so much for coming on. Arianne: Anyway, too much. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Haidee Griswold: Constant. Shannon: and enjoy the rum on rum. Arianne: I will. And thank you so much. Haidee Griswold: Thanks, Ariane. Can you imagine stabbing a police officer and then just going about the rest of your day like this? Ha ha wild. Shannon: And then the next person being like, Can you cook me a steak? And it's like either Haidee Griswold: I would never be able to look at that place the same. Shannon: I just can't imagine Sabby the police officer like a handful of people must have seen, but like imagine being on Well no, I'm more I'm more thinking Haidee Griswold: I like you're like, that's happened. People see that all the time. Shannon: of like it's broken into sections of like you can only visibly see s certain parts of what's going on. And I'm thinking about how she's just running ballistic in this restaurant and I've no idea what the situation was of like Is it fancy or what's the vibe? But I'm thinking people are eating their dinner and stuff and then all of a sudden the scrolls like running up and down the aisles like fucking screaming stuff that who works there? And like has somebody eating there, I'm just thinking, Wow, what the fuck is going on? Haidee Griswold: I would have loved it. As someone eating there. One I would have been happy to be like in a back corner, so I'm not, you know, in stabbing purview. But to sit there and just be like, all right, server, I'd like some popcorn while Shannon: Yeah Haidee Griswold: I watch this happen. Like I I would have this is awful to say out loud, but I'll say it. I would have loved to have just watched this play out. And that would have been the best like murder mystery dinner that I've ever had. I Shannon: Ooh, yeah, you've always wanted one. You could have one in real life. Haidee Griswold: That's true. you know I love a good murder mystery, you know, thriller, so this is this would have been great. Shannon: Or it's playing like real life clue where you know, she was yeah. Haidee Griswold: Who'd done it? But it was obviously the server with the steak knife. Shannon: Yeah. yeah, that story was hilarious and just so random compared to what we've heard to date. Haidee Griswold: Well, it also just reminds me of just the vastness of experiences that we have at work that can range from my boss, you know, did something inappropriate to a someone I managed stabbed a police officer. Like there's just such a range of chaos. Shannon: It's insane. well, cheers to surviving another dumpster fire of corporate chaos. Stay bold, stay unfiltered, and don't stab police officers. If you have Haidee Griswold: Mm. Shannon: a wild workplace story, share it with us and we could feature it in a future episode. Haidee Griswold: Next time we are diving headfirst into an HR nightmare you have to hear to believe. Hear what happens when your new hire turns out to be a convicted felon. And yes, HR signed off on it anyway. Grab a double, subscribe so you don't miss it, and we'll see you at the bar.