When the Boss Is a Crook, Remember What Dad Said

My first management job was as a kitchen manager for a large restaurant chain. The general manager of my first store was a former bouncer. He was loud, abrasive, not above throwing his 320 pounds around when he felt like it, and a thief. My duties included ordering food and laundry supplies. Shortly after I started working there, he told me to order “extras” of certain items and to set them out by the back door. He also told me to order a few items for myself.

I didn’t report his scam because I couldn’t afford to lose my job. The company had an unwritten code that the general manager of each store was untouchable, and to go over his head to company officials was a career-ending move. I was also justifiably afraid of him. More than once he put me in a chokehold, “playing around” as he called it, but making it clear what would happen to anyone who crossed him.

With no choice but to comply, I ordered “extras” for him and his favorites among the other employees, but I never ordered anything for myself. During the 10 months I worked at that store, I never compromised my personal integrity. Instead, I did as my farm-bred father had taught me: I kept my head down, my mouth shut and my rear to the wind.

A year after I was transferred out of this store, that general manager was fired, a new position was created, and I was promoted into that position. By refusing to steal, I ended up making more money than I thought possible, while those who did steal went to the unemployment line. Which just proved the truth of something else my father taught me: that the cream always rises to the top.