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This is a long story so please bare with me, I just want to put it all out there so my situation can be best answered.

I was a waitress at a franchise restaurant until this last Monday. I had 4 managers consisting of the GM and an assistant in which I got along very well with both, the other two assistants I got along with until their ego’s got into the way but even at that I tried to set my personal thoughts aside. It all began with this one manager in particular, we will call him Jon. A couple of weeks ago I was standing at the host stand minding my own business (really) when my manager finished his convo with the other employees around the corner 3 feet away. Jon then approaches me making foolish and unnecessary remarks about an issue not involving him and was resolved between the immediate parties. I explained to him that the situation was already taken care of and he had no need for concern. He then got very upset and demanded me to go outside with him for a private conversation. I refused to do so unless the other manager who was a female attended the conversation. Jon got irate and sent me home forcing me to transfer a nearly completed table and tip to another server. I did as I was told and when I came to work the following scheduled shift I considered it a thing of the past. Four days later the same manager began his same tricks and to be short sent me home for not presenting a survey to him after waiting 5 minutes for him and my table wondering where their check was (attached to the survey). Jon, once again, got irate, belittled me into a teary mess and sent me home again. My managers know I suffer from BiPolar d/o and know I take many things to heart and become emotional. Well, the line was crossed and I hit rock bottom with my depression and I attempted suicide when I left (dumb idea I know now). After being hospitalized for 3 days I was finally able to use the telephone to contact my employer. The GM was incredibly heartless and terminated me for not showing up to work the day before even though he knew I was being hospitalized. I was hospitalized for another 3 days and here I am without a job. Is what they did legal? And if not how can I make this situation right?

Sidenote: If a court case were to come about, I have a couple people in mind that were victims of sexual harassment from the GM to prove the creditability of this establishment.

This is a long story so please bare with me, I just want to put it all out there so my situation can be best answered.

I was a waitress at a franchise restaurant until this last Monday. I had 4 managers consisting of the GM and an assistant in which I got along very well with both, the other two assistants I got along with until their ego’s got into the way but even at that I tried to set my personal thoughts aside. It all began with this one manager in particular, we will call him Jon. A couple of weeks ago I was standing at the host stand minding my own business (really) when my manager finished his convo with the other employees around the corner 3 feet away. Jon then approaches me making foolish and unnecessary remarks about an issue not involving him and was resolved between the immediate parties. I explained to him that the situation was already taken care of and he had no need for concern. He then got very upset and demanded me to go outside with him for a private conversation. I refused to do so unless the other manager who was a female attended the conversation. Jon got irate and sent me home forcing me to transfer a nearly completed table and tip to another server. I did as I was told and when I came to work the following scheduled shift I considered it a thing of the past. Four days later the same manager began his same tricks and to be short sent me home for not presenting a survey to him after waiting 5 minutes for him and my table wondering where their check was (attached to the survey). Jon, once again, got irate, belittled me into a teary mess and sent me home again. My managers know I suffer from BiPolar d/o and know I take many things to heart and become emotional. Well, the line was crossed and I hit rock bottom with my depression and I attempted suicide when I left (dumb idea I know now). After being hospitalized for 3 days I was finally able to use the telephone to contact my employer. The GM was incredibly heartless and terminated me for not showing up to work the day before even though he knew I was being hospitalized. I was hospitalized for another 3 days and here I am without a job. Is what they did legal? And if not how can I make this situation right?

Sidenote: If a court case were to come about, I have a couple people in mind that were victims of sexual harassment from the GM to prove the creditability of this establishment.

Let us see some hands. Good. Guess what. I have a treat for you
today. You can get a free sub sandwhich from Firehouse Subs.
Is your birthday between now, and December 31, 2009 ? Well
this is your lucky day. No catch. Just go to the Firehouse Subs
website at Google, and get it today. It takes about 1 minute to
fill out the info form. And you can get a free sample of Kashi Cereal,
and Total, online as well. Just go to the website, sign up, and wait
for that bad boy to come in the mail. I get em all the time, and it is
good. They may throw a granola bar as well in the box. So once
again. Enjoy. Life is good. Are you hungry yet…….
http://www.kashi.com
You get a free Firehouse sub coupon
in the mail. No strings behind. The
sub is free, and you get it just the way that you like it. So enjoy this.
Have a nice day.
You get a free Firehouse sub coupon
in the mail. No strings behind. The
sub is free, and you get it just the way that you like it. So enjoy this.
Have a nice day.

SO WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT IT?

It’s an open world environment.
The loading times have significantly decreased.
The CAS studio sims look better than ever before.
The sims have more character traits that make them behave differently.
There are options to vary the characters voices so they don’t all sound the same.
You can customize most decorations in and around the house to allow for personal taste and diversity.

AND WHAT’S BAD ABOUT THE SIMS 3?

The create your own style has limitations as build objects like stairs, roof tiles and chimneys cannot be altered.
No longer is there a cinematic moment when your sim has first kiss, woo hoo, gets engaged, gets married or has a baby.
You can’t start with a blank neighbourhood and place empty lots of varying size to create your own world like in the Sims 2.
The create your own style is limited with such things as making a door the colour you want it but not being able to change the knob.
There are buildings that sims disappear into while working that cannot be decorated/rebuilt and are unmovable, these buildings have no contents.
Bad UV mapping on town roads shows the yellow lines dont match up at the bends, it’s quite obvious from a distance so it becomes annoying and unsightly.
You now have to pay for custom content as EA have made a ruling that sharing custom content for free is violating their rules and could lead to prosecution.
You can’t send your sim shopping, go out to a restaurant or nightclub and actually see the sims, as above they just disappear for a while, nor can you design any of these places in any degree.
Transferred CAS sims lose all their looks in the actual game, texture sizes seem to have been reduced from a 1024×1024 body and 512×512 face to a 256×256 body and a 128×128 face making sims look like dolls with NO realism whatsoever.
A serious problem with pc’s running windows vista makes the game freeze periodically and you have to reset or switch off your system which makes it very hard to feel any progression within the game and risks data loss of which some may be valuable.
The global lighting system in the Sims 3 is very poor, sim shadows are almost non existant, specular artifacts can be seen on objects and sims, due to this textures look too saturated which results in less blending and even more artifacts like colour banding.
One of the main reasons this franchise was so successful was the ability to create your own stuff, there are no options for custom content such as your own textures for floor tiles, walls, pictures or clothing let alone the possibility of an easy way to make new clothing like the TS2 body shop offered.
The patterns and materials that are available to create your own style are hideous and look as if they were made by amateurs or rushed out with no care taken, these things are mostly the only way of customising the game seeing as other previously open avenues have now been closed in order to provide this open world environment.
The available items to choose from in CAS, buy and build mode are pathetic compared to the Sims 2 base game, also the quality of meshes and textures has been dumbed down so much that objects look pixellated and blurry no matter the lod distance between camera and object. Basically the lod system has been overlooked and swept under the rug.
Missing animations like sims opening car doors and getting in, sims just slip in and out and not with grace either, the baby diapers and bottles now disappear and cannot be cleaned up, babies are not changed on a table anymore nor can they be washed in a sink, they magically get clean after a sim spins them in the air and the nappy falls off.
Very few of the textures supplied with the game are suitable for use in any context, it looks like EA games are buying their textures from DOSCH Textures and barely altering them, every decent cg artist knows these are not suitable for games and barely suitable for mental ray rendering. Spending some time on making nice textures would help overcome some major frustrations.

That’s my view after being a avid fan of the sims franchise for years ever since the first game.

What do you think?

I have worked in hotels and other service jobs and have found this policy to be not only a lie, but counterproductive. Consider these examples.

1. I used to manage a pizzeria. We used to just give in to rude customers, even when we knew they were at fault. We found that these customers would usually come back, but that they would always be rude and usually find some way to get their food free or discounted. Finally the owner had enough, and he told me that I could cut these people off. We could even tell them to go somewhere else and even refer them to competitors. When we did this, these same customers stopped complaining and still kept coming back. We found that our profit margin increased by about 5% (a lot in food service). The stress level around the workplace also lowered.

2. The hotel I currently work at is not a franchise. Our policies have been a little harsh, but they have brought less stress on us. If a customer is very rude to us, even if they have a right to complain, often we won’t bend for them. But if a guest is pleasant and professional (you can be upset and still do that), we do everything we can for them. Just a few months ago a couple on their anniversary didn’t have a good stay due to some loud guests. While we can’t control our guests, we gave the couple a certificate for a free stay and free dinner (no restrictions) because they were so professional and courteous. We also felt bad for them. We abandoned the customer is always right belief and have found that our business has not been harmed. Matter of fact, our business has increased about 50% and our profit margin has increased by about 4% (rude customers love destroying hotel rooms). Once again, the stress level has been lower.

So is it just a coincidence or is the customer is always right belief counterproductive? Your thoughts?

Note: The pizzeria has the luxury of being the best pizzeria in town. I have yet to find a pizzeria with better sandwiches or better specialty pizzas. We also were in the Guiness Book of World Records for having the largest commercial pizza.
The hotel isn’t very special, except for the fact that it’s the only one in the city with a restaurant and bar. Honestly I don’t consider it to be very special nor is it the best hotel I have worked at nor stayed at… by far.
dudedud… but if these right customers are always getting their product/room for free or for a substantial discount, how are you making money? Statistics also show that companies that have abandoned this policy have lower health care costs for their employees. That’s another money saver.
v b: Both scenarios happen all the time. I have had to rent out maintence rooms before. One time some guests were so desperate we let them stay in a conference room with cots. They were able to use the pool showers and bathrooms. We didn’t charge them for the stay. They were return customers desperate for a place to stay. We accomodated them at cost to us and at no blame of our own. But since they were nice, we did it for them. Heck, at one hotel the manager let the frequent guest stay at her family’s home (very frequent guest, don’t try that one often). Once again, he wasn’t picky and was pleasant so we helped him out.

Where on Earth?

You’re standing outside the airport terminal in Moscow on a cold winter night. Snow streams past the windows of the taxi as you ride to your hotel. Leaning back in the seat, you review the purpose of your trip. As director of operations for a major American restaurant chain, you must choose the company’s next location in northern Eurasia. The first location, right here in Moscow, has been a huge success.

In your briefcase, you have a list of 12 northern Eurasian cities, all eager candidates for the site of your company’s next restaurant. Key officials of the nations in which those cities are located have dreams of duplicating that success-of bringing American investment and new jobs to their nations.

In your hotel room, you pull the typewritten list out of your briefcase and scan it quickly. The names are familiar to you by now: Moscow (a second outlet here might make sense, given how well the first one is doing), St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Kazan, and Omsk, all in Russia; Tbilisi, Georgia; Tashkent, Uzbekistan; Minsk, Belarus; Almaty; Kazakstan; Kiev and Odessa, Ukraine; and finally Baku, Azerbaijan.

Officials from each of these northern Eurasian nations will be competing for your business. Knowing this, you must carefully scrutinize the arguments they present. After all the work your company has put into its expansion plan, a poor choice could be financially disastrous.

The next day, you have arranged to meet one by one with officials from each of the nations. Your first appointment with the Russian official begins, and your translator, Alexander, relays his opening words: Your letters inform us that you have 12 cities under consideration. We can save you some time and effort by telling you that in our opinion, you should not give your golden opportunity to a city located above 55* N latitude. Your restaurant would profit better if it were located in a more temperate city.Thank you, you reply, and after some small talk, the appointment ends.

After checking your atlas, you agree with the Russian official. You cross one city off your list; now 11 cities remain.

Translating for the Georgian official, Alexander begins your next appointment by saying, We sincerely hope that you will give full consideration to Georgia in making your decision. After all, your restaurant would probably be most successful if it were located in a capital city like ours. Then, he adds: We also believe that your restaurant should be located somewhere other than Moscow. The economy there may not be able to support a second franchise. After some thought, you agree that a capital city would probably be the best setting for the new restaurant, and that it might not be best to risk a second restaurant in Moscow at this time. Mentally, you cross Moscow off the list, as well as four cities that are not national capitals. Now, six cities remain.

Translating for the official from Belarus, Alexander says, After reviewing your menu, we think that you should note that some of your meals would be prohibited in nations where Islam is the dominant religion.

You know from the map in your briefcase that three of the six remaining choices have just been eliminated. Following this appointment, you comment to Alexander that you have eliminated all but three cities from your list. Alexander offers you his own advice: Would it not make sense to locate your restaurant in the remaining city with the largest population? Since one of the remaining cities does have a larger population than the other two, you tend to agree. After some careful double-checking, you make your call to company headquarters, and announce exactly where in northern Eurasia your next restaurant will be located.

Which of the 12 northern Eurasian cities will be the home of your company’s newest restaurant? Hint: Use information from an atlas and an almanac to eliminate all but one city.
\

Tbilisi, Georgia
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Minsk, Belarus
Kiev, Ukraine

You’re standing outside the airport terminal in Moscow on a cold winter night. Snow streams past the windows of the taxi as you ride to your hotel. Leaning back in the seat, you review the purpose of your trip. As director of operations for a major American restaurant chain, you must choose the company’s next location in northern Eurasia. The first location, right here in Moscow, has been a huge success.

In your briefcase, you have a list of 12 northern Eurasian cities, all eager candidates for the site of your company’s next restaurant. Key officials of the nations in which those cities are located have dreams of duplicating that success-of bringing American investment and new jobs to their nations.

In your hotel room, you pull the typewritten list out of your briefcase and scan it quickly. The names are familiar to you by now: Moscow (a second outlet here might make sense, given how well the first one is doing), St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Kazan, and Omsk, all in Russia; Tbilisi, Georgia; Tashkent, Uzbekistan; Minsk, Belarus; Almaty; Kazakstan; Kiev and Odessa, Ukraine; and finally Baku, Azerbaijan.

Officials from each of these northern Eurasian nations will be competing for your business. Knowing this, you must carefully scrutinize the arguments they present. After all the work your company has put into its expansion plan, a poor choice could be financially disastrous.

The next day, you have arranged to meet one by one with officials from each of the nations. Your first appointment with the Russian official begins, and your translator, Alexander, relays his opening words: Your letters inform us that you have 12 cities under consideration. We can save you some time and effort by telling you that in our opinion, you should not give your golden opportunity to a city located above 55* N latitude. Your restaurant would profit better if it were located in a more temperate city.Thank you, you reply, and after some small talk, the appointment ends.

After checking your atlas, you agree with the Russian official. You cross one city off your list; now 11 cities remain.

Translating for the Georgian official, Alexander begins your next appointment by saying, We sincerely hope that you will give full consideration to Georgia in making your decision. After all, your restaurant would probably be most successful if it were located in a capital city like ours. Then, he adds: We also believe that your restaurant should be located somewhere other than Moscow. The economy there may not be able to support a second franchise. After some thought, you agree that a capital city would probably be the best setting for the new restaurant, and that it might not be best to risk a second restaurant in Moscow at this time. Mentally, you cross Moscow off the list, as well as four cities that are not national capitals. Now, six cities remain.

Translating for the official from Belarus, Alexander says, After reviewing your menu, we think that you should note that some of your meals would be prohibited in nations where Islam is the dominant religion.

You know from the map in your briefcase that three of the six remaining choices have just been eliminated. Following this appointment, you comment to Alexander that you have eliminated all but three cities from your list. Alexander offers you his own advice: Would it not make sense to locate your restaurant in the remaining city with the largest population? Since one of the remaining cities does have a larger population than the other two, you tend to agree. After some careful double-checking, you make your call to company headquarters, and announce exactly where in northern Eurasia your next restaurant will be located.

Which of the 12 northern Eurasian cities will be the home of your company’s newest restaurant? Hint: Use information from an atlas and an almanac to eliminate all but one city.
Question 31 answers
Tbilisi, Georgia
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Minsk, Belarus
Kiev, Ukraine

BeTheBoss.ca:
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