Of Ice Cubes and Toxic Work Environments
One time when I was the store manager for a McDonald's, the owner of the franchise came in, tearing up a storm, ripping into one of my employees for some perceived infraction of the "rules," after first reaching into the ice bin with his dirty fingernails and digging out a few ice cubes to chew. He didn't take her to the office and talk to her calmly; he didn't speak to me about speaking to her; he just stood there in front of the ice bin and berated her like she was a child, right in front of all the other employees, right in front of all the customers. It was his modus operandi -- way of keeping everyone off balance, trembling in fear, so we would all walk on eggshells and toe his line. I had taken to making a beeline for the office to hit the valium when I saw his car drive in the lot. My assistant manager would head for the restroom for a snort of coke. And another long-time employee also used some form of narcotic -- I don't remember which -- to cont