It happened so fast the other night when I went for a late-night omelette snack at the world famous Roxy cafe here in downtown Portland. There I was at almost 3am sitting at the counter waiting for my food amongst the zombie-fare of after-bar patrons all decked out in their Halloween garb. Behind me a group of four underage kids settled into their table when the noxiously intoxicated fellow sitting to my right took notice of their arrival.
I had been conjuring up a little smalltalk with this guy while I waited when he suddenly spins around and demands of one of the kids behind us, "what the hell are you staring at?" This quickly degenerated into him noticing and taking issue with one of them being black and also wearing a wig. As ridiculous as all this was, I couldn't believe my ears and the trash that was coming out of his mouth - in Portland, Oregon no less! He slung multiple bigoted insults, racial slurs, and threats at this poor kid until he finally stopped long enough and returned to the forward facing direction for me to ask him what he was thinking. His reply... "I just like to fight - and I'm really drunk." I should add that this guy was in his mid 20's and the kids were likely all under 18.
Moments later, one of the girls in the group of kids had a flash of brilliant thinking and brought this guy's behavior and ridiculous hate speech to the attention of Mikey - their waiter and patron saint. Without waivering for a moment, Mikey quickly replies to the guy next to me, "if you used any of those words, you're going to need leave here right now." Amazingly the guy didn't offer any further protests or insults and just walked out.
This incident was ironic to me because of the recent stupid racist comments by A&E's bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman. It is unbelievable that people are still this ignorant and biased today. What makes the story relevant to the world of film and employer/employee relationships everywhere is the great example Mikey provides of taking responsibility and having the self-confidence to act when necessary. The great part here is that I believe the Roxy's owner has given their staff the implicit charge to handle whatever may walk through the door. It's really fantastic to see it all work like it's supposed to.
Too often, companies remove all power from the people charged within their workforce to carry out their business and with the loss of power, employees respond by not taking ownership in their own work. How can anyone be expected to do their job if they're not given the respect and trust necessary for them to do the right thing without having to ask permission?
Hire great people, give them the most latitude possible while still requiring them to be accountable, and most of all - don't create policies that strip the power of decision and action from the skilled people you've entrusted to carry out your business. It seems like common sense, so why isn't this common any more?
Major props to Mikey for diffusing a bad situation and doing the right thing!
I'd love to hear your thoughts... comment or e-mail me.
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