My summer at Cedar Point with a bunch of imbeciles (long) - Page 11

KingOfKa17 · #**151** 03-17-2006, 10:40 PM

Haha great advice everyone.

birdman · #**152** 03-19-2006, 03:52 PM

More stories Chip... Please

***Chip*** · #**153** 03-19-2006, 11:52 PM

More coming. Sorry for the delay. I went home for the weekend. I should have one in the next few days.

Pammy Mae · #**154** 03-21-2006, 09:07 PM

Hey Chip. It's one of your past favorite crew members.

I have been keeping up with all of your stories from last summer. I am sorry that it was not a good one. The good news is that you will not have to worry about going back.

That place is full of bittersweet memories. I am not sure if I could ever go back, even to just visit.

***Chip*** · #**155** 03-24-2006, 05:14 AM

Wow! Hi, Pam! Pam was on my crew in 2004. She was one of my best workers, and no doubt helped us get that operations excellence award.

It's time for another story. L. L started in restrooms, but he was moved to my crew because he had asthma. The chemicals used in restrooms affected his asthma, so he was moved to sweeps for safety reasons.

L was an excellent worker. When you told him to do something, he'd get the job done well. One of my first memories of him on my crew was telling him to clean phones, water fountains and ATMs before the park opened. I walked out and did a little round and found him scrubbing a phone completely clean. Outstanding. I knew he'd be a great addition to the team.

But he had his share of problems, mostly his inability to control his temper. He would freak out over little things, and he'd fly off the handle.

Some of my sweeps told me that he broke a big pushbroom once. I was off, and he was digging in the dock box for his broom and dustpan. He couldn't find them -- someone had set them out for him -- and he got mad. I'm told he took our pushbroom out of the dock box and threw it against a wall in the break area. He threw it with such force the bristle portion broke. The handle was fine. It was the bristles that broke. The hard plastic part!

I found it tucked away behind our dock box after my sweeps told me about it. I had to pull him aside and tell him to try and control himself. I didn't want him to get fired.

Oh, you might be wondering why I introduced this story in previous posts as L, "the gay guy with a temper." Not to sound cliche, as I have nothing against gays. It's not anything that stood out with him. A few of us on the crew just found it funny that he thought that I was gay. You'd assume that the gay guy would have gaydar, but he didn't. I was only told all this. Like good employees, my sexuality never came up as a topic of discussion while at work. But I digress.

L always had something to complain about. Whether it was complaining about Spelling Bee's lack of work ethic or the food in the cafeteria, he would be complaining. Always. It was nonstop. The other employees pulled me aside sometimes to complain about his complaining!

The radio

Toward the end of my time there, my manager and supervisors suggested that I train L to be in charge. My main third in charge would be leaving soon, so I had to train someone else. We're also supposed to train everyone on the crew who wants it.

So I went over my regular training. I taught him the paperwork and stuff. The training took about two days. He seemed to have a pretty good handle on it. Except for the radio traffic. He just could not get the signals down. I wrote him a cheat sheet, but it didn't help much.

He'd screw up and get mad. It wasn't fun, but I kept my cool. I scheduled him with some actual in-charge time the following week. He seemed all ready to go. He got to close in charge, the easier shift between opening and closing in charge. I had the day off. The ATL opened and had to give the radio to L at 6 p.m. when his shift ended.

L seemed confident, but something came up. Something we were all too familiar with.

The signal for a blood kit needed was called.

Great. I can still hear that signal ringing in my right ear. I heard it at least once a week for eight straight weeks. Eight straight weeks of cleaning up blood, urine or feces. But those are stories for another time.

Just before the ATL took the radio off his belt, the signal was called. The ATL decided to stay with L in order to help him out. As they were cleaning up the aftermath of a nosebleed on the boardwalk, I walked into my division's office to pick up my paycheck.

The office girl told me to kick back and listen to the radio. She told me that L was in charge and that there was a blood spill. I listened to see how he would handle it.

After about 10 minutes, they got it cleaned up and he called it clear over the radio. But he called it wrong. You're supposed to call out "(your number) to (the number you're calling)." They say "(number) go," then you relay your traffic with signals. L just couldn't get it down.

From the office, I heard him fumble.

"(My number)." ... "(Office number)." "(Office number) go." "(Signal) cleaned up." "(Office number) clear." You're just supposed to say "(Signal at location) is clear." Well, he got it wrong, but that was OK. He was still new. He just seemed nervous with the radio.

Punctuality

L had a problem with punctuality. He'd often be a little late, so he built up points. He never really worked them off, either. He got a few when he was in restrooms, and they built up when he was on my crew. Like Jen, I tried to get him to go in for extra hours. He never did.

He was approaching the firing point of getting 16 points toward the end of my time there. In the beginning of August there was a big employee event called Big Bash. Big Bash is an after-hours employee-only event held in Frontiertown. The water rides are open, games are free, and best of all there's free food. Tons of it. Everything you can get back there is free. Macho nachos, bratwurst, hot dogs, popcorn, lemonade, etc. All free. It's the biggest employee event of the season. There are also lots of games.

Because of all that, someone has to clean it up. Usually it's the sweeps and restrooms people and our supervisors because, well, we knew how to do that. Our manager said you could sign up for a 45-minute shift and receive double points taken off. It's a great deal. Usually you have to work two hours to work one point off. Working 45 minutes to get two points off is a steal. And you get paid for it! L signed up for two shifts. Great. He could work off four points, which would give him some room to be a minute or two late.

L came in and worked off four points at Big Bash. He even got a free T-shirt for helping. Excellent.

But it didn't last. The next day he didn't come in. He worked an opening shift. I figured he was just tired. He was probably working until past 3 a.m. Getting up around 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. is hard when you just finished three hours before! I figured he just slept in.

To me, it was OK. I didn't like that he would be late, but at least he gave it enough room to not get fired. Two hours would get you four points, I believe.

I called his dorm. No answer. I called my supervisors. They told me to keep trying. I kept trying. No answer. Nothing. All day.

It was upsetting. For some reason he wasn't coming in. He either wasn't there or something had happened. My manager called me and told me "L is no longer with the company." Oh, how I hated to hear that. I scratched his name off the schedule and the copies of the schedule. How upsetting.

I didn't mind losing people like Powerbreakin' Andy or Spelling Bee, but losing a good, hard worker like L was tough. There was no replacing his ethic. Once again, we'd be short on workers.

My manager told me that if he came in the next day, I was to send him straight to the office. He came in at his scheduled time in full uniform. How strange. I thought he'd knew he was fired. I told him to go to the office, and he accepted it.

About 15 minutes later I got a call from my manager. L was back on the crew! I was so happy. I asked L what happened the day before, and he told me he slept through his alarm and the phone ringing. It sounded believable. He works 60 hours a week and got only three or four hours of sleep the night before. I understood. They probably gave him another chance because he was a great worker and losing him would hurt my crew.

He worked his shift and the next day. Then he didn't come in again. This time it was over. His phone line was busy, which indicated to me that he was surfing the Internet. He loved talking about surfing the Internet and talking to strangers online.

He was terminated. For real this time. He came in wearing plain clothes. He turned his uniforms in to wardrobe. I saw him and shook his hand. It was a shame losing him. He apologized but said he just overslept again.

I didn't really believe him. I was later told by Whore No. 2, who was good friends with L, that he quit. Technically, he was terminated, but when you don't come in to work on purpose, that's quitting. What a shame. And too bad he couldn't tell me the truth.

Up next: A time I went completely out of my way to help a guest. (You know, to break from the complaining and bad stories.)

Pammy Mae · #**156** 03-25-2006, 01:48 PM

Wow Alex. The more that I read about your last summer, the worse I feel for you. I cannot believe that it was really that bad. Wow!

How many raptor rides did you get in last summer? I think I read it somewhere, but I forgot!!

Of all of the bad times that I had (which mostly consisted of the pain us sweeps felt in the first month or so), I truely cannot complain. I mean, where else can I see Water Spouts? Where else can I meet some of the most entertaining guests in the world? Where else can I have the opportunity to guard Snoopy's Doghouse?

medieval · #**157** 03-25-2006, 02:40 PM

Nice stories Chip, can't wait to hear more of them.

***Chip*** · #**158** 03-28-2006, 04:30 PM

I was walking toward my break area, and a woman who was sitting on a bench near Pagoda Gift Shop flagged me down. She had a walker, and she told me it was broken. She said she could probably make it around for a while, but she didn't want to risk it breaking.

She said a screw came loose and fell off sometime between her leaving her car and being in the park. The screw held half of the walker together, so if she put pressure on it, it would probably fall apart.

I told her I'd try to help. I went to First Aid and asked if they had screws and nuts. They didn't. I called my division, Park Services, and asked if they had anything. They told me they would bring what they could find.

I decided to stay with the woman so she wasn't just there by herself. I talked to her for a while. A merchandise supervisor heard about the ordeal and called maintenance.

Some of my supervisors came up to us and tried some of the screws and nuts they found. None fit. One of them went to maintenance. He came back about 10 minutes later with a handful of screws and nuts. We tried finding the best fit, and after some trial and error, we did.

We put it on her walker and screwed it on. It wasn't an exact fit, but it was good enough to hold it steady for a day or two. She said when she got home, she'd go to the company that sold her the walker and get a replacement part.

The whole time we were waiting and working, she chatted. She told me about her family, how they make a yearly trip to Cedar Point and other fun things.

After we finished, we got up and she thanked us. She tried to give us money, but we had to politely refuse. We're not allowed to accept tips. She said she was all right, and we let her go on her way.

The flat tire

I remembered another story. I figured I'll stick with the theme of helping guests, so here goes.

A guest was pushing his son around in a tricyclelike stroller. The wheels were inflated. One of the wheels was flat, and he had no way of fixing it.

He spotted me and asked if there was anything I could do. I went to First Aid to see if they had anything. They didn't, but they directed me to games maintenance. My first idea is usually to go to First Aid because they seem to have everything.

Games maintenance is inside the main arcade. I told the guest to follow me back there. I walked in and asked if they had an air pump. They looked at me strangely, and I let the man in.

They looked at the tire and found the right pump. They filled it up, and he and his son thanked me and went on their way.

These stories might seem boring, but they're the kind of thing that kept me going. When the employees were at their worst, when my feet were soaking wet from the rain, when I was stressed out beyond all imagination and when I was thinking of quitting, someone like this would come along. It made me feel great that I could help guests with such unsual circumstances.

Up next: What happened with my zone merging with the zone next to me. Stories of lazy leadership, bad employees and all-around nonsense.

KingOfKa17 · #**159** 03-29-2006, 04:02 PM

For every bad thing, there is always something good that happens, and brings your spirits right back up. Awsome stories man, makes the wait to get up there unbearable.

Hammy2003 · #**160** 03-29-2006, 04:38 PM

Finally!!! Here they are, ya'll. OK, do keep in mind, that the situation is a lot funnier than the quote.

A little background, for those who don't know. I worked in the Guest Services office, which included some Admissions, Tolls, and Marketing. My job is easily the best at Cedar Point, in my opinion. I loved it.

Part of the job is working closely with guests, and needs of the guests. Lots of questions... mostly stupid questions. Keep in mind, these people are uber-excited about coming to the world's best park, 8 years running -- driving on the causeway looking at all the rides is enough to get one pumped.

So, as soon as my crew had a stupid question, or funny moment, we recorded it on some sheets in the back office while we busted out laughing, out of the guests' view, of course.

Here are some of the hilarities:

"I swear, he's only 2!"
The kid was like 4 feet tall.
--
"Do you guys have any bags, just in case I have a problem?"
--
"I need some help, my pregnant girlfriend's water may break soon... and could you tell me a little about "speed-passes" [FreeWay]?"
--
"I'm not judgemental, but what they do is WRONG!"
On CP's unofficial, unannounced "gay day."
--
"Can I borrow some scissors to cut off my daughter's cast, so she can ride some rides?"
--
"Mom, I guess we're gonna have to put the bunnies in the ice-box [cooler]!"
LOL, we had some little bunny rabbits all over the place for a while, and these guests wanted to know the proper thing to do with them. They didn't want them to get hurt. LOL, love that one... you just had to be there.
--
"We were on the Dragster, and this lady had a heartattack. Could you tell us if she died?"
--
"My girlfriend went to the hospital to have my baby. I think it's called going into labor."
--
"Where's the Scrambler?!?"
A kid asking as he's playing in the marching band that we lead through the park. He's supposed to be playing, but he's asking us questions!
--
"Why is the Twisted Sister closed down?"

--
"Where's the Iron Dragster?"
I'm not even kidding you, I got this several times last summer!
"Where's the Kingdom Force?"
--
"Do you have to be wearing a bathing suit to get into Soak City?"
--
"Is this where the shuttle comes to pick us up?"
We were standing in the Guest Services office, nearly behind the front gate.
--
"Where's the flag?"
In the morning, before the gates open, they do the National Anthem, where everybody turns and faces the flag, y'know the drill. A crew member's response was, "On the giant pole, there." LOL
--
"Do you think people should be able to do Yoga in the park?"
A lady, who clearly disapproved, was reporting this to me, as if bad behavior or something!
--
"Your sign here is very conceiving; I thought the OFFICE was closed."
Lady was pissed and claimed "false advertising" on us. It was a "Wicked Twister will be Closed Today" sign.
--
"I need a map. 'I'm a stranger in a strange land'."
A very excited guest, as if auditioning for a dramatic role. You just had to be there.
--
"Just look at that there MaxAir! It looks like a Christmas wreath the way all those kids' legs fly out like that!"
Two elderly ladies.
--"Did you see that guy's makeup?!? It was like, Gol-Gothic or something!"
Guest in the office talking about the guest in line before them, who just walked out the door.
--
"Do they still stop you at the Skywalk?"
Guest who is familiar with the early admission for resort guests and Joe Cool Club members, and how "regular guests" wait at the SKYRIDE."
--
"Do you guys sell "twickets"?
Clearly, someone who has been to a SixFlags park. Twin-Tickets are two-day passes. Not funny, but the girl who answered this question laughed out loud at the guest. LOL
--
"Where is the nearest AMT?"
Our response, "You mean... ATM?"
--
"Did you find my phone? I think I left it in my car?"
--
"Where is the Highway Pass?"
Talking about Freeway, again.
--
"Do you guys take SixFlags season passes?"
--
"Where can we preserve a wheelchair?"
--
"Any info on HalloScream weekends?"
--
"Hold on, I'll be right back. I'm gonna go piss on my boss's car."
A corporate day, where this guy's tickets were all screwed up, and he couldn't get in the park.
--
"I'm just dying to have a gyro. Do you sell those in the park, and where can I get one?"
--
"Do you have any available rooms in Camp Snoopy tonight?"
LOL!! Our office is paired with the Hotel Reservations office. Camp Snoopy is the kids' area in the park. This made our day!

"What hotel is this?"
-----------------------------------
OK, so here's a few KidTrack (armband) questions:

"How do you keep the sticky part from sticking to your finger?!?!?"
--
"Now can I have one of those too?"
A mom who thought she had to have one too.
--
"Oh, man! I don't own a cell phone!"
After I explain the program (forever), and put armbands on ALL the kids she had, she realizes that there's no way for the park to even contact her. Frustrating, but funny.
--
"Now, do you guys call long distance."
The girl who answered this wanted to say, "No, we only search for lost LOCAL kids.
------------------------------------------

In marketing, we do surveys. Here's some great questions we heard in surveys.

"What is a pop?"
When giving them their free drink voucher for doing the survey.
--
"What is a family tradition?
When asking about what they do as family traditions?
--
"Oh, mostly A's and B's."
When asked, "What is the highest grade of schooling you've completed?
--
"OMG, are you guys thinking about moving Cedar Point?!?"
When asked, "On a scale of 1-5, how would you rate Cedar Point's location?"
--
"But I didn't drive here!"
"What, my Zippo?!?"
"Ooh, am I gonna win a drawing?"
"Are you asking her for her phone number?"
"I don't give out personal information."
"Oh no!!! I live in Canada!!!"
"I don't appreciate the Spanish Inquisition as I enter your park!!"
"What are you gonna do with it?!?"
"Can I have a map first?"

All of these are responses to the question, "Hi! May I have your ZIP code please?" as they enter the front gate.

----------------------------------------

Tons of names for FreeWay: it's endless.
FreePass
FreeRide
SpeedPass
SuperPass
SpeedWay
HighWay (???)
FrontPass
SkipPass

Tons of names for Getaway Guides: also endless.
Getaway Book
Getaway Pass
Travel Pass
Travel Book
Go Guide
Getaway Pass
----------------------------------------

Out of the blue statements that made us laugh:

"Some bunch of BROTHAS just pushed their way onto the shuttle, and I couldn't get on."
Guy said this to our ATL, who is a black guy. LOL. He thought is was hilarious.
--
"Getaway Guides are my friends!"
--
I would LIKE to wipe my SWEAT on your FACE!!!"
Talking to our ATL, who was VERY upset at something, and was sweating really bad. We were like, "What in the world?!?"
--
"Lindsey just made my nipples hard."
Matt, on our crew, talking about another crew member Lindsey. LOL.
--
"I just got off the Mantis, and it really shook me up! I mean, I saw STARS!!"
--
"I need to change my tampon. It's WAY overdue."
--
"Ah-h-h!"
Lady just so mad, probably at not fitting into TTD/MF, didn't know what else to do but scream at Lindsey.
---------------------------------------------------

OK, so I know most of these won't make sense or be funny to most of ya'll, but if you've ever worked at a park, especially CP, you can appreciate some of them. Hope you enjoyed!

birdman · #**161** 03-29-2006, 06:35 PM

LMAO, these are too funny... Chip, Hammy, keep up the good stories

KingOfKa17 · #**162** 03-30-2006, 11:20 PM

ROFLMFAO You guys truely get the worst of it, but also the most fun.

***Chip*** · #**163** 04-09-2006, 06:10 AM

Toward the end of my time there, our manager figured that something needed to be done about people leaving; whether they quit, got fired or their contracts ended. His solution was one used in previous years: Combine zones.

My zone was the largest zone in the park. The zone next to mine was probably the second largest. It ran from the mall and tramway (next to the parking lot), through all picnic shelters, through the front entrance, down the south side of the main midway (split by Sky Ride. My zone was on the other side.), by Raptor and the Blue Streak midway, and down the pier by Famous Dave's. It was narrow, and it was hard to get from one section to the other because of the limited paths.

Our zones were merged from the beginning of August to the end of the season, effectively creating the largest zone in the park. It literally covered the entire front half of the park from outside the entrance to Corkscrew and the train tracks by Mantis.

To give you an idea of how big it was, my zone took me about 20 minutes to completely walk through it (what I called a round). This new megazone took me 45 minutes to an hour to make a round.

Halfway through July, that zone's team leader drastically reduced her hours so she could be a nursing assistant or something like that at an area hospital. Because she would only be working a little bit, the crew needed a team leader who would be there a lot.

Instead of promote the ATL, they promoted the ATL from one of the zones in the back of the park. He was a good friend of mine, though his leadership skills were lacking. His life philosophy was basically "not my problem."

That crew's ATL was basically the same way. She let them kick back and not work, she let them get away with lots of things, and one of my sweeps said she even saw her sitting in a restroom for a long time to get out of the hot sun.

After their team leader's contract ended, they merged the zones. I was declared the overall team leader, their crew's ATL was the first ATL, and the ATL (from my crew) was the second in charge ATL.

I was determined to at least get them to work. I took pride in my work and my park. I wanted it clean. I was just going to show them how we did things in my zone.

The bad apples

After the merger, I got to see who the real bad workers on the crew were. One guy was fresh out of high school, and he was late so many times before the merger he should have been fired. Twice. But they let him come back, probably because of the aforementioned understaffing.

He adding nothing to the crew.

He used to sit in the air-conditioned break area for long periods of time, and he'd slowly get up and leave if leadership told him to go. He'd take his sweet time leaving the break area in the morning. His excuse was always he needed to finish his pop or find a pen or anything to keep him from going to work.

He also had a catchphrase that I'm only going to write about for the sole reason that it annoyed the heck out of me. He'd say, "Well, I guess you'll have that sometimes" at any moment. You'll tell him someone threw up, he'll say it. Tell him he's a minute late, catchphrase. Anything. So obnoxious and irrelevant.

People from my crew started telling me that he'd go into the cafeteria about five minutes early and leave maybe seven minutes late. He was powerbreaking, something he was known for. Because the last leadership never got on him for it, he never learned to not do it.

But enough about him.

That zone's ATL had an attitude. She thought she was the greatest sweep ever. She even pointed her nose in the air when she walked.

One time one of the crew members came to the break area so he could go home as his shift ended. The problem was, was he still had five or six minutes to work. You're supposed to work until the end of your shift. If you were to come in early, your shift end time would be 5:55, not 6.

So he came in, and I asked him what time he had. He looked at his watch and said it was 5:55. I told him to go back out and sweep. He stared at me like I was crazy.

The woman ATL (this is going to get confusing with her and the ATL!) told me that it was OK because his shift was almost done. I told her that it wasn't, and that's not how we do things in my zone. She said, "whatever" and put her hand up. She signed him out early, though the time sheet had the time he was supposed to be done.

Every day we're assigned special projects. I believe I've mentioned this. One day was to clean trash cans. Because of the zone merger, it was dificult to have every area covered and clean the trash cans in every area.

I had trash-can-cleaning day off, so the woman ATL was supposed to have assigned trash cans. She didn't. Because of that, the next day she assigned trash cans to me. Team leaders generally don't do special projects because we're supposed to be roaming around the zone making sure everything's in order. She also tried to assign people to do that day's special project, too, but she didn't care that not every area was covered.

Her shift was ending, and I was in to get the radio and rove sheet from her. I asked her why she assigned me to clean trash cans when yesterday was the day to clean trash cans. She told me, "Oh, I didn't assign them. You get to do them."

I think she was doing that because she didn't like me. She also hated assigning trash cans, so she probably figured she could just make me do them all. There are 2,000 trash cans in that park. Because we took up half the park, we had roughly 1,000 trash cans. I couldn't do that in a day. But 12 sweeps could do them in a day because they're split up by section.

I asked her why she did that, and she said it was just too hard to get everyone to do it. She gave me more attitude, so I told her not to give me attitude. She yelled, "I'm not giving you attitude! I'm just getting the job done!"

Yeah. Terribly.

She walked out of the break area, again with her hand in the air.

One of the guys on the crew was Czech, so he hung out with the two Czech guys on my crew. That meant what little work they did before was getting cut way down. I had to babysit these kids and tell them to split up so often.

The guy from the other crew wasn't too bright, either. We have bottles of liquid butane to remove gum from surfaces. It freezes it, then you scrape it off and throw it in the trash. It works really well. We usually picked up some gum freeze every other week. We get it from the warehouse, and we have to sign it out so it goes into the budget.

This guy would take the gum freeze and spray it on his bare feet in the break area. He said it was because his feet were hot. He was wasting a company product, so they told him to stop or it'd come out of his paycheck.

The others

Now, as with every bad crew there are always some good workers. I think there were three on this crew. My crew had seven or eight.

But despite them being good workers, they still had to shift to the leadership change. I was writing the schedule one day, and one of the workers was on break. I saw her come in, and I knew how long her break was. After her break was over, I looked at her and told her the break was up.

She looked at me funny, got up and left. I thought nothing of it. You take your break, you go back to work.

Apparently she told some people on the crew that I yelled at her. After work that day, Chris told me she said I yelled at her for being over her break by 15 seconds. Great. Now everyone on the crew was going to think I was crazy.

I never really got along with too many people on that crew, and they didn't get along with me. They were too used to kicking back and not having to work, and I wanted people to make the park look good. My attempts and getting them to work didn't work. Instead they just grew a strong hatred for me.

But that's OK. I know I tried, and I wasn't to blame for the park being a mess. It's just a bit frustrating when you're used to pretty much having a well-oiled machine, and it's ruined by a bunch of people who couldn't care less.

Up next: A poop story.

Griswold · #**164** 04-14-2006, 11:01 PM

Wow, Do I even want to go back this year knowing that the park is run so poorly? Seriously, Chip, my image of CP is tainted now. Interesting stories tho, I guess you cant think that a place as nice as CP seems to be it doesnt have its problems. However, every time I see a sweep or ride op I will wonder...are they competent?....LOL

**Wes** · #**165** 04-15-2006, 06:19 AM

^ But you have to remember that CP and most parks are filled with teenagers and those in their early 20's.

You're about the same age as me so you can probably remember how you were at that age. You didn't give a flip about working because you knew you could always fall back on mom and dad or whatever.

Your attitude about work changes after you get a mortgage!

Most parks are filled with people like this. Why do you think most coasters only have a green and red botton to chose from when operating the ride? Doesn't seem too complicated there. lol

Doesn't make it right, it's just as it is and probably always will be when you are employing people of that age.

I can however tell you that I sent a comment in one time and one of the VP's at CP actually wrote me a personal letter back thanking me. So the "people that count" are very competent.

I'm not saying that employees don't count and management is the only ones that do. But you probably see what I'm saying.