As we have said many times my restaurant stories are endless, and some of them are so unbelievable that people constantly say "That couldn't have happened!" The hostess was helping to do some clean up work the other day in the kitchen and scrubbing under the edges of the counter. And it reminded me of something that happened many years ago.
I was working in a rather upscale place and getting a few extra hours by staying late and doing some of the heavy cleaning. One day I was cleaning the work tables. They had a lip on them that curled under and nobody had bothered to clean them for some time. So I was getting down and scrubbing them thoroughly, first starting with the tops and then getting under the tables. This seemed to amuse the prep cook!
I got one table done, and went home, and the next day went to work on a second table. I had just started when my rag caught on something. Curiously I stopped and got down and looked underneath the table. Three double edged razor blades had been stuck underneath the edge of the table with bubble gum! The boss just happened to be coming through the kitchen and I called to him and asked him to come and take a look at this. The boss got down under the table, looked up and went "Oh my God! Those couldn't have got there accidentally!"
The prep cook was standing off in the corner watching us, as usual chewing a wad of gum. "I think Eddie did this!" I remarked to the boss. "He was watching me do the work yesterday, and seemed rather amused with it."
"Get those out of there!" the boss told me. He got out from under the table and snapped "Eddie! Come back with me to the office. I want to talk to you!"
I continued working and was under the table when I heard Eddie and the boss come back. "I'm sorry," the boss was saying, "I know you can't comprehend what I'm saying, but I just can't use you. you can't stay. That was simply too much! I cannot see how you could possibly think it was humorous! Just get your things out of your locker and go. I'll mail you your check."
Eddie was ranting and raving that it was just a joke, that at the most I'd have gotten a couple of scratches. It wasn't serious! He hadn't done anything serious. But the boss just kept saying "I'm sorry, you've got to go!"
I got out from under the table and Eddie just glared at me as he went out the back door. "I'm sorry, Gerald!" the boss apologized, "I can't imagine something like that! I've never seen anything like that! He absolutely has no conception that what he did was wrong! I'm going to call some of the people that recommended him and ask them if they knew of this behavior. If they did I'm going to tell them that their recommendations won't be considered any more!"
"It's all right," I told the boss, "you can't imagine how many people like that I've run into! I seem to draw them like a magnet!"
The boss just shook his head and went back to what he was doing. But Eddie wasn't the first person I had a problem like that with, and he wasn't the last! I've never been a fan of practical jokes, especially ones that hurt people. I've never liked people that do them. And boy, do they find that out in a hurry!

Speaker Linda Polley Channeling Mary Magdalene's energy for her message to Oral Roberts.