A Sad, Sad Day

I just read in today’s Chandler Drive Daily (I’m really never going to get a job there if I make jokes about it like that) that the Pilot Butte Drive-In, arguably the best burger joint in the state of Oregon, isn’t going to be open for dinner anymore. Understand, I’ve loved that place since I was a kid, and still to this day go there at least a couple times a month, generally after I get off of work — and they’ll now be closed during that time frame.

Why are they doing this? Really, I’m not sure. It’s always packed every night, so its can’t be a financial reason. The family owners say it’s a “Family decision” but later say “The good business is causing us to have slow ticket times, (food) not cooked correctly” because they weren’t there in the evening watching over everybody’s soldiers.

So what do they do? Instead of hiring a evening-shift manager that knows what they’re doing and can improve the problems they’re having, they decide to lay off staff and close six hours earlier. Brilliant, folks, absolutely brilliant.

To use an example I’m familiar with, I work for a family-owned and run company. While it’s nice when they’re there, they’ve surrounded themselves with talented employees so that if they were to up and disappear off the face of the earth, the company would still function great and nothing would falter. Why can’t they do that at Pilot Butte?

My guess is the public outcry will get Pilot Butte back to regular shift within the month, but they need to do it with better management, and, in this case, less family involvement.