Re(2): Misinformation
Posted on December 21, 2005 at 00:34:44
AM by From The Inside
BRNE - don't yell. We get plenty of that at the fronton. The more
you are told "you don't know what you are doing," the
more defensive and closed off you get. And we have the capacity
to close doors, shred and not take calls. The "we are the
ones who pay your salary" comment, is correct, but a bit
selfish as it does not take into account all of the people who
come out to the fronton every day - many of whom have been disparaged
for their looks, or socioeconomic status on this site. There are
many of you, but far more of them. So don't do the internet equivalent
of yelling by capitalization. It is true that some of the things
that you would like to see, improvements, etc. are both reasonable
and inexpensive - relatively. It’s the relatively part that
is important. Fort Pierce aside, let’s take Miami and all
of the nasty comments that have been made about this venerable
80 y/o landmark. NOTHING in that building breaks that costs less
than $500.00 to fix - its like the frekin military in that regard.
There are approximately 13 separate roofs (more perhaps) now all
with hurricane damage. Signage that is 50 + years old, etc. Employee
attitude is an ongoing problem, but it is not much different then
the AVERAGE within the pari-mutuel industry. We have people who
have been with us for 30 to 40 years, who have watched this decline.
You are wrong about management’s attitude. Come into a fronton
and ask to speak with any one of us - we all maintain unconditional
open door policies. We are a bit gun shy, because we don't have
a whole lot of time to hang-out. But seeing us is not that difficult.
We encourage our employees to recognize that they are the front
line of the business; some have responded well, some have not.
Try to replace a mutuel clerk. Terms like "dismal failure"
don't help. The truth is that you can't know what we are up against
financially, or within our own facility. We are not blind, lazy
or stupid. Many years ago I sat in an hourly position at the fronton
where I wanted to write to ownership and talk about how the place
was being mismanaged and thought about all I could do if only
I were in a position to do so. Now I am in such a position and
I see that we are all doing the best that we can. Can we do better
- yes. But you only see one side of the story - you look only
at what draws your eye. There is just so much more. In short,
if you think we don't care you are flat out incorrect. As for
ownership, there is not one of them who could not have sold their
property and walked away with cash. Stay in in hopes of machines?
Perhaps - wouldn't you? You can attack the "corporation"
i.e.: the Colletts, but they have committed hard dollars to keeping
things going and to the re-build, when insurance would have had
us wait. Why not just furlough the employees and collect business
interruption if cash is the only important thing? We could have
done that now two years back –to- back, at different facilities
and it didn't happen. Room - need for improvement absolutely necessary,
but attacks without all of the facts doesn't help. You do as much
damage with the harshness of many of your comments as you say
we are doing with our actions or in actions. In some areas we
will have to agree to disagree. Not everyone is going to be happy
with the Ft. this year. Sad but true, but it is the reality of
the current Jai-Alai world. The fact that we are still open when
I have been reading about of imminent demise for 20 years is as
impressive a fact as I can think of.
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