Tweet
I considered posting this over on CS but considering a likely case of homophobia, I think it would be better here. It's a long story, so bear with me.
Hubs's last job was at a grocery store I'll call Fidgety Boar. The store was part of a shopping center that was divided into two buildings, with a dollar store and Fidgety Boar on one side, and the other was a gas station, a burned-out empty space, and a laundromat. Inside the store, they had a separate section that they called a deli but was actually rented out as a restaurant. I volunteered there while Hubs was at work (I knew they couldn't afford to pay me yet but I didn't care, I needed something to do during the day). The restaurant (I'll call it Phil's) was owned by an older gay couple, two of the nicest men I've ever met (I'll call them Phil and James). They have three daughters (one with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome) and had gone into debt to open the restaurant and pursue their dream. They rented the deli space for $1000 a month and had paid a $2000 security deposit on the place (this will be important later).
When Hubs was fired from Fidgety Boar, I stopped working at Phil's as well. We stayed in touch with Phil and James though, and over the last couple of years, business has boomed. They had paid off a good chunk of their debt and everyone in our little town loved them (though that might have something to do with there being only two other places in town to eat, one of them an incredibly expensive sandwich shop).
Recently, the owner of Fidgety Boar sold the store (he was paying for the rights to the name, so it wasn't a corporate store). The new owner seemed nice, Hubs went to him looking to see if he could be hired back and was looking forward to being closer to home and getting paid more. While we were waiting for the store owner to get back in contact with Hubs, something else happened.
Phil and James began to lose customers, and found out it was because of a rumor that had been spread that they were engaging in rather personal activities while at work. They suspected that the new owner had started these rumors due to some not-so-subtle remarks he had made in the past, though they had no proof of this.
As business started to decline, the new owner approached them with an offer to buy out the restaurant, getting an immediate "NO!" New Owner didn't like this and one day, when one of their employees was setting up for the morning, he approached her and demanded that she stop what she's doing right now, none of them were allowed on the premises anymore. Phil and James were allowed to get their personal items, and that was it.
New Owner didn't return their security deposit or the rent that they had paid just a few days before, which they were both legally entitled to. However, since Phil and James still haven't entirely paid off their debts, they can't afford a lawyer to go after him. Instead, the owner of the burned-out space in the same shopping center renovated the place, and right now they're still in the process of moving in. They bought some of their equipment used from the other restaurants in town, with the bulk of it being donated by the aforementioned employee, who had once owned her own restaurant in town and had the extra equipment in storage. The rest of the things that needed done (specialized electrical/plumbing work, supplies, etc.) are being funded by a crowdfunding page, and they're reopening Thursday.
What the store owner did enrages me so much. These two guys have been incredibly kind to myself and my husband, and they're out $3000 because of this guy. They're probably better off, since now they have the space for a performance area for local bands (of which there are many), but first they have to get out of the hole they were thrown in. And plus, the kitchen is visible from the seating area, so there's no chance of the swirling rumors returning.
TL;DR: Good friends were kicked out of the building their restaurant's in and weren't given the money they were due back because of a quite possibly homophobic landlord.
Hubs's last job was at a grocery store I'll call Fidgety Boar. The store was part of a shopping center that was divided into two buildings, with a dollar store and Fidgety Boar on one side, and the other was a gas station, a burned-out empty space, and a laundromat. Inside the store, they had a separate section that they called a deli but was actually rented out as a restaurant. I volunteered there while Hubs was at work (I knew they couldn't afford to pay me yet but I didn't care, I needed something to do during the day). The restaurant (I'll call it Phil's) was owned by an older gay couple, two of the nicest men I've ever met (I'll call them Phil and James). They have three daughters (one with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome) and had gone into debt to open the restaurant and pursue their dream. They rented the deli space for $1000 a month and had paid a $2000 security deposit on the place (this will be important later).
When Hubs was fired from Fidgety Boar, I stopped working at Phil's as well. We stayed in touch with Phil and James though, and over the last couple of years, business has boomed. They had paid off a good chunk of their debt and everyone in our little town loved them (though that might have something to do with there being only two other places in town to eat, one of them an incredibly expensive sandwich shop).
Recently, the owner of Fidgety Boar sold the store (he was paying for the rights to the name, so it wasn't a corporate store). The new owner seemed nice, Hubs went to him looking to see if he could be hired back and was looking forward to being closer to home and getting paid more. While we were waiting for the store owner to get back in contact with Hubs, something else happened.
Phil and James began to lose customers, and found out it was because of a rumor that had been spread that they were engaging in rather personal activities while at work. They suspected that the new owner had started these rumors due to some not-so-subtle remarks he had made in the past, though they had no proof of this.
As business started to decline, the new owner approached them with an offer to buy out the restaurant, getting an immediate "NO!" New Owner didn't like this and one day, when one of their employees was setting up for the morning, he approached her and demanded that she stop what she's doing right now, none of them were allowed on the premises anymore. Phil and James were allowed to get their personal items, and that was it.
New Owner didn't return their security deposit or the rent that they had paid just a few days before, which they were both legally entitled to. However, since Phil and James still haven't entirely paid off their debts, they can't afford a lawyer to go after him. Instead, the owner of the burned-out space in the same shopping center renovated the place, and right now they're still in the process of moving in. They bought some of their equipment used from the other restaurants in town, with the bulk of it being donated by the aforementioned employee, who had once owned her own restaurant in town and had the extra equipment in storage. The rest of the things that needed done (specialized electrical/plumbing work, supplies, etc.) are being funded by a crowdfunding page, and they're reopening Thursday.
What the store owner did enrages me so much. These two guys have been incredibly kind to myself and my husband, and they're out $3000 because of this guy. They're probably better off, since now they have the space for a performance area for local bands (of which there are many), but first they have to get out of the hole they were thrown in. And plus, the kitchen is visible from the seating area, so there's no chance of the swirling rumors returning.
TL;DR: Good friends were kicked out of the building their restaurant's in and weren't given the money they were due back because of a quite possibly homophobic landlord.
Comment