(Names Have Been Changed)

The Jimmy Johns located at 8118 Kenwood Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45236 were truly the lamest bunch of douchebags I have ever seen in one place in my life.

The owner really wanted secretly to be an employee, and even though he worked in the store almost daily, cowardly hid behind an assistant manager who had a raging insecurity problem and low self-esteem. The assistant manager's nickname by the employees was "Benito," an obvious reference to Benito Mussolini, Italy's facist dictator.  Humorously fitting.

You can also spot the owner in this photo.  No, wait a minute, you can't because he's hiding behind Benito, trembling, and passive-aggressively, too.

There was also a closeted teenager who kept backing into me.  Crazily enough, trying to impress the women who worked there. When you're living that way, hiding who you are from the world, and causing other people problems because of that, maybe you aren't living an upright life, meaning be honest about who you are, it's 2011, not fickin' 1951.  And second, intentional, unwanted and repeated physical contact is harassment.

This particular Jimmy Johns owner has a bad habit of making agreements with employees, and breaking them whenever its convenient.  While he advertises set schedules, nothing could be further from the truth.  He breaks schedules and hides behind Benito to do it.

There is no such thing as "set schedules" at the Kenwood Jimmy Johns. They claim that in their advertising. Your schedule will change. What they mean by set schedules is "we'll set it any way we like." It's bogus. It is a totally misleading statement.

I also never had a correct paycheck.  It was obvious that hours were being shorted.

There was never any attempt made in the time that I was there to promote the night business, ever.  The owner's motivation was lunch only.

The owner has no respect for your time.  He wants a free option on your time.  One day, after a huge snowstorm, I spent 45 minutes clearing my car out of the snow, only to be told that I had to leave because there would be no business tonight.  It's nice to see at this company commitment is rewarded.

If you are considering working as a manager for this owner, don't.  The pay is bad and the owner will make unreasonable hourly demands on you, and give you rediculous hourly employee cost expectations, while at the same time over-staffing his shifts (he will not maintain the same standards as he expects from you, a sure tip-off of a bad owner.).

And, who can forget the security camera all over the place.  Clearly an element of the owner's paranoia.  Cameras are set up to watch employees, not customers. I guess when he's trying to rip-off everyone, he thinks everyone is trying to rip-off him.  Funny, his camera's never caught me being harrassed.

It is amazing what the owner thinks of people who help him make money.  Then again, he isn't creating valuable jobs for the economy, either.  Nor  a positive work environment.


Now, the weirdest conversation I ever had with the owner.  This proved to me that he was creepy.

Owner:  Hey, have you ever been to ShadowBox Cabaret?

Me:       No I haven't, but I understand it's really popular.  I have had friends who have gone there.

Owner:  You know, uh, because, uh, in Chicago, whenever they use the word "cabaret" it's gay.

Me:        It's not.  It's kinda like Saturday Night Live.  The actors are also servers---

Owner:  Yea, cause when it's cabaret, it's always gay.

Me:        It's like Saturday Night Live.

Owner:  Do you know where any gay bars are around here?

Me:        (Pausing because I can't believe the shit I'm hearing.  I mean, Jesus, this guy is married and just had a baby and...  wait a second.  Most things aren't as they seem...)

Owner:   And don't say (using a comical voice) I don't know where any are because I'm not gay ha ha ha.

Me:         I know where most of them are, I used to be a cab driver.  I know where just about everything is.

Owner:   Are there any around here?

Me:        (Pausing again because this guy is clearly confused on some level.  Doesn't he know about the internet?)

Owner:   You know.  'round here?

Me:        None around here.

Owner:   Where?

Me:        (You've got to be kidding me.  Ask someone else.)  Downtown or Northside.

Owner:   Which is closer?

Me:        Downtown.

Owner:   OK thanks

Me:        (Thank the gods this conversation is over.)
_______________


The final straw for me is when Benito reduced driver reimbursement on deliveries from an already pathetic 5% (which is sadly average for Jimmy Johns) to 2%, for selected drivers.  Benito and the owners's rationalization?  The drivers who were good at getting tips were singled out for this reduction in reumbursement.  I see, so they wanted to steal my earnings ability?  The funny thing is that the owner nor Benito bothered to tell anyone about it.  They just tried to sneak it by me and other drivers in gutless fasion.  Wimps.

Benito had a terrible case of "Driver Envy."  Driver Envy is the the hatred of the earnings and job of a delivery driver.  He doesn't want it for himself, because he want to the advantages of management, so he conveniently forgets the decision that he made to manage.

How was the owner able to get Benito to work as a manager for such low pay?  He promised him a pie in the sky deal.  He told him that if he came to work for him, he'd promote him to area manager when he had a few stores under his belt.  The chance of that happening is about zero.  Why in the world would the owner pay anyone to work for what he could do in a few hours a couple of couple of days a week?  Another blistering reality that should have hit Benito was when the Blue Ash Jimmy Johns opened.  The owner will never need anybody except managers to work in the Jimmy Johns themselves.  Don't feel sorry for Benito, he'll have to live and learn.  And besides, he's kind of a gutless wonder, anyway.

Now for the most interesting part of working at the Kenwood Jimmy Johns.  Both the owner and Benito told all the staff that the owner opened up the Kenwood Jimmy Johns after he disolved a partnership that owned another Jimmy Johns.

Complete BS!

Right after starting to work at Clifton, I was informed by a manager that the owner actually worked for the corporation that owns the Clifton Jimmy Johns.

This would explain why the owner holds a grudge against the Clifton Jimmy Johns.  He refuses to give out the Clifton Jimmy Johns phone number!

Do you think that the owner of the Kenwood Jimmy Johns has a little bit of a deceit problem?

I wonder.  Let me just put it this way.  If you work here you will be screwed around, underpaid,  be shorted on your paychecks. and won't make any tips due to the low level of business.

More to come...