Man drums himself right out of a job
A service station attendant scared the customers with his riffs, the manager says.
A Cedar Rapids service station attendant's penchant for "air drumming" has cost him his job.
Last summer, Christopher Garcia began working at the Hawkeye Downs Sinclair station and convenience store in Cedar Rapids.
Soon after he was hired, customers complained to store manager Judi Moorman that the 46-year-old Garcia was constantly playing an imaginary set of drums - using real drumsticks - while listening to music through headphones. Some of the customers reportedly said they were fearful of being struck by an errant drumstick during one of Garcia's air solos.
"My customers were feeling threatened by it," Moorman testified at a recent state hearing to determine whether Garcia was entitled to unemployment benefits. "They didn't feel comfortable that these sticks were flying around. And, you know, he would get rather close to people."
Moorman reviewed the store's security videotapes, which allegedly showed Garcia air drumming while behind the cash register and while moving about the store. She said Garcia was "very inattentive" while engaged in air drumming, and the store experienced an increase in shoplifting. She said that after Garcia ignored her warnings to keep his drumsticks at home, she decided to fire him.
Garcia testified at the hearing that his drumsticks went everywhere with him.
"I never go anywhere without my drumsticks," he said. "I guess the best way to put it - and it's going to sound silly - is that they're like my pacifier. I always have them in my hands. I do. I do."
Garcia said Monday that he has played drums since he was 5 years old.
"My drums are not a joke; they are a part of me," he said. "People used to come into the store and say, 'Dude, you're so good with those drumsticks.' "
An administrative law judge has denied Garcia's request for benefits, ruling that he committed job misconduct. Garcia is appealing that decision.
Dude... if you can't beat 'em... you get to keep your job.
I think I'm going to turn this article into some kind of assignment for my classes... now if only someone will write an article decrying "desk pounding", since that's what every boy in this school thinks they've got to do with their hands, fists, heads, feet, whatever is handy.
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As an aside, the germs have finally caught up with me. I've managed to remain healthy throughout the entire winter, and now find myself beset with a nasty cold. I'd stay home, but this week is parent-teacher conferences, so I don't really have a choice. Blech. My arms hurt... my neck hurts... my head hurts... my left eye that always gets weepy whenever I'm sick, well, it's weepy today. I went ahead and turned in my last assignments for my college class a day early because I just have a feeling I'm not going to want to be bothered with them tomorrow.
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