My photographs from different Restaurants in Illinois & Florida
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Denny's Restaurant, 1 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables
It was summer of 1999 & one afternoon, I was leaving for work at about 2.00 pm & discovered that my Jeep was missing from my lot. I was shocked and puzzled as to who do that to me ? I was still relatively new in Miami ( 1 1/2 yrs ) and had no close friends or acquaintances. My 1st job was waiting tables at 'SAKHI'S Resturant' on Dixie Highway/SW 144th Street. I quit that restaurant in Sep' 98 (business was slow), but in good friendly terms with the Greek owners / managers. I started working at Denny's Restaurant, around December 1998. The managers were all Pakistani's and I tried my best to respect them & avoid any India-Pakistan political conversations. The Pakistanis would always refer to myself as being 'theirs' to guests & employees. I never cared about all that. But one day, a guest got into a conversation with me about India. He had just returned from India & was a regular devotee of a Hindu temple. He asked me if I was a Hindu & I said yes, a full-blooded Hindu from both my parents side upto 4 generations ! We talked a little bit about Indian history. The Pakistanis heard it & somehow were not comfortable, I could tell ! Later on after few months, I applied for a Management trainee position. I told them that I have a Bachelors degree in Business Administration & was very interested in becoming a manager and move along in the business community. I went through their training program for 16 weeks & after that they offered me an hourly 'Unit-Aide' (Shift-supervisor) position. I asked for a regular salaried assistant-manager position, (as I was making more in tips as waiter), but they said that position comes from corporate-office. After that, they hired 2 new asst. managers. These Pakistanis were senior managers & could have easily hired me. I felt frustrated (I said to myself, that there was no way I could become a manager, in a place where the Pakistani's had seniority in management) I also realized, that just because I made it official to guests & fellow-workers, that I was not Islamic, that I lost their interest in myself. Besides, I never talked about India or my Hindu heritage just for no reason. Only when people would enquire, I would talk the plain truth ! I tried my best, to get along with them & respect them as well. But I just could not really kiss their 'arnse' and act as if I was Islamic & agree that Pakistan was right on every issue. My Jeep was stolen a few weeks after ! That summer in May' 99, a small skirmish broke out in the Kashmir Himalayas. Pakistani troops came across into Indian territory & Indian troops pushed them back into Pakistani territory. Some guests asked me some questions about the war & Kashmir. I just told them the plain truth ! Pakistanis never liked that. No way, will I admit to anybody, that the Pakistanis were justified & India was wrong. I had a little bit of a cold stare/arguement with one of the Pakistani managers who furiously stated that a Pakistani civilian plane was shot down by IAF jets, as it was flying close to the border. I just said that there is a small war going on; things like that happen sometime. The manager happened to be Mr Ayub Ansari. (He had told me earlier, that he had a Masters degree from Pakistan). But he was really pissed off & just told me to clock out & go home! I really hated that. I clocked out & left immediately after that! I was never, ever going to work for a Pakistani again. I would never seek work in any company, where a Pakistani would be my senior-manager !! Miami is the only place in the entire world, where I have ever worked with a Pakistani. But it was a necessity as I was not getting hired anywhere else ! Practically all the Pakistanis I met, claimed to have a Bachelors or Masters degree from a Pakistani University I applied to another Denny's Restaurant on Dixie Highway/SW 104th Street. I talked with a latino manager & he hired me. There were no Pakistani's employed there. I started working & after a month, one of the Pakistani managers (Mr Kwajah Ahmed), dropped in & said that he was a District-manager for this franchise owned by a local Dominican Republican national Mr Alfonzo. The Pakistanis had found me. Only later did I realize, that the Pakistanis control the chain of Denny's Restaurant in South Florida. They are all employed by Dennys in large numbers as Managers, cooks & waiters. Denny's Restaurant is their family ! Mr Ahmed seemed like a nice gentleman & he was the only Pakistani of the entire lot, that I liked ! He tried to treat me as an equal & had no air in him like the rest. But even he wanted me to kiss his arnse, before he would make an effort to do anything for me ! He told me one day, that he never wanted me to be a waiter anymore at that store. Instead, he wanted me to be a Asst. Manager at another store belonging to Mr Alfonzo in Marathon, Florida. I told him that location was far, practically in Key West, Florida. There was no way, that I could live in Miami & commute back & forth. Besides, I was planning to start Graduate school at Florida International University and work on my long awaited Masters Degree. We drove down to Key West to take a look at the Restaurant, but there was no suitable apartment for me to rent, besides I would not be able to afford it on the salary offered. So I declined. However, I asked him to get me that job in Miami somewhere, but he declined, stating that it was unavailable ! I worked at that store with (Mr Robert, Ms Linda & Mr Victor) the other managers & Mr Ahmed the District Manager. Later on, Victor cut my hours from 40 to 30, for no reason. I politely protested, indicating that I had bills, but he refused, so I quit & applied at another Denny's Restaurant on Kendall Avenue. Mr Alfonzo, the owner, called me the day after insisting that I don't quit. I told him that Victor was just being rude & hard to get along & hence I was quitting & going to work at Kendall Denny's. Mr Alfonzo, pleaded with me not to quit & guaranteed that I would get my extra hours back. I told him that I had already applied & was accepted at Kendall. Mr Alfonzo told me that Mr Muhammad works at Kendall & does not want you to work with him. I told him that I had applied & talked with a Cuban manager & never saw any Pakistanis at that store. I thanked Mr Alfozo, and said I was sorry & that I would contact him, if I needed him ! Mr Alfonzo was a nice gentleman & I rarely got to see him When I started at Kendall, a Cuban manager had hired me & I never saw any Pakistanis in the store, otherwise I would have applied at another store. My entire first two days at Denny's, I did not notice any Pakistani employees. The 3rd day, I saw 3 Pakistani managers (Mr Muhammad/ Mr Ali/ Mr Ramone) on the floor & the Cuban manager who had hired me was not there anymore. It was as if he had quit ! To my dismay, the Pakistanis had found me again ! I worked at the Kendall store for 4 years. But that is another story ! I have a lot to tell from my experiences at the Kendall store ! Darn !