Chef Dave
04-01-2008, 06:57 AM
Our restaurant has suffered its first known theft of product for the school year. I am sorry to say that due to the timing of the incident, the probable culprit is a third period culinary arts student.
The theft itself is no biggie. We lsot 15 freshly baked chocolate chip cookies which had been wrapped in groups of three for sale in our student operated restaurant.
The restaurant was closed yesterday as Monday is always an academic instruction day.
The only students who had access to the restaurant were culinary arts students. One of the fringe benefits of being a culinary arts student is that we offer these students complimentary beverages provided they use plastic cups and provided they wash these plastic cups.
After hearing about the theft, our resource officer wanted to haul all of the kids into his office to search them. I thought this was overkill and talked him out of it - primarily because of the PR nightmare that might ensue over the relatively trivial loss of a handful of cookies.
I will be telling the students that I am aware that this happened. I certainly don't want whoever did this torationalize the theft ... because if this happens and this person becomes accustomed to "self help" techniques ... and if this person gets caught "in the real world" doing this at his/her place of employment ... the consequences will be far stronger than a disappointed chef instructor.
The resource officer will tell the class about the real world consequences for theft. Our building administrator will tell them about in-school consequences for theft. I will be restricting their drink privileges indefinitely ...
:(
Sad to say that pilferage is not uncommon in the restaurant industry. One of the major problems with food costs is pilferage. Line cooks sometimes "accidentally" make an extra steak and shrimp dinner that they "dispose of" by eating. In worst case scenarios, employees take "trash" out to the dumpster when they're really stealing shrimp, lobster tails, prime rib, and other expensive products.
Last week my counterpart in a neighboring school district came to visit me. She was fifteen minutes late because she caught a culinary arts student in her restaurant's dry good storage room filling his book bag with juice boxes.
His excuse?
"But I only took ten!"
I will have to find out how she handled the theft. I know she was reluctant to turn the student over to the district resource officer ... but theft cannot go unpunished if for no other reason than the fact that students must understand that there will be consequences for this sort of behavior.
The theft itself is no biggie. We lsot 15 freshly baked chocolate chip cookies which had been wrapped in groups of three for sale in our student operated restaurant.
The restaurant was closed yesterday as Monday is always an academic instruction day.
The only students who had access to the restaurant were culinary arts students. One of the fringe benefits of being a culinary arts student is that we offer these students complimentary beverages provided they use plastic cups and provided they wash these plastic cups.
After hearing about the theft, our resource officer wanted to haul all of the kids into his office to search them. I thought this was overkill and talked him out of it - primarily because of the PR nightmare that might ensue over the relatively trivial loss of a handful of cookies.
I will be telling the students that I am aware that this happened. I certainly don't want whoever did this torationalize the theft ... because if this happens and this person becomes accustomed to "self help" techniques ... and if this person gets caught "in the real world" doing this at his/her place of employment ... the consequences will be far stronger than a disappointed chef instructor.
The resource officer will tell the class about the real world consequences for theft. Our building administrator will tell them about in-school consequences for theft. I will be restricting their drink privileges indefinitely ...
:(
Sad to say that pilferage is not uncommon in the restaurant industry. One of the major problems with food costs is pilferage. Line cooks sometimes "accidentally" make an extra steak and shrimp dinner that they "dispose of" by eating. In worst case scenarios, employees take "trash" out to the dumpster when they're really stealing shrimp, lobster tails, prime rib, and other expensive products.
Last week my counterpart in a neighboring school district came to visit me. She was fifteen minutes late because she caught a culinary arts student in her restaurant's dry good storage room filling his book bag with juice boxes.
His excuse?
"But I only took ten!"
I will have to find out how she handled the theft. I know she was reluctant to turn the student over to the district resource officer ... but theft cannot go unpunished if for no other reason than the fact that students must understand that there will be consequences for this sort of behavior.