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Why Captain Lee Wanted to Part Ways with Ben
"Had I been there and witnessed it, as soon as the charter was over, Ben would have received a plane ticket out of there."
I don’t know where to start with this. First off, I must say I am embarrassed by some of the behavior of my crew. I offer my apologies to our guests. They deserved better. No matter what your beliefs about mediums or the hereafter are, or how anyone may or may not communicate with them, your opinion as crew does not matter. I would never voice my opinions to them even if I didn’t agree with their beliefs. You need to be neutral as charter crew. Anything less is not acceptable. I found some of my crew’s behavior arrogant and condescending, and totally unacceptable. The guests had their beliefs and were willing to share them, and they didn’t need to be judged. They are our guests and should be treated accordingly. Some of you may find issues with my feelings, but I treated the guests with the respect they deserved and in no way tried to humiliate them, as everyone is entitled to their beliefs and should not be ridiculed for that. As everyone knows, when you invite me to dinner, what you see is what you get. I’m not going to change me to suit you, but I am not going to do anything to embarrass you at all. We are breaking bread together and there is a sanctity there that should be respected. I thought the guests were great and appreciated their viewpoints, so thanks for being so gracious about it.
Now on to my crew. I must say, their behavior was less than stellar once again. I have received posts on social media as to why I am so hard on the crew. Well, there you have it. It should be relatively obvious as to why I am unhappy, so let’s just move down the line shall we.
Lauren, where in the world do you get off as a junior deckhand making demands on anyone in front of senior staff? The overheated panini maker was a direct result of you demanding a grilled cheese at an hour when you should have taken your drunken ass to bed. Then you descend on the pizza, and in your drunkenness you don’t realize that you are leaving a trail of it up to my wheelhouse. And then in the aftermath you think that because you didn’t know it since you were drunk, you have a “what’s the big deal?” attitude. This behavior is unacceptable in my book. Anytime you would like to chat about this is totally acceptable to me.
Nico, in what world would you defend someone who didn’t secure a line and let the pool float away? You need to be a part of that “functional deck crew” as you put it. Maybe if it was lost and came out of your paycheck, you may feel differently. Kelley didn’t defend him because he was wrong. I called him on it, and where do you as junior deckhand get off questioning me? Kelley was not even on board at the time. I stood on the aft bridge deck and watched it all unfold. Lines were not tied properly. We all knew it, but you wanted to undermine Kelley even though Kyle was at fault. You did well with the panini maker, well done, but to stand up for Kyle when he clearly messed up is indefensible. Kelley tried to let you know that you guys were screwing up left and right, and he was taking all the heat for your lack of competence, and you tossed him under the buss with Kyle. Misplaced sense of loyalties as far as I can see.
Kyle, I really don’t care about how many babies you have, whether you hook up with Sierra, with men, women, or both. I do care about how you do your job and interact with the guests. It’s not about you and your history, or where you live or lived or your story. Trust me when I tell you, you are not the sole driver in how much tip we get. If you think you are the sole driver of our tips, you are sadly mistaken. Don’t overinflate your own self-worth. The guests are there to enjoy their vacation, not to hear about you. You were responsible for the pool floating away and yet you took no responsibility for it and let Nico stand up for your failure to do your job. To say the least I’m disappointed. And by the way, get over Sierra, she wasn’t into you and it sounds like you already have someone waiting back home, so get over yourself.
Kelley, you have not had it easy, but I am not quitting on you. You are finding out that when you try to be a friend and a boss it doesn’t always work out. You can be friendly but not always friends. Our chat in the wheelhouse you took well, and then you called a meeting with your staff to present your concerns. You started out the meeting with giving them praise, which had it been me, would not have happened, but I commend you for doing so and taking the high road. Their actions have so far have been weighed, measured, and found wanting and you are paying the price. I hope they take what you are saying seriously, but I fear that is not the case. I do commend you for trying to do the right thing. You are not without culpability here, as I told you that bosses and friends must have borders, and so far you do not want to put those in place. It may be a lesson that will be painful to learn.
Kate, I was not pleased with your confrontation with Ben in the galley. You needed to rise above that as it was not the time, nor the place. It’s something I feel you knew after the fact. I also thought that when you had you conversation with Kelley, that it should not have happened in the presence of Ben. He had nothing to do with this department at all and it was none of his business. The behavior of the crew towards you as a department head was inexcusable in my opinion. This crew lacks respect for the authority of their superiors. A lesson is coming I’m sure. I thought you handled the guests well and I felt that Ben was overcompensating. Trying to make Emily believe that he and you had nothing going on, and I thought he took that to the extreme. Unprofessional at best, I didn’t have a good feeling that the two of them could keep the relationship out of the work place. I think I’m right here. I also thought that you handled your reading with class and dignity, unlike Ben when he barged in on Emily’s reading.
Ben, what in the world am I ever going to do with you? Your job is to prepare exquisite meals for guests that pay a great deal of money to eat them. And you do that so well. Does it really make a difference whether they call it brunch or breakfast? They are eating at different times. It’s not easy on anyone, but you seem to be the only one with your nose out of joint on what it’s called. Please stop with the nit picking. You are a brilliant chef. But your personal life and opinions have no place here.
Nor do your arrogant, condescending attitudes towards our guests. You may express your opinions to Emily or anyone else in private about our guests, I can’t prevent that, but to set out to deliberately humiliate a client and embarrass her intentionally was so over the line. Had I been there and witnessed it, as soon as the charter was over, you would have received a plane ticket out of there. Totally unacceptable behavior from a senior crew member who is there to serve at the clients’ pleasure (clients who by the way pay us). Such arrogance and condescension was appalling to witness. Not just Ben being Bennie and doing what Bennie does, you were just plain obnoxious and rude period. Especially after she didn’t think you and Em had a future. Then you not only wanted to embarrass her, you put Em on the spot to help you do it. No excuse, and if I see it again personally, we will part company. Under no circumstance do you set out to deliberately humiliate a guest and get away with it on my boat. And by the way Ben, I don’t always have advance notice when the weather is going pear shaped. Anytime you feel that you can do my job better than me, I will gladly step aside a let you have at it. So whenever you feel froggy, you go ahead and take that leap. I will be more than happy to acquiesce to your expertise in the wheelhouse.
That being said, Emily, what were you thinking telling Ben that you didn’t think his behavior was out of line? By any sense of decorum, it was wrong and for you to condone it left me astounded. We are there to serve, and make people happy, not to judge and prove our point on what we do and don’t believe. Shame on you for feeding the animals. You simply told him what you thought he wanted to hear, not the truth. I’m disappointed. I really hope that your relationship with Ben doesn’t cause problem, but I suppose it’s already too late for that, isn’t it?
Sierra, I thought for the most part you acquitted yourself quite well this week, managed to stay above the fray for the most part. I thought you had a good week.
So that’s my take on this week, sports fans. I’m probably not going to be very popular, but I didn’t take this job to win popularity contests. I have a yacht to run properly, and I will do my utmost to see that it is done that way. So until the next time may the wind be at your backs, my friends, and may you have calm, smooth waters beneath your keel.
