We’re Getting A Sinking Feeling
Back before the Internet killed bookstores, I worked in the cafe in one. We had a small kitchen in the back, dominated by an oversized commercial sink. Below the sink was a grease trap, a box the drain water goes through to catch grease and prevent it from clogging the sewers. We were told that it was big enough to handle a greasy fast food restaurant. It took up the entire area below the enormous sink.
After the store had been open for a decade or more, the cast metal grease trap sprung a leak. It was full of congealed sewage inside, and it stunk. It wafted into customer areas, and we started baking trays of wet, cinnamon-covered paper towels to try and cover it up. It was reported to the store manager, and we dealt with the foul miasma for almost a month.
Corporate finally called in the approved maintenance service to replace it. The work was done overnight due to the stench that opening the trap would unleash.
The old grease trap was a hard-to-find size: low and wide to fit under that sink. Some corporate drone sourced a new trap of the same capacity, just narrower and taller. The techs installed it, and now the sink wouldn’t fit on top. Corporate was contacted, and they had the techs add extensions to the legs of the sink, raising it about eight inches. The techs were not happy with the final product, but it was the solution corporate wanted.
This raising of the sink creates problems that the staff encountered the following morning. Several employees couldn’t reach the bottom of the now too-tall sink. Our five-foot-tall sprite of a manager and I started doing dishes standing on a step stool — not an ideal or safe solution. The store manager was informed but took no action, as usual; she’s awful.
Weeks later, a district manager saw this stupid and dangerous situation and promised to fix it.
Corporate maintenance came again and built a platform in front of the sink. It was shiny and new, painted bright yellow for safety. Hooray! Those of us with T-Rex arms could reach the dishes again! This caused a new problem, though. The platform blocked access to the mop sink. The industrial mop bucket had to be lifted and carried across the platform, which some employees couldn’t manage due to the weight and sloshiness. Also, the gloss-painted top of the platform was dangerously slick when wet. There was a minor slip and fall due to it, and the store manager finally took it seriously.
Corporate was called again, and they sent out the maintenance team. They ripped out all their original work and installed a new grease trap that was a smaller capacity and fit properly. They lowered the sink to the original height, and all was now right in the world.
Corporate ineptitude cost the company several thousand dollars to rectify a problem that any non-plumber could have seen and prevented, and that was brought to their attention before the original job was completed.
