most common reason for letting an employee go?

[Robin Garr]

When I managed a local pizza delivery chain in Bloomington, IN...

GREAT story! Thanks for taking the time to share it.

That story reminds me of a pizza delivery that was made to our home in South Carolina a few years ago. When the driver arrived in our driveway our neighbors Labrador Retriever came bounding over to see what was going on. The delivery person was black and immediately became scared and started throwing pieces of the pizza to the dog. Needless to say the dog loved it and kept asking for more ended up getting the entire pizza.

When my wife called the store and talked to the manager he told her the driver reported that he had gotten attacked by a mad dog. When my wife quit laughing she calmly told him that the dog was as mild as a kitten. He said he would bring the replacement. When he did the Lab again came bounding over and politely sat waiting for his pizza! The manager had him on the head and brought the pizza to the door, apologized and told us the pizza was free and the driver would no longer be working for them.

After he left my wife gave the Lab a piece for being such a good dog!

We had a dishwasher call in before his shift to say he would be late because he was "in the middle of something".
Well, he showed up a couple of hours later totally wasted.
Us: "What were you in the middle of that made you 2 hours late?"
Dishwasher: "A bottle of Maker's."
Hey, at least he was honest. And unemployed.

The delivery person was black and immediately became scared and started throwing pieces of the pizza to the dog.

I'm sorry... I'm not trying to stir the pot, especially on what has otherwise been such an entertaining thread, but the modifier attached to the delivery person (clarifying his/her race) in the quoted post was not only unnecessary but also very offensive to me. While I'm sure that it was not intended this way, it implies that African Americans are either irrationally afraid of dogs, incompetent employees, or both.

Again, I'm sure this was completely unintentional, but I also know that this board prides itself on the civility of its discussions, so I simply couldn't let it go without saying something.

Lindsay, I agree totally. When I read it this morning I found the reference jarring and made a note to reply when I had more time. I am also sure that the remark was unintentional.

My favorite firing story involves a server who came in 30 minutes late to work on a St Patrick's Day. This was on 5th Ave in NYC where St P"s day is a rite of passage. She said the parade had held her up and then proceeded to upchuck a large volume of green beer all over the manager's shoes.
I tell this story every March 17th- you have been warned.