Wisconsin diner owner deals with staffing shortages, customer rudeness
WEST BEND, Wis. - Staffing shortages are everywhere – and they are frustrating. But before you lose your cool waiting in a restaurant or store, we learned how one West Bend business owner is responding to rudeness.
When you take a quick look at the dining room at Skinny Vic's, you will not notice anything unusual – at first. But take a closer look behind the scenes…
"This is it. This is what we have to deal on a day-to-day basis in order to feed them," said Vicky Lehnerz, owner of Skinny Vic's.
Vicky Lehnerz
Lehnerz's ideal staff number is eight. She is at four right now – which means the West Bend diner does not have enough cooks in the kitchen.
"I’m missing a host, I’m missing a busser, I’m missing a dishwasher. I’d love a manager that’d be great," Lehnerz said.
It is frustrating for the staff and customers. More and more, staff have felt inundated with rudeness – snide comments and customers snapped their fingers.
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"I decided to make a point about it plain and simply – and they don’t deserve to be treated like that. So I closed my doors," Lehnerz said.
Lehnerz decided it was time to show the customer is not always right. She closed Sunday citing disrespectful behavior towards her staff. Hundreds of people comments and shared her social media post.
"We should be able to show love and just be kind to one another especially hopefully seeing what we have to go through and how hard we really are working," Lehnerz said.
On Tuesday, March 15, the employees were back to work.
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"I just wish people could see that and understand that we’re all trying our best – and please be patient with us," said Crystal Grahn, an employee.
The restaurant, of course, is hiring. Learn more information if you are interested in applying.