We have a standing "Help Wanted" ad.
We're forever hiring.
In the front of the house it's not so bad, maybe we go through a dozen waiters, then one of them stays a few months, moves on, the cycle begins again.
There were different issues with the waiters, a couple were obviously lazy, a few obviously incompetent, we had one that was sort of working out but decided to pursue another opportunity closer to home. You couldn't really blame him, although they did, there was a lot of loud name calling in the back, pettiness, squabbling over tips, the threatening of fisticuffs, it was embarassing to be near and so I just left....
We interview for his position.
There's a list of questions we should be asking - things like "Do you have any hobbies?" or "Do you have any outside interests or family members" because any of these things are signs they'll be leaving us. We're really looking for someone who'll be happy to work 5 and 6 days a week, 8 to 14 hours a day, for eternity.
An addictions problem would be nice, it'll help them to cope.
There's no end to applicants. One or two a day. They talk to us, the owner, have coffees, cappucinos, it's an informal interview, he trots out the Italian ladies in the back, they've been there for 20, thirty years, the waiters 10 and 20 years, they know a good thing when they see it, they're living proof of how great he is to work for, his easygoing temperment, maybe the new employee decides to try it out, shows up for a shift or two, then vanishes. They found it wasn't for them, decided to go back to school, discovered they were pregnant, tired, busy, the list of excuses is unending but the results are the same: sooner or later they don't come back.
Some never even make it in, confirm the job, when they'll be starting, then never show up.
In the kitchen it's the same. We've been hiring for a sous-chef as long as I've been there. They don't show up, or show up for a couple of shifts, call in sick, disappear. The record was not even2 weeks.
There are everywhere the proofs of the dead, the waiters and chefs that came and then left, old photographs on the wall, phonecalls, customer enquiries for staff long gone, automated doctors appointments calling the restaurant, mail comes to them c/o the restaurant but they're no longer here to collect it and they've left no forwarding address.
They are the disappeared.
There are more of them in this restaurant than there are in all of Chile or Argentina.
And the ad goes up again: "Help Wanted"...