skysurfer.media

Edit: 09/25
As I’m organizing this site, I’m including this copy of a letter to OLCC though it seems out of place. In context, there was a direct connection to the eavesdroppers in my home and the old Ruby Tuesdays, though I never did find out what that was all about. This may be related to whatever I was forced to sign in that apartment in Philomath so many years ago. Some added clarification – the person who represented himself as the manager and called me at home did not actually work there. The actual manager officially welcomed me, though police did get involved and I am clearly not wanted there by regular customers. After putting up with threats and harassment, I bought a TV and I just watch football at home now. After telephone discussions with the OLCC and Police, the drug dealing, gambling, and drinking on the job got better at Benchwarmers and these days they seem to be getting customers again, not just the same group of addicts running the place. I would not have reported this restaurant just because of personal issues, but in this case I thought they needed to get their act together for the safety of the community. What was a family restaurant with a nice bar had become a dive bar complete with drug deals and cops busting people in the parking lot. I’d had enough the day I learned the cook had just one piece of lettuce he was saving for a salad, so he was unable to make a BLT. These days, I make an occasional delivery from there, but they lost my business a long time ago.

Original Post:

Benchwarmer’s has a dubious history and it deserves mention here for background on the incident that occurred yesterday evening.  I was a semi-regular there years ago when the restaurant was Ruby Tuesday’s.  That became RT’s which then became RoundTable (also RT’s) Pizza for a short bit before becoming Benchwarmer’s.  Because of other circumstances in my life involving identity theft and fraud, I later reported this to the local Sheriff as being suspicious and possibly related.  I have rarely been a customer since Ruby Tuesday’s closed for this reason, and I never heard anything back from law enforcement.  I do not know if the current owner had anything to do with RT’s or if there are any extenuating legal issues concerning me.
Recently, I started to look for a place to watch the NFL playoffs and I’ve gone to Benchwarmer’s a few times with mixed results.  The menu is reasonably priced but it’s mediocre food and the portions are small.  They are home to multiple ghost kitchens which I’m not supportive of, and I’ve started working as a DoorDash driver in the last year so I’ve dealt with the kitchen directly on many occasions – and they have problems.
One Sunday this last season, I saw the kitchen send out a BLT without any lettuce or tomato.  The cook looked drugged out and they ‘remade’ the sandwich which took another 20 minutes.  Neither that customer nor myself were getting any help from the bartender who kept going out to her car to smoke something.  A regular customer and (I think) an employee of the County was there pacing back and forth calling the bartender a stupid bitch and he kept glaring at me.  I only ordered coffee with cream and sugar that day and it was a big problem for them to find the milk – I got one refill after halftime and left.  Subsequently, there were more than a few drug related calls to police at that address and I looked for other places to watch football.
Benchwarmer’s is one of the two closest restaurants to my house, and as the playoffs continue it’s the only one with any seating on a busy day (and there’s plenty).  So, I have gone back recently and I was happy to find that both the food and the service had somewhat improved.  They made sure to have non-alcoholic beer for me which had been a problem in the past, and the staff was accommodating.  Some of the same employees are there, but there’s clearly been a turnover.  I don’t think they’re under new management, but it seemed they were getting it together.  And there’s one waitress who’s especially nice, and very professional.
Two days ago, however, I went there to watch the second half of a game and I watched as the manager and his friend (maybe another employee) kept going back and forth from the bar to the lottery room and it was obvious they were drinking and gambling on the job.  If they were not working, it was not clear.  I have a lifetime of restaurant experience and I know how much of a problem this can become.  I’ve been sober for almost ten years now and this is a big part of my complaint.   All the same, the food and the service were decent, and the waitress was amazing.  I introduced myself and learned her name is Shayla, we both said ‘nice to meet you’, and I left.

Yesterday evening, I was back to watch the game and it was the same situation with the same two guys, but with a few more people in the restaurant.  This time, the manager was tending bar and his friend was just socializing with the tables, really not clear if he works there.  But they were drinking and talking shit, and I didn’t like the energy, didn’t feel welcome.  Shayla had served me, but things were busy for that place and having been a server for so many years myself, I don’t socialize with employees while they’re on the job, anyway.  I only had two root beers and the game was such a landslide, I decided to leave.  After I paid and before I left, I wrote my phone number on a napkin and I told the waitress I’d love to get together with her outside of work.  She said thank you, smiled, and took my number.  I don’t think this was inappropriate.  But this is where my complaint really begins.

After I had been home for an hour, I got a phone call from the bartender at Benchwarmer’s who identified himself as Michael Ignacio.  He was drunk and literally yelled at me for ‘sexual harassment’, telling me I was never to show my face down at Benchwarmer’s again or they’d call the cops – then he invited me to come down and see the video evidence of my writing my phone number on a napkin.  For the record, I have never touched the waitress and never even given her a compliment.  She’s beautiful, and I’m sure I’m not the first person to offer her my number, but I don’t think she’s accusing me of doing anything wrong.  And I’m sure there must be more direct flirtations on a regular basis, though I doubt others have been banned for them.  It is a bar we’re talking about.  I complained that, in fact, I was the one getting harrassed and I called the police about this.  They told me that what I described was being trespassed and advised me to not go back.

Fine, I know where I’m not wanted.  I don’t seem to be getting any DoorDash orders from there, either.  I don’t deserve this.  I suspect you’ve had other complaints about this business, and while I don’t intend to return, I’m writing this in my defense socially and for your records.  As I mentioned at the start, this business may be involved in a legal situation that should have nothing to do with social issues.  As well, your mission to enforce regulations is separate from any civil case I may have in the future.  So, with the writing of this letter, I’m walking away from the situation at Benchwarmer’s, though this may be used for reference in a future legal action.  The circumstances I’m dealing with far exceed one person or business.  I’m also sharing a copy of this complaint with the Better Business Bureau for the same reasons, that I hope this business will become a community establishment where everyone in the community may feel welcome.

Thank you for taking the time to read so many words, and let me know if you need any further information.

Indigo Michaud (541) 286 8551