Community Chat

[Irshgrl31201]

---

@sabatini wrote:

---

@Irshgrl31201 wrote:

---

@sabatini wrote:

---

@nun ya wrote:

---

@Lila Belle wrote:
Opioid addiction is a horrible thing and more widespread than we can imagine. It can happen to anyone.

---

I totally agree. I used to judge, until it happened in my own family. 

Count me in.

My OP is that Prince was a drug addict. Pure and simple. Drug addicts have all kinds of excuses of why they're addicted. You will never meet better liars.

I used to be clueless about opiates, but slowly, about 5 or 6 years ago, all of that changed.

I'd been a restaurant manager for years, and began having difficulty staffing - and keeping staff. What was up? What was wrong? Even adult women (in their 50s!) were acting...strange.

At the time, I was living on the east coast, in a place that came to be known as one of the epicenters of opiate distribution and addiction. Unbeknown to me, I'd become surrounded by junkies.

At first I was sympathetic, empathetic, and tried to find help. I became an enabler, making excuses to management of why staff didn't show up, and horrors, why money was missing. It was awful.

There's a hierarchy amongst addicts. Percocet, oxy and fentanyl are 'classier' drugs - probably because they're the most expensive, so you've got to be a bit well-heeled to afford them. Those people tend to not think of themselves as lowly junkies. That's what Prince was purported to take.

Heroin is a big step down, but lowest on the totem pole are the scorned "junkboxes", addicts who'll take anything at all to get high.

But, I've seen people who have nothing & zero support, dig down deep and kick their habit, which is why I have no sympathy for Prince. He had the means to get help, and didn't. He also had the means to help others, and didn't.

---

---

@sabatini restaurant workers do seem to have more than their fair share of drug and alcohol abuse. I have a friend who is a restaurant manager at Bahama Breeze and she was telling me that opiates are a huge problem there right now. She has said the guy that sells them the opiates has actually been tresspassed there and if he shows up again he will be arrested. Crazy!

---

Yeah, restaurants have always had their share of substance abusers, though in the old days it was mainly alcohol and weed. Not today!

The quick money is too hard for addicts to pass up, and a restaurant is also an easy place to steal. Customers who'd leave money on the table w/ their check? Whoosh! It's gone. Tips left for other servers? Gone! And that's the small potatoes stuff, 'cause then we have credit cards....OMG.

It was a nightmare trying to protect guests and other employees from being victims.

After working in that field for almost 20 years, one day when it got really bad (the cooks in the kitchen were also a mess!), I walked out.

SO out of character, but I couldn't take it anymore. Put my house on the market, sold it and moved 3,000 miles away.

I still hear from some people, and quite a few servers have died from ODs. What a tragic mess.

Wasted youth.

---

@sabatini, yep! She is saying a lot of the same things you are saying. They were having a lot of theft, stealing from others and even servers adding tips onto checks in which they were left a tip, only they were adding more. Surprisingly many times customers don't always catch that especially if it is only a few dollars. Well she had one server that was caught adding on $15 (I think she said $15) to a bill. The customer called to complain and they caught it. When they went back to look they found more checks she had done that too, starting out smaller, with only a few dollars and then going up and up. They also had a server whose customers left money in the book covering the bill and tip. A different server took the money out of it. It was over $70. It is so stupid because she said there are cameras all over the place and they knew that night after reviewing the tapes which server it was. It goes to show what they will risk and how far they will go. It is sad. A lot of people who would never normally do such a thing are now doing stuff like that. 

I feel for you, that has to be frustrating. I was a server and tended bar for years when I first started out for extra money. It is good money too doing that and you are absolutely right, that quick money is even more attractive to people in that position. 

[sabatini]

@Irshgrl131201, that's EXACTLY what I'm saying. Same thing where I was. Your friend & I could compare notes!

Credit cards? They'd write down the #s, and use them to pay other guest's checks - IF those people paid w/ cash. So, they'd pocket the cash, and charge the bill to the stolen CCs. It blew my mind. They were creative and devious as hell!

Not to mention the money being stolen from my purse & from guests who'd had a few too many to notice.

With a smile, one addict pleasantly told me "Don't take it personally at all, OK? It's just a means to an end. That's all."

Crazy!  A nightmare, & the stress of it was killing me.

[JustJazzmom]

---

@Elvita wrote:

1. Prince was a health nut who did not use recreational drugs.

2. Prince had hip replacement surgery of both hips but was still in pain afterwards because he had bad ankle joints also.

---

He was in need of hip replacement surgery caused by years of him jumping off of amplifiers on stage with high heels. Hip surgery would have required blood being put aside or ordered for him in case of a need for a blood transfusion during the surgery. He refused the surgery because of his Jehovah Witness beliefs (no transfusions allowed) but I think you were aware of that Fireball.

Prince opted to use opioids to ease the hip pain. Sadly this killed him.

[Irshgrl31201]

---

@sabatini wrote:

@Irshgrl131201, that's EXACTLY what I'm saying. Same thing where I was. Your friend & I could compare notes!

Credit cards? They'd write down the #s, and use them to pay other guest's checks - IF those people paid w/ cash. So, they'd pocket the cash, and charge the bill to the stolen CCs. It blew my mind. They were creative and devious as hell!

Not to mention the money being stolen from my purse & from guests who'd had a few too many to notice.

With a smile, one addict pleasantly told me "Don't take it personally at all, OK? It's just a means to an end. That's all."

Crazy!  A nightmare, & the stress of it was killing me.

---

Oh my goodness! Wow, that credit card story is terrible. Much worse than I thought. It is amazing to me how devious people can be. I would never think of half of the ways to steal as they do. Necessity truly is the mother of invention! I am so sorry you had money stolen! So I take it you found out who it was that stole from you. What did you do? Did you press charges? Did you ever get it back?

[Irshgrl31201]

---

@JustJazzmom wrote:

---

@Elvita wrote:

1. Prince was a health nut who did not use recreational drugs.

2. Prince had hip replacement surgery of both hips but was still in pain afterwards because he had bad ankle joints also.

---

He was in need of hip replacement surgery caused by years of him jumping off of amplifiers on stage with high heels. Hip surgery would have required blood being put aside or ordered for him in case of a need for a blood transfusion during the surgery. He refused the surgery because of his Jehovah Witness beliefs (no transfusions allowed) but I think you were aware of that Fireball.

Prince opted to use opioids to ease the hip pain. Sadly this killed him.

---

I thought I read that he finally relented and had the surgery in 2010. Is that not so? Gosh, there are so many different "sources" it is hard to keep track. I will google and see if there is a semi reliable news source. lol!

[JustJazzmom]

Is the autopsy public record yet? It would indicate hip prostheses.

[sabatini]

ETA: @Irshgrl31201 

The servers who stole the CC numbers 'disappeared' shortly thereafter, though 2 were arrested at the next place they worked.

I knew who stole my money, & she too quit showing up for work. She's dead now.

The dealer? That's what did me in.

That'd be my very favorite waitress - the one I picked up every morning, and poured my guts out to. The one I thought of as a daughter.

Deceit, deceit, deceit. Ugh.

I used to love that job.

Have a good night!

BTW, I LOVE my life now! I pinch myself every day, and thank God for it.

 p.s. I've edited this post again, @Irshgrl31201 

About the stolen CC#s. It wasn't me (unfortunately) who finally figured it out.

I worked at a very large corporate place, but one day was paid a visit from a local restaurant owner. Her family had owned a well known family restaurant for years & years.

So, she asked me 'does so&so work here?', and when I said 'yes', she unloaded. Seems she'd been tracking that woman for some time, as she'd pulled the same thing at her place, and when caught, had disappeared. (Naturally, the server hadn't listed that place on her resume!)

The woman said that the scams had almost ruined her business! Angry customers who'd lost faith, not to mention the money she was out.

The server saw the woman talking to me and vamoosed, never to be seen again, & her cronies left w/ her.

Let's not talk about it anymore! Talk about derailing a thread.

G'night!

[Irshgrl31201]

---

@JustJazzmom wrote:

Is the autopsy public record yet? It would indicate hip prostheses.

---

I don't know but that is a great idea, would certainly be the definitive answer without question. I will look for that! Thank you!

[Irshgrl31201]

---

@sabatini wrote:

ETA: @@Irshgrl31201 

The servers who stole the CC numbers 'disappeared' shortly thereafter, though 2 were arrested at the next place they worked.

I knew who stole my money, & she too quit showing up for work. She's dead now.

The dealer? That's what did me in.

That'd be my very favorite waitress - the one I picked up every morning, and poured my guts out to. The one I thought of as a daughter.

Deceit, deceit, deceit. Ugh.

I used to love that job.

Have a good night!

BTW, I LOVE my life now! I pinch myself every day, and thank God for it.

 p.s. I've edited this post again, @@Irshgrl31201 

About the stolen CC#s. It wasn't me (unfortunately) who finally figured it out.

I worked at a very large corporate place, but one day was paid a visit from a local restaurant owner. Her family had owned a well known family restaurant for years & years.

So, she asked me 'does so&so work here?', and when I said 'yes', she unloaded. Seems she'd been tracking that woman for some time, as she'd pulled the same thing at her place, and when caught, had disappeared. (Naturally, the server hadn't listed that place on her resume!)

The woman said that the scams had almost ruined her business! Angry customers who'd lost faith, not to mention the money she was out.

The server saw the woman talking to me and vamoosed, never to be seen again, & her cronies left w/ her.

Let's not talk about it anymore! Talk about derailing a thread.

G'night!

---

Oh my goodness, that is terrible. It is such a waste, isn't it?

You certainly have been through it, haven't you? That is the worst that it is someone so close to you and you had no idea. I have heard this story before and it is always the same, someone that people would have never thought of. That is how insidious this disease and drug is. It is just so sad. I had an experience with a friend similar to this. Was the straightest arrow you had ever met. Had an excellent job working at the same company for ages. Had surgery, recovered and no one suspected. She hid it very well. Ended up draining her retirement account, which was VERY healthy and embezzled from her employer. They found out and and actually decided not to press charges but with stipulations. She went to a rehab and not just 30 or 90 days but a long intensive one. She looks like she has gotten her life back and things back on track but you just never know what can cause a slip. They say even successful addicts relapse several times before making it. She is paying her employer back and they really stuck by her because they believed in her. She got incredibly lucky. A felony would have ruined her. She and her husband had some tough times but look like they are making it. He is a great guy and has been very supportive but she knows this is it, with everyone. She is the very last person I would have ever expected but I hear that is what many say when they find out someone close to them does this. She was incredibly embarrassed, humiliated and remorseful. I hope she makes it and most of her friends are supporting her.

I think it is great that the restaurant owner came to you. We need to stick together in matters like that. How terrible it almost ruined her though. 

Yes we did have our own little conversation, VERY SORRY EVERYONE!! It was nice talking to you @sabatini though. It is depressing thinking about how many people this effects. Have a nice night!!

[Bird mama]

@JustJazzmom

MN law limits how much of an autopsy report is released to the public.  

The report indicated a scar on left hip and scar on lower right leg.  This leads me to think he may have had at least one hip replaced.