The Other America: Closing Doors?
Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.
When I first reached Glen Meert on the telephone a few weeks' ago, I knew he'd make for a strong character to profile in the piece. I had cold-called him, looking to tell the story of a struggling business in a town that, itself, is struggling due to soaring unemployment rates. He sounded like a compassionate business owner who was just hoping that his business might survive and he was willing to let us document this difficult time. During our early conversations he admitted me that he knew he wasn't going to be able to stay open much longer and was heartbroken to have to tell his employees.
Glenn said that he'd plan to tell his employees that he couldn't stay open in about a week and said that he'd be willing to let us be "flies on the wall" – recording the meeting where he broke the news to his staff.
Producer Alberto Moya and I got to the Dakota Restaurant a few days before the planned announcement and spent some time getting to know the staff. It was tough to know that this announcement was coming and to hear from the staff how lucky they felt to work for Glen – and simply to have a job.
It was interesting to watch Glenn as our days together progressed. He broke the news to me in a sit-down interview at his house that he'd decided to stay open – even though it'd cost him eight to ten thousand dollars to do so – because he felt that he couldn't let his employees down by closing the doors without giving them some time to look for work.
"That would be like punching them in the nose," he told me while we were sitting together in his backyard.
But, he said, he was giving himself a timeline. Thirty days. If in 30 days things didn't turn around for the business (he mused that it would take a "miracle") he'd have to close his doors. He acknowledged that even a thirty-day "cushion" wouldn't be much time for his employees to find other work. This sentiment was certainly echoed in the meeting that would come the next day.
Last Saturday morning, after the breakfast diners left, Glen assembled his remaining employees (he already had to lay-off a number of them a few weeks ago). He told them that they should "start looking for other jobs" and that "if business doesn't improve" he'd be forced to close in 30 days. A stunned staff watched on; there were tears … questions … and concerns. But they all let our cameras keep rolling.
When the meeting was over, I went around the table and talked to each of these employees and listened to their stories (we were only able to use a tiny fraction of this on the CBS Evening News piece). It seems that each of them was already hanging on by a frayed thread, which now felt like it was getting cut.
This stories go on an on, each of them seemingly more heartbreaking then the one before.
What astounded me was that they were all willing to let us stick a camera in their face at this difficult moment because they each felt that it was important to get a message to the new president, the politicians in D.C. and those in their own city and state, to let them know how Americans are really struggling.
It reminds me of the old "if a tree falls in the forest…" cliché. The reality is that there are many, many Dakota Restaurants out there across America – many people who worry about their jobs and wonder how they'll pay their bills.
As I work on these stories I wonder about the sense of powerlessness that the viewers watching this piece may feel. Believe me, as I sit in places like the Dakota Restaurant, I sometimes feel quite powerless myself. What can we do? We all have our own struggles, and you can't help everyone. Amid it all - I think there's value in knowing how others are living, the choices they're making, and the struggles they endure. There is also something incredibly inspiring about the spirit of Americans. After the employees of the Dakota Restaurant heard this tough news – that they soon may be out of work – they thanked their boss Glen for caring and they each went right back to work. After all, the few customers walking in the door for lunch deserved the best service possible.
