Edgewater Hotel Sign Comes Down
The Art of Not Knowing
If You Tweet It, He Will Come
Historicist: "The city that nobody loves"
The Daily Photoist: November 20, 2009
The Rogers Centre is beginning to show its age—yet despite its advancing years, it's still lacking what we'd call "authentic" ballpark atmosphere. Which is probably inevitable, since the Stadium Formerly Known as SkyDome is a sorta-generic, poured-concrete monstrosity with a cool-looking ceiling; when compared with some of baseball's classic stadiums, its shortcomings are plainly evident.
Given the circumstances, the Rogers Centre's employees are vital to making a baseball game in Toronto a more enjoyable experience. One of them is a beer vendor named Wayne McMahon. If you've ever watched a baseball game from the 100-level, then you've almost certainly encountered McMahon: he's the greying, sixty-one year-old vendor who practically hisses the phrase, "IIIIICE! COOOOOLD! BEEEEEEEEERRR!" But McMahon is more than an old dude with his own spin on an age-old catchphrase: he's also a genuinely nice guy. Meet him twice, and he'll remember you forever; we know this because...uh, let's just say we know this because, okay?
Last week, however, McMahon was fired from for allegedly failing to ID a twenty-two year-old customer who turned out to be a mystery shopper. As he explained (albeit somewhat ungrammatically) in his Facebook group, "This person was seating [sic] 16 seets from the Isle and it was one of the Isle people that told me to send him the two beer." Something about this seems not quite right. We know the Rogers Centre beer vendors are supposed to ID anyone who looks thirty years of age or younger...but really, is there that much difference between twenty-two and thirty these days? Besides, the buyer was actually of age. We don't pretend to know all the relevant facts, but we suspect there's more to the story than meets the eye.
McMahon's firing occurred sometime last week; last Saturday it was actually covered in (of all places) the Arts section of The Globe and Mail. Meanwhile, the campaign to get him reinstated is well underway. A Facebook group, one of the surest signs of political engagement circa 2008, has over 2,000 members; its administrators are planning on delivering it, old skool petition-style, to Aramark, the organization which runs Rogers Centre concessions. McMahon himself appeared on MTV Canada yesterday to plead his case. That a beer vendor for a local sports team could turn into a cause célèbre might seem strange—but we would argue it's also testament to a fan base which is in search of something real. Until Aramark in general and the Toronto Blue Jays in particular come to grips with this fact, they're dooming baseball fans to a second-class experience. Who's next? The drummer?
Photo by Andrea Kremer.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
As much as I support the cause of rehiring Wayne, I call bullshit on Torontoist for not giving credit to Drunk Jays Fans (drunkjaysfans.blogspot.com) for highlighting this issue last week on their site as well as their podcast on the Score.
They were the ones who first flagged this screwed up Aramark decision and nobody has so far given them the credit.
Move over Don Pardo, MTV Canada is making McMahon they're announcer tonight.
I learned about McMahon's firing from a friend of mine. I seldom visit DJF, and I've never listened to their podcast.
two beers !
I worked at the Skydome for over two years as a beerseller, and I can tell you firsthand that not only does Wayne MacMahon not deserve his job back, he is also a bit of a jerk.
First of all: Aramark/Sportservice has VERY strict, but perfectly clear policies. If you are caught not IDing someone under 30, you will be fired. If you serve more than one beer to one person, you will be fired. It doesn't matter who you are, or how long you've worked there. Follow the rules, and you keep your job. Don't, and not only are you breaking the law, you are putting ARAMARK in jeopardy (something anyone who follows the news would know Aramark does not need more of). He knew the rules perfectly well, and broke TWO actionable rules simultaneously. He even wears a huge round button (perfectly readable from the middle of a row) that clearly says, "WE ID UNDER 30". It's also well-known that there are secret shoppers at almost every game nowadays.
Sorry Wayne, but you're fired.
Secondly, he really is a jerk. Sure, he may be good at his job and he may have been working there for years, but just because he'll serve you a beer if you ask, that doesn't mean he's a nice guy. He regularly yells at other sellers, FINDS reasons to "rat people out", and generally is a troublemaker to begin with. His not-so-affectionate nickname among the other sellers was "compWAYNE". I wouldn't be surprised if Aramark was looking for a reason to get rid of him anyway.
Once, after hearing me say "ice cold beer!" in a way that he deemed was too similar to his own, he literally screamed at me in the concourse area of the dome, things about how he had copyrighted and trademarked that phrase (ridiculous and untrue, not to mention impossible), and how he was famous, and would come to my house and kill me (no joke, he actually said that) if i continued to say it. Considerably shook up, I only loosened up a bit after another experienced seller (who saw the whole ordeal) let me in on his nickname, and explained that he was a shit disturber and etc etc, as mentioned above.
I have two friends who still work there, and I think the general consensus around the changeroom is not one of regret for his leaving, to say the least.