Maybe I am the worst employee ever, or maybe I’ve had the worst employers known in the history of Earth – you be the judge. I was once employed by the Copa Casino in Gulfport, Mississippi – one of the most freakish jobs I’ve ever had. It was for the most part a great place to work – the money was fantastic and the atmosphere was extremely fun. If you are a long time reader, you know I’ve had some bizarre experiences, which is one reason my horror and fiction stories are so freakish. I just had to share this experience with you all. The Copa Casino was completely destroyed by hurricane Katrina. It was less than 10 miles from my home.
copa casino
The Sexual Harassment Incident
This first story occurred on the original Copa, which was an old ship, not the one pictured above. I worked on the original and the new one. I had a manager, who was a creepy overweight guy in his forties and everyone knew his dad was a state senator – he often bragged about it. He often talked the beautiful young cocktail waitresses into playing a game with him called “trust”. It involved the girl falling backwards and “trusting” him to catch them. He had been after this girl, Amber (who was 18 years old and recently had breast enlargement surgery), to play the game with him. I was busy working and the perverted manager (Fred) convinced Amber to play the game. Fred thought I wasn’t paying attention, but I was onto his game. Amber fell backwards and Fred caught her – simultaneously cupping her breasts in his hands and morbidly staring down her top. As she leaned forward, he kept his hands on her breasts, fondling them gently with a sickening look of molestation in his eyes. She turned and slapped him while screaming, “Get your fucking hands off of me you old pervert.”
He replied, “Oh, I’m sorry…it’s just the way you fell.”
Amber was feeling sick about the situation and began crying. I had forewarned her but she didn’t listen. I convinced her to report him for sexual harassment. In a casino, sexual harassment cases happen everyday and most go unpunished. She felt more confident about it because I was a witness. The next day at work, I learned that Amber had quit and no charges had been filed. I am quite sure they took her in a back office and threatened or scared her. Fred told me and I quote, “If you ever say anything about me again, you are finished…and I mean six feet under. I know people who can make you disappear.”
I retorted, “What? You’re threatening my life? The last three people who threatened me ended up dead or paralyzed and I didn’t have to know any ‘people’ – I did it myself,” hey, if you play hardball with me, I up the stakes. The storm blew over after a few weeks. I feel bad I ever said that to him. Read on and see why.
The Sickening Cook Incident
I was on lunch break and ordered a hamburger and fries at the employee cafeteria. I specifically asked for no cheese. I received my meal and noticed cheese on my burger. I asked the cook, a gay black guy named Bobby to to please make me another burger as I didn’t want cheese. I could see into the kitchen – apparently, the cook didn’t know I could see him. He bit the cheese off of my burger (with his saliva drizzling mouth) and spit it into the garbage. My eyes almost popped out of my head in disbelief. He wrapped it back up and brought it to me. I took it to my manager, the perverted Fred, and told him what happened. Even he was disgusted and said he would fire the cook. A little while later he said, “The cook said he would call the NAACP. He said you just don’t like him because he is black. Besides, he said you are lying…sorry dude.”
So the cook kept his job, but I was viewed as the bad employee…again.
The Evil Manager Incident
I was out $5.00 for my oral infected hamburger and was told to shut up or I would be fired. You have to understand that the main boss, another creepy old bastard named Russel, just so happened to despise me. I am quite sure that Russel was responsible for all this but couldn’t prove it.
The first day I ever worked there, the main manager Russel, screamed at me, “Hey boy…yes you! Do this, do that!”
I screamed back at him, “Don’t ever talk to me like that. You will treat me like a person.”
After that day, he hated my guts. I was the only person out of 50 employees in his department that actually screamed back at him, as difficult as that is to believe. Alright. Now to the most unbelievable aspect of all:
The Twilight Zone Occurrences
My days off were Tuesday and Wednesday. I checked my schedule on Monday and stayed home on Tuesday and Wednesday, just like my schedule ordered. I was fired on Thursday because they changed my days off Monday night – after I went home! They said it was my responsibility to recheck the schedule Tuesday morning, before enjoying my normal days off.
- Two weeks after I was fired, the manager Russel had a stroke and was paralyzed from the waist down. He also suffered severe memory loss and will live the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
- A year later, the cook who chewed the cheese off my hamburger, was murdered in a crack-deal-gone-bad by gang members.
- My manager Fred had a massive coronary and is now dying of lung cancer and emphysema.
- I saw the waitress Amber recently working – of all places – as a waitress serving hamburgers at a Sonic drive thru. She still has a great body and is quite beautiful; however, her teeth are all rotted out and she’s married to a crack dealer. She didn’t remember who I was. She said, “I think I worked at the Copa Casino, but that was back in the day and it’s all just a fog.”
I thought to myself, “Back in the day? Hahahaha….you’re only 22 or so and it happened just a few years ago.” Thank God they fired me from that place before I ended up next on the grim reaper’s list. I often wonder if I had placed an evil curse on them. Nowadays, I try my best to handle things more wisely. The final incident was the casino being destroyed by a hurricane. It’s definitely from the twilight zone.
*The picture is from Hurricane Katrina Damage Photos – Mississippi Gulf Coast. Check out all the incredible pictures by clicking the link.
