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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"Everything I know about concurrency and resiliency I learned at the Waffle House"
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1168860400319946752.htmlFor the uninitiated - the Waffle House is a privately owned and VERY private chain of restaurants, predominantly in the South East.
They're 24/7/365 and mean it.
They have a reputation for emergency preparedness like no other company because they are like no other company.
A Waffle House can operate without Water, Electricity, Gas, Communications - and in some cases - even without a building.
A restaurant without water? Isn't that against Heath Code?
Yes - but Waffle House works to get variances for emergency operation - they re-configure.
In the example of no water:
i. They set up a dedicated hand-wash stations.
ii. They switch to bottled water / cans for drinks.
iii. They switch to disposable plates / cutlery et al.
iv. Their reduced menu is one that is designed to be efficient in a reduced water environment.
1. All Waffle Houses are the same and have preparedness designed in.
For example - the "Grills of Yore" run on both natural gas and propane so should the gas supply fail Waffle House can drop Propane Tanks at a location and just plug them in.
2. The Waffle House doesn't outsource unless it has to. It's not that they don't trust their suppliers, but in an emergency they control everything end-to-end.
They ship in refrigerated trucks, gas, propane, water, cash, and people.
3. Volunteers from non-affected areas are flown in and staged in a fleet of RVs kept a safe distance away.
Those volunteers include the CEO/COO and their direct reports.
Where are the Waffle House executives during an emergency? They're at the site of the emergency - not HQ.
If someone needs to make a decision about whether to say, cut a check for $20k to get something to open a location - in any other company that takes time and approvals.
In an emergency you don't have that luxury - so they can just cut the check then and there.
4. In the case of no building, they have a fleet of food trucks.
When a Hurricane wiped out Panama City, the Waffle House deployed food trucks and **gave away** over 2000 meals a day.
Lastly:
5. Affected workers who don't have a restaurant to go to or who have personal / familial destruction continue to get paid weekly in cash.
Who feeds our first responders and the critical infrastructure people when there's no infrastructure?
The Waffle House does.
They're 24/7/365 and mean it.
They have a reputation for emergency preparedness like no other company because they are like no other company.
A Waffle House can operate without Water, Electricity, Gas, Communications - and in some cases - even without a building.
A restaurant without water? Isn't that against Heath Code?
Yes - but Waffle House works to get variances for emergency operation - they re-configure.
In the example of no water:
i. They set up a dedicated hand-wash stations.
ii. They switch to bottled water / cans for drinks.
iii. They switch to disposable plates / cutlery et al.
iv. Their reduced menu is one that is designed to be efficient in a reduced water environment.
1. All Waffle Houses are the same and have preparedness designed in.
For example - the "Grills of Yore" run on both natural gas and propane so should the gas supply fail Waffle House can drop Propane Tanks at a location and just plug them in.
2. The Waffle House doesn't outsource unless it has to. It's not that they don't trust their suppliers, but in an emergency they control everything end-to-end.
They ship in refrigerated trucks, gas, propane, water, cash, and people.
3. Volunteers from non-affected areas are flown in and staged in a fleet of RVs kept a safe distance away.
Those volunteers include the CEO/COO and their direct reports.
Where are the Waffle House executives during an emergency? They're at the site of the emergency - not HQ.
If someone needs to make a decision about whether to say, cut a check for $20k to get something to open a location - in any other company that takes time and approvals.
In an emergency you don't have that luxury - so they can just cut the check then and there.
4. In the case of no building, they have a fleet of food trucks.
When a Hurricane wiped out Panama City, the Waffle House deployed food trucks and **gave away** over 2000 meals a day.
Lastly:
5. Affected workers who don't have a restaurant to go to or who have personal / familial destruction continue to get paid weekly in cash.
Who feeds our first responders and the critical infrastructure people when there's no infrastructure?
The Waffle House does.
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"Everything I know about concurrency and resiliency I learned at the Waffle House" (Original Post)
Shrek
Sep 2019
OP
YES !!! My brother would take us there. You'd get all kinds of folk going in and out, very good
uponit7771
Sep 2019
#13
Response to Shrek (Original post)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.
Phoenix61
(16,994 posts)2. The joke in coastal areas about hurricanes
is dont worry until the Waffle House closes. That is a very, very bad sign.
Response to Phoenix61 (Reply #2)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.
Skittles
(153,113 posts)6. it's actually not a joke
trof
(54,256 posts)7. Yep. Gulf coast dwellers know about this.
When Hurricane Ivan hit us in '04 the ONLY business in town that was still open was the Waffle House.
uponit7771
(90,304 posts)10. WOW !!!
Skittles
(153,113 posts)11. I know
I love the Waffle House - if you ever want to see "diverse clientele", check out a Waffle House, they are awesome
uponit7771
(90,304 posts)13. YES !!! My brother would take us there. You'd get all kinds of folk going in and out, very good
... cross section of America
MFGsunny
(2,356 posts)3. Impressive!
superpatriotman
(6,246 posts)5. Great post
The Baptists do a lot of good behind-the-scenes work during natural disasters, too.
Karadeniz
(22,474 posts)8. Wow! That's impressive! Too bad we don't have any here or I'd patronize it.
ms liberty
(8,558 posts)9. You have to eat at the Waffle. n/t
nolabear
(41,936 posts)12. I happen to be visiting the Gulf Coast right now
and Id forgotten that theres practically one per mile. After Katrina they were back before anyone else. AND they have a poet laureate! I kid you not!