Dead Man Walking
There's a point where you can no longer help people. You do what you can, try your best, but in the end they must stand on their own. Tony's two month 'training' period is over. Guido and Dante have been over every task three times, four times, or more. There wasn't supposed to be this level of training to begin with. Tony was hired as an experienced chef.
Vito asks Dante almost daily how Tony is doing. He gets an honest answer. The boss watches over the kitchen, he knows the score and it's not in Tony's favor. Guido and Dante try to steer him towards tasks he can be successful with. It doesn't matter how simple the dish is, Tony will take two or three times longer to prepare it. At that point there's a 1/3 chance the job was done wrong.
Dante, Guido and Gianni cut Tony loose to sink or swim on his own. They see Vito's glare as he watches the clueless cook fumble over another recipe. "There's a dead man walking.", Dante said after another painful day at Cucina. "It's only a matter of time before the boss drops the axe on that skinny neck." If Tony's incompetence isn't bad enough, he has a bad habit of slacking when he's done with a job. He'll stand around bullshitting with kitchen staff if he's not kept busy.
The three men feel bad for Tony. He's not a bad guy, he's just in over his head. He doesn't seem to be learning what they try to teach. He does things his own way even when it fails repeatedly. When asked to explain what went wrong he blames everyone and everything. He'll say anything to avoid taking responsibility even when he knows no one else is to blame. "I can do this job.", he insists over and over but provides no proof that he can deliver on that claim.
"What are we supposed to do?", asked Gianni. "He doesn't know the business."
"Help him when you can but don't do his job for him. We cannot cover for him any longer." offered Dante. "Maybe he'll turn this around on his own. But it doesn't look good."
Guido chimed in, "If you know any union kitchens tell them we have the perfect man for them."
The three laughed an uneasy laugh. It's not easy watching a man sink. Dante is already contemplating life after Tony.