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Texting forces pizza shop owner to replace sign spinner with blonde dummy

Posted at 6:23 PM, Mar 14, 2013
and last updated 2013-03-14 18:23:11-04

ESCONDIDO, Calif. (KFMB) --

At Killer Pizza from Mars in Escondido, you'll find a staff of young, hardworking employees. But when it comes to loyalty, owner Dave Mizell has his favorite.

"Her name is Kelly," Dave said.

Kelly is the leggy blonde in the pink sweatshirt who spins on the corner of El Norte Parkway and Nordahl. Her act isn't fancy, but her work ethic is amazing.

"Absolutely a model employee," Dave said.

There's one thing that Dave really admires about his most faithful employee.

"She doesn't text. That's what all the other sign spinners do. They'll be hiding behind the sign and texting," he said.

In fact, Dave placed an ad on Craigslist looking for a sign spinner who wouldn't text. Nobody applied for the job, except a guy who showed up with a mannequin with a crank powered by a motorcycle battery, and the texting problem was solved. Every day, Dave wheels Kelly down to the corner to begin her daily rounds.

"She's fantastic, absolutely wonderful," he said.

I know what you're thinking -- another job eliminated through automation. But since Kelly's been on the job, business at Killer Pizza from Mars has increased so much that Dave's had to hire two extra employees.

"She has a really positive effect on business and she turns a lot of heads, that's for sure," Dave said.