Tuesday, May 5, 2009

I Hope I Never See This Again!!!

I am really grossed out about now!!!

I had a lunch meeting today at Chili’s. The food was awesome! The coke could have been better, but, hey, do we expect for things to be perfect when we eat out????? Okay, I’ll answer…….YES! YES! And YES!

Fortunately for us, they were extremely dead. It was around 11:30 and there were only three other tables being used in the entire place. I asked the girl who waited on us if the economy had really affected their business. I’d heard, or maybe read, a few weeks ago that most restaurants have been affected by the recession. Anyhow, the waitress said they have been extremely slow since the beginning of the year, but in early March they saw it begin to pick up again. Now that the swine flu has hit, she said that they are hardly busy at all anymore.

Okay, so where am I going with this post??????

Again, the food that we had today was AWESOME! I had the Buffalo Chicken Fajitas with a flat coke. The service was suberb!!!!

So what went wrong???? And do I even dare to share this with you???? Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….yep, because it is bothering me to no end.

We’re waiting for a check to come, right? As we’re waiting, I glance over to a certain spot in the restaurant where I see a waitress blowing her nose profusely and then digging in it with the tissue she just finishing blowing into. Okay, I should have turned my head then and looked away, but because I am soooooooooo darn stubborn and wanted to watch whether she was going to go back into the kitchen….I kept watching.

Bad mistake for me! She did something even worse, she proceeded to stick the nasty, dirty, snotty tissue in her pocket and then picked out silverware and napkins and took them to the next table. I just about lost my whole lunch. How nasty!!!

Now my mind starts working in overtime. Okay, come on! Are you just that retarded that you didn’t know any better? You are handling other people’s food, could you not have gone to wash your hands before getting the silverware and napkins? It’s obvious that business is extremely slow, what are ya thinking? Most of us (well, maybe just me) are already freaking out on germs as it is. I don’t need to see stuff like this happening in a restaurant where it involves the waiter or waitress who is also handling my food.

I did make a call to the manager once I got back to the office. She was not only shocked, but she was extremely embarrassed about this incident. She said that they have drilled into the workers head in each of their morning meetings the importance of washing their hands; even more so since the Swine Flu. I described the waitress to her as best I could and she was able to pinpoint exactly who it was. She claimed that she was going to have a long talk with her about this.

I know that there’s so much more that goes on in restaurant kitchen. As picky as I am when it comes to my food (or anything for that matter…lol), it’s better altogether if I don’t see it.

I’ll never forget the time that Dirk and I were dining at a certain steakhouse and we had just placed our order and I got up to go wash my hands. Our waitress came out of the toilet stall, fixed her hair, and WALKED OUT OF THE BATHROOM WITHOUT WASHING HER HANDS! Short story….we left the restaurant, called the manager and explained what happened and have never been back. That’s been six or seven years ago.

Now, I will definitely be going back to Chili’s, but it won’t be anytime soon! Dirk sure hated to hear about this. Gosh, I’ve got to get this out of my mind!!!

38 comments:

Melissa said...

that's just too gross! You would think that you would be super conscious of germs when you're woking in the food industry, especially these days!

More Than Words said...

Oh my gosh, I would be sooooooooo grossed out!!!!!!!!!!!!

But, that is the risk we take when going out to eat. Ugh..I hear that restaurant kitchens are the worst!!!!!!!!!

I don't even want to think about it!

Denise said...

Bless your heart sweetie, I would have reacted just like you. Totally grossed out.

Jennifer said...

OOOhhhh that is just terrible!!

I'm so glad you called to report that!

Shame shame on that waitress!

BTW.....how did Morgan do this past weekend at Braums? Anxious to hear about it.

He & Me + 3 said...

Girl you and your restaurant experiences. Holy moly. That was just gross. Ewwww. I totally would have lost it. YUCK.

Beth E. said...

I would have done exactly what you did, girl! Yuuuuuck! It makes me hesitant to eat anywhere anymore! Like you, I've seen so many things....blech!

Anonymous said...

That would have grossed me out too! Don't people realize that is what a bathroom is for. I don't even like to HEAR someone blow their nose around food. It's just not proper etiquette!

Divamom said...

Some people just don't get a clue! We went to IHOP last week, and there was an older couple sitting across the room from us. He coughed and coughed (or shall I say HACKED)most of the time we were there. Why would you even come out sounding like that?!!! People just seem to be so oblivious to the germs that can be spread by them. Makes you pray harder!

Tarah said...

GROSSSSS!!!!

All I know it, NEVER send your food back. NEVER!

Kristin said...

Oh no! So gross! I try not to even think about what goes on that we don't know about at restaraunts. I'm sure if we knew half of it, we'd never eat out again! LOL

Lee said...

Oh jeese, that's just plain nasty! Ungh!! I can't imagine being able to hold my food down after seeing something like that!!
At least she had a kleenex... I can't imagine what I would do if she had just been sitting there picking her nose.

The Quintessential Magpie said...

Hand washing to me is IMPERATIVE. My husband's grandfather was a surgeon, and he said that much of the disease in the world could be avoided by using soap and water. The rest, by diet. I don't blame you one bit for being grossed out, Daphine. Try to put it out of your mind and realize that the manager probably gave the employees what-for and that hopefully, they will think twice about food handling.

I ate at Mimi's day before yesterday and at a banquet last night, and I didn't think about it. I'm going to eat out at a luncheon again today. I'm just going to pray over my food and myself and turn it over to the Lord. That's all any of us can do.
But ICK about the tissue! ICK!

XO,

Sheila

Shell in your Pocket said...

Okay...now that is just plain gross!!!
sandy toe

really.truly said...

Yuck, yuck and yuck!

I applaude you for calling the manager. Things like that are far too common...it makes me want to stop going out to eat:(

If we only knew all the gross stuff that goes on...ewww.

April said...

I am totally grossed out, girl! That is about the most disgusting thing I've ever heard! I think I would have lost my lunch (LITERALLY!) right there on the spot! What is wrong with people having poor hygiene...especially when dealing with the food that goes into my mouth?! You absolutely did the right thing by reporting the incident. I'm not sure if I'm ever going to eat out, again!

By the way...any prom pictures yet? I'm dying to see them!

Heather said...

uggh i would have died. i totally would have said something right then and there and made her remove those utensils off the table. people are so gross.

LisaShaw said...

Oh Daphine you and I are SURELY sisters because this grossed me out too! My goodness.

I'll share with you that once I was out with a few people in Ministry and it was obvious that our server was nasaly (sp?) and she went to get our beverages and food. Later two of us saw her rubbing her nose back and forth with the back of her hand. She then pinched her nose as if to stop herself from sneezing and THEN....

she picked up the pitcher with one hand and headed for us. She reached over and with the SAME HAND she had just used on her nose she reached for my cup.

OH MY GOODNESS!!! ZZZZGGGGGRRRR....

I stopped her and said, no thank you. Too late her hand was already gripping my glass. I drank NO MORE until I left. I didn't want to embarrass her by saying anything because she was very nice but she was also sick and I'm telling you it grossed me out.

You never know what's going on in public establishments.

Bless you dear one.

Nicolle said...

Oh my gosh, that is totally gross and I'm glad you spoke to the manager about this.

We were at a restaurant a while back, and the waiter was at the table behind us saying how he had a staph infection on his arm. Seriously!

Anonymous said...

Eww--- from what stories I have heard and read, we probably would never step foot in a restaurant again because of all the little things that are done.

Way to bring it to their attention tho!

michele said...

Gross! Poor judgement on her part for sure.
Restaurants... I think if we knew half of what goes on we would be pretty grossed out.
My sister was a waitress for several years at a very fun hot spot in Bellingham, WA. But they had RATS!
Your posts are always so interesting! And I love your variety.

Darlene said...

Oh YUCK!! I am so glad you called and talked to the Manager. When we eat out I just have to NOT think about all the gross stuff that could be happening around our food. Otherwise, we would NEVER go out to eat at all!

Veronica said...

Hi Daphine,

Just stopping by to say thanks for entering into my hat giveaway.

Now about this post, this was so disgusting. I just do not understand people sometimes. I can't blame you for getting so grossed out!

Stacey said...

You and I are so much alike when it comes to clean restaurants and wait staff. I think I remember you telling about a waiter awhile back. I actually told a guy who was waiting fixing food and counting money that he had to wash his hands before he did my food. AND I've asked someone to put on gloves before. Unfortunately, I think I'm hyper focused on this kind of stuff at restaurants. I wish I could go in and not pay attention.

Angie said...

There is no telling what all goes on in restaurants that we don't know about. I'm sure we are much safer and healthier eating at home!

Bay Jones said...

That is totally gross! I would have lost my lunch too. I pray this does not happen again. GROSS!

Jennifer said...

Sure makes you wonder what you miss before you get there, etc. ?!?!?

Wendy said...

Eeeewwwwwwww

Kitty Scraps said...

Oh poor Daphine! I would be totally grossed out and very angry because it's totally unacceptable in this day and age for any food service employee to be so unknowledgeable about safe food handling practices! I spent an entire semester in college taking a course called Serv-Safe which at the end of the course we sat for a national exam which I scored 99 out of 100 on. This course is available in many locales and a shorter course is offered for serve staff. Look for the course certificates in places you dine at because management is very proud to display them. Even our local McDonald's have the certificates displayed, it's a real eye opener course so people involved in food service are aware of the dangers involved to the public when food and utensils are not properly handled. As a germophob I can tell you that I spent the next year with a temperature probe in my purse checking items before I'd eat them *smiles* Let's just say I don't do buffet dining under any circumstances *smiles*

Unknown said...

This is just disturbing on so many levels. Do people really not know to wash their hands? I do it so much sometimes I think it is a little ridiculous. And Kais has a bottle of hand sanitizer in his backpack, his lunch box, his desk and school AND in his learning support classroom. He can't have enough of this as far as I am concerned.

Spaceofgrace said...

Ewww. I work in a grocery store and I HATE when people lick their fingers to grab their money and then hand it to me. You don't want to know the locations they pull their change from either... YUK! Love your blog btw.. came over from Outnumbered 3 to 1 (Beth). Come visit my blogs any time :)

Milk and Honey Mommy said...

Daphine,

Eating out doesn't excite me as much as it use to. I love cooking and have been doing more since our last move. I'm even baking my own bread now.

I would have been so grossed out and probably would have said something, politely of course, to the manager then if not just walked out. Since you were at a business meeting, you handled it the best you could, but I get grossed out by dirty silverware.

4 Lettre Words said...

Yuck! I just glad I don't know what's really going on in my favorite restaurants. :o)

Anonymous said...

That's so gross. I'm glad you called the Manager!

Melissa Miller said...

Oh Daphine I agree with you that is GROSS!

I'm having a hard time touching door handles lately...Ewww!

Have a blessed and beautiful Mother's Day.
~Melissa :)

Christian - Modobject@Home said...

Oh, yuck! You did well to call the manager.

Michele said...

That is one of the nastiest things I've heard in a while. Sorry that happened to you!

Toia said...

Ewww!! And double ewww!!

I would be gross out, too. And I cannot stand for someone to use the bathroom and not wash their hands afterwards, whether you are at home or not. Please wash your hands!!

~Lisi P. said...

Oh that is so gross. I would've said something to them as well. One lost customer for sure!