This week I met one of our local authors for coffee at the Coffee Booth. I stepped up to the counter and ordered a coffee in a mug, and the young man got a ceramic mug and inspected it for cleanliness, as the staff there always does. He found a speck of something, and instead of giving me a different mug, he reached inside, scraped the speck carefully with his finger, dumped out whatever was in there, and handed me the mug. I asked for a to-go cup
Several months ago I was standing in line at the Subway next door. The staff there wears plastic gloves on their hands when they prepare the sammitches. The other customers and I watched in disbelief as the young "sandwich artist" scratched her head with her gloved hand and then went back to the customer's order. The customer said, "You just scratched your head!" And the young woman replied, "It's okay. I'm wearing gloves." We went to Ruby K's.
I gave Subway a wide berth after than, but went back about a month ago. This time the young man who was making a sandwich scratched his butt and returned to making sandwiches. The customer said, "You scratched your butt!" The young man replied, "It's okay. I'm wearing gloves." We went to Ruby K's again. (I'm also writing a letter to the president of Subway.)
Michele recalls a time she was at an ice cream parlor in New Hope, Pennsylvania. It was a hot day, and the ice cream in the cone that the helper was preparing began to drip a little. So he licked the drippy part and then handed the cone to the customer. Michele said the only sounds in the place were those of crickets chirping, pins dropping, and tumbleweeds rolling across the deserted streets.
It's okay. We'll put on gloves.
3 comments:
Oh, Pagrs, if these incidents worry you, you should be very worried about the things you don't see. I'll bet they happen even at Ruby K's (though not as often and would probably be dealt with better there).
Plastic gloves, of course, only give us a false sense of security when we see them in use. But a sense of security is security, isn't it? After all, we get a sense that air travel is more secure now that we know our fellow passenges have at most four ounces of shampoo with them. And we feel more secure knowing that people are using hands-free devices while talking on their cell phones while driving. (Never mind that it is the mind being disengaged rather than the hands that is the problem!)
I feel more secure!
1. In New York it is absurdly legal to handle money & food with the same gloves.
2. Man supermarket cashiers do not understand why I object to their habit of licking their fingers & wiping their spit on the plastic bags intended to hold my food. I try to avoid the issue by asking for paper bags.
3. Common fast food violations: Overhand grip on french fries - bare flesh on the fries. Fingers inside empty cups. Managers helping on food line without gloves. Using gloved hands to push back un-netted long hair.
4. Common sense is becoming increasingly uncommon.
Alice, one of the clerks at our post office decided that she needed gloves for protection from the mail. As I stood in line I watched her brush her hair back, adjust her glasses several times and take her glasses off and rub her eyes all with her gloved hands. When I got up to Jeri's window I asked him why Alice started wearing gloves and he said she was afraid of anthrax. Then we both had a chuckle as he also had observed her habits while wearing the gloves. I saw her one day with a mask over her nose and mouth - I didn't ask why. She was adjusting it with her goved hands.
Post a Comment