Show this to your fast food loving friends -- is it enough to make the go cold turkey?

My BIL worked at a restaurant

back in the late 70's or early 80's and talked about spitting in food.  Minimum wage workers expres their frustration in increasingly dangerous ways, I guess.

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by: PSzymeczek @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 20:25:42 PM CDT

I've worked in enough restaurants

to tell you that fast food is no worse than any eating establishment.

And, you should see what some of your friends and family members do in their own kitchens!

Those delicious cookies that Aunt Wilma brings over are full of roach droppings. Cousin Bob picks his nose while he's rubbing those secret spices into his famous ribs.

The only way to make sure that your food isn't tainted is to grow it and prepare it yourself. We all know that's not practical.

When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 20:26:31 PM CDT

Yup

At least when I cook for myself, I know the kitchen and utensils are all cleaned by a former department head microbiologist and lab tech.

In fact, I really get a bit nervous when anyone else does the dishes here!  

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by: Louise @ Mon Jul 06, 2009 at 08:06:18 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I actually found a bee/yellow jacket

Baked into a bran muffin twice -- once at a NY deli and down here in another bakery. What are the chances of that happening twice?!

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by: Pam Spaulding @ Mon Jul 06, 2009 at 08:22:05 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I'd hate to agree with Fritz

but I do.

So many stories from the time I spent working in resturants but the one that sticks out is the time I worked in a sole food resturant and the waitress actuall served 2 customers spoiled black-eyed peas. But get this:

The customers actually liked the black-eyed peas and wanted more.

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by: kevinchi @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 20:59:30 PM CDT

*Sole* food?

Man, that restaurant must have had some poor clientele.

And there is no such thing as bad black-eyed peas.

Hey, wait a minute!  How could you possibly be blaming the condition of the food on the waitress. Have you monitored your misogyny and your privilege today?  Well, have you?

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by: Pollyanna @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 21:14:50 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Pollyanna stop!

I am so embarrassed to be a black man for writing "sole" instead of "soul."

Actually, the waitresses did NOT want to serve them, the customers came into the resturant for some black eyed peas. Trust me, I was with them when they found them in the frig in the kitchen; they smelled bad.

Then of course, there was the time where the sunlight was shining on the water station in a way that one of the waitresses couldn't tell the difference between a glass of water and a glass of apple juice. Soooooo...she sipped out of both glasses, made the distinction, and served the water and the juice.  

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by: kevinchi @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 21:28:47 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

You know that might be a good name for a seafood restaurant.

Sole Food

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by: Pollyanna @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 22:07:23 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Pollyanna I knew that was too easy

so I had to google.

http://www.loewshotels.com/en/... Philadelphia

Actually all the other hits did come back for shoes, including one "Solefood" in Tribeca, NYC that does serve sneakers on a plate!

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by: kevinchi @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 22:14:41 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I worked a lot of fast food jobs in the past

And while I've never personally done anything to someones food, I know to be really nice to anyone in food service, and if I can't see it being made, I won't eat it.

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by: ojrocks @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 21:16:12 PM CDT

Worked at a McD's when I was 20-been vegetarian ever since

Seriously.

And oh yes, even way back then, we used to slip nasty things into the food of customers who were exceptionally abusive toward the staff. Of course, one employee took it to new heights after a new owner took over the store and started bullying the workers. I won't go into too much graphic detail, but he did demonstrate how to empty a crowded restaurant very quickly by simply urinating on a hot griddle right in front of the entire store.

Of course, that's not what turned me veg. It was a lunch break during which my best friend and coworker very lightly draped a napkin across the surface on the beef patty after removing the top of the bun. That napkin was sopping wet with grease, and he didn't apply any pressure to it or rub it in or anything-all that came up just from light contact.

Eat at home, you'll live longer.  

My dad was a steelworker
My mom was a kitchen girl
and that's why
I'm a socialist.
-from an old song I used to hum to myself

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by: DaveB @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 22:02:36 PM CDT

The Wrath of an Underclass

I worked various fast food jobs growing up. I heard people talk about doing stuff like that, but I never participated in that behavior, neither did I see anybody do it.

Not to say it doesn't happen. However, I remember how hard that work was, how little the money was, how demeaning the corporate structure could be to employees, and I watch how customers treat them. They are the working underclass, and they are the ones getting SHAFTED in every direction. They're not getting a living wage. They don't have health care, and if they do, it's not much of anything to speak of, and money being taken out of a paycheck already too low to live on. They're treated like servants and machines by the customers.

I'd be angry and resentful too, is all I'm saying.

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by: Stratonike @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 23:24:53 PM CDT

Good points

There is also the fact that many of these places are understaffed. The owners want to bleed as much money out of them as they can. So, the workers are often asked to do the impossible.

When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Mon Jul 06, 2009 at 00:12:20 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

My time in the food industry was actually not bad

I think I was fortunate with my 10+ experience working in the food industry.  I worked at a Fuddruckers between 1998-2000 and never saw any nasty shenanigans going on.  Nice thing about working there (and eating there) is that the cook's line was in the middle of the dining room, guests could watch their order being prepared the entire time - we encouraged it, and sometimes gave them a show.

Now the Fudd's years were few in comparison to my years at Denny's.  Now Denny's has had a bad bad rep for decades - to poor customer service, racism, and a whole host of other things.  Almost 10 years I spent at the same location is independantly owned by a franchisee who owned just the one store for 15 years and just opened his second.  I NEVER saw anything like this happen there.  I mean yeah we'd get the nasty rude evil customers frequently and we'd talk about doing bad bad things, but we never would - because we go out to eat as well and we wouldn't want the same thing to happen to us.  And trust me, when I started waiting tables at Denny's in 2000 we were making $2.45/hr plus tips, Illinois' server's wage at the time.  So you could imagine how miffed we were if we were mistreated by our guests, and left shitty tips even though we did absolutely nothing wrong.

I think I was just fortunate enough to have worked with good people who would stop to think about their "would-be" actions for a moment and then walk away from the situation.  Thank goodness.

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by: vwboy81 @ Mon Jul 06, 2009 at 06:15:57 AM CDT

Euuu

It's enough to make a person go vegetarian.  

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by: LiZ @ Mon Jul 06, 2009 at 07:47:36 AM CDT

[ Parent ]