a fast food low point
 

My daughter had a swim meet today in a college town. The meet had a scheduled 20" break so I went across the street to a Hardees (Carl Jr in other parts of the US) and ordered a 3 piece chicken all-star with some buffalo sauce for $5. The inked-up 23ish year old (name tag read "Prime Time" but he's a white lardy) takes my money and the 17ish year old without a name tag puts the chicken and fries in the little box container, then the small bag of fries and then drops one of the buffalo sauce containers on the floor, picks it up and tosses it in the container with the food...all of this about 8 feet in front of me. No name tag then sets it on the counter and says "chicken all-star." I looked at him and pushed it back across the counter and told him that I just watched the above unfold and I wasn't taking that food. Should have asked for a refund but let them make another meal.

I let the kid off the hook easy but WTF??

So it would seem obvious that only the one buffalo sauce was "infected" by the floor germs, while the remainder of the experience left a bad taste in your mouth.

I would have asked for a replacement sauce and moved on.

I would have to see pics of your daughter.....preferably in her swimsuit......in order to provide a proper response to your post.

;)

uh, no.

The retrieved container was sitting on top of the (open top) fries sackette and the chicken.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1509848348.png

In my relative short life of 47 years, I pretty much feel I'm playing roulette each and every time I eat out. Unfortunately sometimes needs must, and I have to eat the swill called fast food at times.

My placebo cure has been a snort of something over 40% alcohol after fast food as soon as I get home.

I've got stories beyond the pale, just being observant to what takes place behind the counter's. I've never worked in a fast food, I just watch. I once watched KFC shovel mac and cheese back on a tray with a dust pan and put it back up on the rack, and scoop a spoon full up for the drive through...I was actually blessed by this event as I made my wife and daughter watch, he-he so no more KFC for me:D. Uggh. -WW

So, you pushed it back across the counter and demanded it be replaced. I'm sure the replacement meal had no loogies or other bodily fluids horked on it along with the secret sauce. A 17 year old fast food worker would never do that. :rolleyes:

I think I'd have asked for a refund and gone elsewhere.

Exactly ......I think the safest place to eat truly is, non-contracted, military dining facilities. The million hours I spent mess-cooking under anal military cooks gave me a appreciation of sanitation. Even mention the word "sponge" and it's a beat down. One speck of old food on a "clean" dish and you were washing every single item, in the entire galley....every single item.-WW

ps. I now do every thing in my power the rare times I eat out, we go to "fine dining." At least $50 a plate. He-he that's why I say rare.

Counterpoint: you were fine with a sauce container that hadn’t been dropped on the floor being out in the bag on top of your open chicken and fries....where/what do you think those containers have touched since they were produced and shipped to the restaurant.

No better or worse than the one dropped on the floor.

You guys are being obtuse.

Choco, I stood there and watched the second round get put in a container just like I watched the first.:rolleyes:

gprsh, are you going to tell us you never eat anything from any container you haven't personally inspected prior to it being filled with food?? Only straight from your garden or pen to your grill and onto your plate, right??:confused:

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Damn good thing you don't see how most of the food you eat is handled from the farm to packaging. You would melt like a sniveling little snowflake.

I eat everything and anything from anywhere. My stomach is immune to just about everything going :rolleyes:

Probably your biggest risk is going into the restaurant's bathroom, washing your hands then touching the door handle. Then thoughtfully rubbing your lip as you read the menu.

"fast food low point" is redundant. :)

What you did was fine and you deserve to not to have to eat anything that's been on the floor in front of you. Whether it's harmful or not as a 'practical' matter is immaterial.

The 5 seconds rule didn't apply?

You completely missed my point.

I’m saying the “clean” sauce that didn’t get dropped on the floor was/is just as dirty as the floor sauce. Much ado about nothing.

I would not want a "fell on the floor" sauce packet thrown unto my dinner either.

More than likely it landed on the dog crap that the attendant brought in on his sneakers while walking across the lawn to get to work, so I'm in agreement with the O.P.

Things that hit the floor in those dumps (after all what does a 17 yr old know about
cleanliness?) is a deal breaker (meal breaker) for me. IMO

Just imagine what they do when you're not looking!! :eek:

I'm going to go against the grain.
I would have said **** it and ate it if I was hungry enough. If not I would have thrown it away and prolly go flirt with all the moms at the meet...

Complain on the Carl's Jr website or their Facebook page.

I don't tolerate this kind of crap.

I'm would have done the same as the OP but I would also have talked to the manager. I would not eat food that I knew had trash tossed in with it, and a plastic package that has been on a greasy fast food serving floor is trash.
The stuff that goes on that we don't know about is bad enough. If we accept unsanitary food handling when we know about it, they will be even more lax about food handling across the board. I'm almost never in a fast food place, but it could be one of my grandchildren who is eating contaminated food.

Precisely why I bring fruit and cheese with me whenever I know I'm going to be out and about.

I didn't miss your point. It's that your point doesn't contribute to the discussion in that there is only so much anyone can do in the name of food hygiene. Anyone who suggests something along the lines of "Oh, yeah? What about..." isn't talking about this situation anymore.

To an extent, everyone has to walk the line between willfully ignorant and trusting each day or nothing will ever get accomplished. I'd say that anyone who shrugs their shoulders and accepts food they watched (effectively) thrown on the floor is beyond willfully ignorant and to have someone try to pull it off in front of you is beyond insulting.

I've written Hardees and expect a response on Monday. I'm sure they'll tell me that it's no biggie and that only a snowflake would complain. The state would likely say the same. In fact, I'd expect an up-charge menu option for "floor-seasoning" coming to all fast-food soon. ;) Stool soup would be an off-menu insider thing.SmileWavy

The very idea that they can serve you as many calories as cheaply as they do begs the question about the quality of every point in the handling/supply chain from the origin of the ingredients to the counter. I’ve taken the tact that fasting periodically is healthy in our society so skipping a fast food meal is a winner by all accounts.

I just want to point out that while Hardees and Carl's Jr. share the star, the food they server is not the same. Hardees is a Jack in the Box wannabe and Carl
s is a Burger King wannabe. That said, I would take a Superstar any day of the week.

I'm with OP and Patrick on this one.

Yup.

Was at a Chinese restaurant not too long back.

Waitress brings utensils to the table.

Drops one on the floor, picks it up and sets it in front of me.

I just stared at her, she stared back, realized what she had done, picked it up off the table and got me a clean one which I thanked her for.

Sometimes it's just a lapse in judgement and there is no crime in addressing it.

We receive the service we accept.

This is yet more support for my not eating out policy.

We were at a Denny's eons ago and when my wife asked for a glass of water the waitress reached back to the table behind her and gave the glass of water from that table to my wife.

This was not an uncommon thing at that Denny's.

It was always an adventure there. It is where I learned one can pass out from laughter.

Today this is the fastest way to get a reaction......... Corps are terrified of social media backlash......

As a kid I worked in a KFC. What you eat at these places you don't want to know about. If you care that much I'd stay away from any FF place.

CHICKEN FIGHT!!!!

I never get too upset with fast food workers. There is a reason they work there. They are not brain surgeons and never will be. Just ask nicely for another meal.

I sort of hate these types of posts. I managed a FF place for years and I sure as heck didn't allow such antics, and would have fired anyone for them. Handling people's food is not some joke or game and people working with me got the message pretty quick. The motto I was trained with was: "Treat each order like it's for your grandmother, and you're charging her full price." Food cost was cheap and screw ups were actually pretty rare, so I had no problem re-making an order if someone dropped something or sneezed or forgot to wash their hands first. I once remade a pizza because the customer was Muslim and someone used a pizza cutter that had just sliced a pie with pork on it.