Standing, Watching and Eating

August 24, 2008 by The Constant Complainer

You know; sometimes it is the little things that really tick me off.  I’m going to start with that statement on this rainy Sunday afternoon.

 

Let me first say that I really enjoy eating at Panera.  It’s common knowledge that on 99% of all Saturday afternoons, I can be found there eating lunch.  I have no complaints about Panera or their service.  But what normally tends upset me is the way that certain customers act there.

 

For example, at Panera, you place your order and then you move down to the end of the line and wait for them to either call your name or order number.  I refer to where you wait to be called as the “common area.”  Now, you’re standing right there by the counter as they place the food onto the trays and prepare it.  Although there are no signs posted with instructions on where exactly to stand, common sense should tell a customer to stand back away from the counter and wait to be called.  However, it never fails to amaze me how so many customers walk right up to the counter and stand directly over the food preparation area and other people’s food.

 

It happened again yesterday…  I’m standing back with several other customers waiting to be called.  Then this guy and woman walk up to the counter and start pulling the various trays towards them asking if it was theirs.  None were!  But they continued to stand there and have a conversation right over the trays of food.  I wanted to be like: hey buddy, have some decency and back away from the food.  Instead, I stood there and waited to see how the situation would play out.

 

That guy preceded to stand there and touch every tray put in front of him, pull it towards him and say: is this mine?  I wanted to scream something like: they will call your name or number!  Finally, another customer picking up her food kindly asked him to move back.

 

I guess you could say we were lucky, because he didn’t cough on the food or decide to taste it for us.  But considering that he was standing directly over it, touching every tray and carrying on a conversation right there, I still considered my food to be tainted.  I mean, theoretical hygiene standards will tell you that him standing right there meant he could have accidentally spit and/or gotten saliva on the food.

 

I am a freak when it comes to cleanliness in restaurants.  But in this case, it wasn’t Panera’s fault – this customer was just rude.  But it did get me thinking.  Every single time I go there, this happens.  Why is that?  Is it that customers are just rude, hungry, in a hurry and don’t think about the same things that I do?  I’m not sure.  But I will tell you this – I don’t think that an expectation for clean and uncontaminated food is asking too much….

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Comments

  1. Sugar says:

    It’s the same thing at the pharmacy, grocery lines, the bank, etc. Some customer’s don’t know their boundries. You don’t know if they just don’t any better, or if they’re impatient.

  2. Kev says:

    Yuck! I would have asked for new food to be made.

  3. Dan S. says:

    You say it wasn’t Panera’s fault, but it was.

    They could have set up some sort of sneeze guard, keep the trays out of the customer’s reach, or put a yellow line on the floor and post a sign saying, “STAY BEHIND THE YELLOW LINE, **UNTIL** YOUR NUMBER/NAME IS CALLED!”

    As far as your fear of a little strange saliva on your food… trust me, there are worse things than a little spit in your Coke.

    …I’m guessing you’ve never worked in a restaurant with a closed off kitchen before.

  4. Otis says:

    Dan S is right. Panera’s fault all the way. They should assume that the majority of their customers will be inconsiderate. I saw a poll taken and in 2006; 67% of their customers claimed to be liberals. That is a frightening statistic. But I think it came from CNN, so I don’t know how accurate it might be.

  5. Mike says:

    Otis, are you trying to make a correlation between being liberal and inconsiderate? If so, that’s idiotic. That could actually be the dumbest comment I’ve ever heard. Sure, all liberals are inconsiderate and all conservatives are pompous. (I don’t really believe that.)

    98% of statistics are made up 50% of the time.

  6. The Constant Complainer says:

    Otis,

    Are you saying being a liberal makes you inconsiderate? What does that make the conservatives then?

    I just found a statistic on the internet that says that 97.3% of all statistics are made up. LOL.

    The CC…

  7. Dan S. says:

    Otis might be on to something, however, I think it’s only the tip of the iceburg.

    OK, if 67% *CLAIMED* to be liberals, that would mean the number is actaully closer to 92%, since even more recent studies have showed that 84% of liberals lie 78% of the time, and only wash their hands 2 times a week.

    On the bright side, they do preform 97% of all non-anal sex acts in the United States.

  8. Otis says:

    Mike,
    Unfortunatley, 67% would not be a large enough percentage to call this a correlation. BUT, Dan S. did bring up the excellent point that liberals also lie, so there may be many more that are not claiming to be liberal that really are. Also, the poll that I was referring to was taken in 2006. That was before Obama began his campaign of lies and deceit. It may not have been ‘cool’ to refer to yourself as a liberal. I think progressive was the appropriate term then.

    So, based on all of that, it is fair to conclude that all liberals are inconsiderate liars that spit on people’s food at Panera. I think my science is “spot on”…

    I want to caution the Constant Complainer…Don’t eat there, you might catch the dumbass disease.

  9. Otis says:

    Wow Dan, I thought you were one of the good guys, but you’re clearly an absolute moron. If you think you can come on here and put yourself up as a conservative and then spout off the racist comments, (that I hope the CC will remove), you are wrong. Get off this site you stupid liberal racist. I can spot a closet liberal from a mile away, and Dan S. is clearly one of the inconsiderate liars.

    FYI…The best way to spot a liberal is to find a racist spouting conservative talking points. CASE CLOSED.

  10. Dan S. says:

    Sorry Otis…

    I tried to be an equal opportunity hater here, making fun of both the left and right.

    *it sucks to be misunderstood… sniff…*

  11. Otis says:

    I didn’t misunderstand your stupid comments. Don’t even begin to think that I’ll fall for your lies. I’ve seen your kind before. You pretend to be conservative and then throw up outrageous comments like the racist crap you spewed. I saw your stupid blog and you must be lonely. Get out of this country if you don’t like it. You’ve been called out. I’m hated on this blog because I’m one of two or three right wingers. I can’t even get a column posted. Even the liberal wackos chugging the kool-aid agree with me on this one….LOSER.

  12. Dan S. says:

    Oh yeah…

    If you think I’m a liberal moron *now* whatever you do DON’T click on my name to visit my site.

  13. Dan S. says:

    Sorry Otis, I actually like your posts…

    Tell you what, I’m not doing anything with the blog on my Bush site.

    If you’d like, I’ll give you administrative rights with total control, to run it or trash it anyway you see fit.

    I’ll just retain the rights to shut it down and start over, if you decide to do nothing with it, after I hand over the keys.

  14. Otis says:

    Dan, you can spew your rabid hate talk on your own site. Stay off of this one you racist loser.

  15. The Constant Complainer says:

    One comment was removed for content. So I apologize if the flow of comments seems weird. Keep it clean and have fun.

  16. Dan S. says:

    ***I want to caution the Constant Complainer…Don’t eat there, you might catch the dumbass disease.***

    Yes, best to be wary of catching “dumbass disease.” We can’t afford a nation where Republicans are still losing brain cells, even *AFTER* voting ‘Bush’…

    …and be on the look-out for “Gay!”

    I hear tell, Republicans can catch “Gay” from public toilet seats. Thank God they get better after the booking process.

  17. Otis says:

    Danny boy, you’re a typical liberal moron and an inconsiderate racist. You actually make Zig sound intelligent…sort of.

  18. Mike says:

    Wow I missed quite a bit. I hate racists no matter what political party they vote for. ‘Nuff said there.

    Side note: I always clean off toilets before I sit down, to protect myself from the “Dumbass Disease” and crabs…both of which are equal opportunity diseases.

    Here’s a serious and honest question, mostly for Otis:
    Do you really believe either Presidential candidate is worthy of the White House?

  19. Otis says:

    That’s an excellent question Mike. If Obama could run to the center and get out of his “everything is a right and ought to be free” kick, he could be president in 15 or 20 years. He’d still be a liberal, but not a socialist like he is now. He would be a miserable failure now because he hasn’t done enough yet to understand the evils of socialism and communism. America’s enemies know that, and that’s why they support him.

    I’m not a huge fan of the political and liberal John McCain. His presidency wouldn’t be 4 more years of Bush, it would be 4 more years of Clinton, and that really frightens me. But, from an overall perspective of looking at the two likely nominees, John McCain is worthy of the Oval Office, and Barack Obama isn’t worthy enough to vacuum the carpet. Do we pick the Socialist, or the liberal with an “R” next to his name?

  20. Ted says:

    Brady Quinn ate at the Panera Bread in Avon on Sunday. I saw him with his cute young girlfriend. LOL not sure how this is relevant but whatever.

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