One of the things I hated the most when I worked in food-related jobs was that the health department inspector always showed up to inspect during the busiest time of the day. Anyone who has ever worked in the food industry knows that anything between the hours of 11am and 1pm is NOT the time for an inspection. The inspector and his stupid little clipboard does not care that you have an irate customer who is mad because they stopped at Target on their lunchbreak and had to wait in line to check out and is now in danger of being late for work and is starting to yell at you because they've had to wait for their food for more than three minutes. (Like they could make a fresh burrito and taco or cook biscuits or eggs at home that fast, but that's another story.) Instead the inspector seems to think that you should be ever grateful that he's walking around the small aisle while you're trying to carry a hot pan quickly to its place without getting burned or spilling anything. He does not care that one of your co-workers is out with the flu and two others are out for the grandmother's funeral and so you are stacking the dishes on the sink until the noon rush is over and there's actually a moment to breath before the arduous job of washing them begins. He also doesn't care if the delivery truck pulls up while he's in the store and because the manager is busy doing his job of staying with him that the dumb delivery boy puts the boxes of food on the floor so he can make it to his next job and the inspector checks off points because they were on the floor a total of 10 minutes (and the drive-thru line is now backed out onto the road because we had to pull the headset person off of drive-thru to go move the boxes).
You're probably thinking, "WHAT on EARTH? Why is she on this tirade?"
WRAL does a restaurant rating every week. Some Asian store in Cary got a B rating. There were only three things wrong on the report, and one of them was boxes on the floor. I hate to tell the health people this, but insects and rodents can climb up onto shelves just as easily as they can a floor. Also, anyone who has ever farmed will tell you that when you harvest tomatoes, pears, peaches, apples, peas, or corn, you set the baskets or buckets full of food ON THE FLOOR! I've also been in a Chinese restaurant where during the middle of lunch rush an inspector showed up and chastised the lady for having two containers of chicken, one breaded, one not, on the kitchen counter near the grill. Um, I know the inspector was only concerned about the temperature of the kitchen, but had he known the least little bit about that restaurant and what time it was, he would have also recognized in the 5 minutes I stood in line just to order, that container not only came out of the refrigerator but was half-way emptied...in five minutes. That place stays that busy. It was lunch rush hour, and they would probably have another 30 customers in the next 10 minutes. That bucket of chicken was just one of many that would be cooked during the lunch hour. I've never wanted to tell a government worker what I thought of a situation so bad in my life.
I think this is yet another example of where the government has woefully overstepped its bounds. Our food and restaurants should be healthy places. But when you reach the extreme nitpickiness required for American restaurants today, we've got a problem. Because I've seen the health sheets that are filled out for restaurants, I'll eat in a restaurant that has a B sanitation grade. I'll hesitate, but I'm well aware that an overflowing garbage can is 1 point off. A cloth wet with nothing but water to wipe food off the counter in between making tacos and burritos left on the counter can cost you at least 2 points. Stopped to get a drink of water while washing dishes in the required 120 degree heated water? If you set that glass on the shelf over the sink, that's a serious health violation. So not everything on that list actually pertains to your food or things that would make you sick.
Now you know.
You're probably thinking, "WHAT on EARTH? Why is she on this tirade?"
WRAL does a restaurant rating every week. Some Asian store in Cary got a B rating. There were only three things wrong on the report, and one of them was boxes on the floor. I hate to tell the health people this, but insects and rodents can climb up onto shelves just as easily as they can a floor. Also, anyone who has ever farmed will tell you that when you harvest tomatoes, pears, peaches, apples, peas, or corn, you set the baskets or buckets full of food ON THE FLOOR! I've also been in a Chinese restaurant where during the middle of lunch rush an inspector showed up and chastised the lady for having two containers of chicken, one breaded, one not, on the kitchen counter near the grill. Um, I know the inspector was only concerned about the temperature of the kitchen, but had he known the least little bit about that restaurant and what time it was, he would have also recognized in the 5 minutes I stood in line just to order, that container not only came out of the refrigerator but was half-way emptied...in five minutes. That place stays that busy. It was lunch rush hour, and they would probably have another 30 customers in the next 10 minutes. That bucket of chicken was just one of many that would be cooked during the lunch hour. I've never wanted to tell a government worker what I thought of a situation so bad in my life.
I think this is yet another example of where the government has woefully overstepped its bounds. Our food and restaurants should be healthy places. But when you reach the extreme nitpickiness required for American restaurants today, we've got a problem. Because I've seen the health sheets that are filled out for restaurants, I'll eat in a restaurant that has a B sanitation grade. I'll hesitate, but I'm well aware that an overflowing garbage can is 1 point off. A cloth wet with nothing but water to wipe food off the counter in between making tacos and burritos left on the counter can cost you at least 2 points. Stopped to get a drink of water while washing dishes in the required 120 degree heated water? If you set that glass on the shelf over the sink, that's a serious health violation. So not everything on that list actually pertains to your food or things that would make you sick.
Now you know.
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