To have said this?

[WinehouseAmy]

I was in a well known fast food chain tonight. Wasn’t particularly busy however it took 10 minutes to be served (despite me being at the front of the queue) then 20 minutes for my order to be prepared.
There was another customer waiting for their order with a young child with them( approx 6/7 years of age) and during the time I was stood waiting the child climbed up on the counter.
I can understand it was a lengthy wait for anyone, especially a younger child at gone 7pm. What I can’t understand is why the child was allowed to bum shuffle around the counter, put their dirty trainers upon the counter and sit there whilst food was being placed on the counter and passed over to customers.
When the guardian of the child collected their order I waited a further couple of minutes and asked that the counter top be cleaned before my food was put on there. Behind me was the guardian who called me rude and asked ‘can’t you understand their a child?!’. I suggested that someone could become seriously ill off the germs on her shoes and that it wasn’t appropriate or safe for her to be sat on the counter.
Aibu to expect a staff member to have intervened in the first place given the risks to both the child and customers and for the guardian to have a bit more common sense and courtesy?

@WinehouseAmy

Take a chill pill

When I did my four year stint at Maccies I saw and dealt with much worse - including every single very hot or cold day dealing with men having their hands down their pants. Not a clue why but on days it was particularly hot they had no tops on and hands down pants in groin. On cold days they had tops on but still hands down pants well and truly in groin. They'd then take said hands out to open doors or lean on counters or HAND ME MONEY

So yes as an employee I'd have asked parent to move child due to cleanliness and safety and wipes it down. But it wouldn't have been my biggest concern about customer cleanliness no lol.

I quoted you directly and now I need a ‘chill pill’? You seem to have very poor social skills and low hygiene standards. Lucky you. Also, ‘clean freak’??????

Ok, totally agree, responsible adult should keep child off counter. Staff should have cleaned counter.

But....

The food was given in a paper bag which I don’t believe is a barrier to germs.

Really? Unless the germs run up the side of the bag and you open it for them to fling themselves in, unwrap the food and burrow deep, i think you are safe

@WinehouseAmy
Excuse me! I may not have the cleanest house but maybe that's due to my postnatal depression and illness from a stroke last year at the age of 29! Stop referring to previous posts and get a life!!!

I wouldn't even have considered it from a germs perspective. There's probably more risk of transfer from the person putting the food into the bags than from a bag sitting for a few seconds on a counter.

Yanbu. Some food places are shocking. I work in an office and the canteen staff do not use gloves (I have never seen this at a deli) they 'disinfect' their hands with some push machine soap thing and stuff cheese and fillings into rolls/sandwiches with their fingers! And touch food after handling money. It's fucking disgusting and no wonder I've never ordered food in there

Yanbu at all and fair fucks for saying something, I often think if I did order food at work I'd ask them to put on gloves first, but would come across as rude

Yanbu for expecting basic hygiene on a bloody counter top!!

Then don’t use the phrase ‘clean freak’ or tell someone to take a ‘chill pill’, inappropriate and antagonising slurs.
Germs penetrate. I am sure if germs/bacteria wern’t able to get through paper bags it would save the NHS a lot of money.

People saying the food was in a bag.
That is not the point. Food should never touch the floor in a bag or not. And in this case a kids dirty trainers on the food counter yes that is filthy and a member of staff should have intervened politely to get the kid down.

That is gross

Also to people saying 'there were already germs on the counter' that is also not the point. You try to eliminate as much as you can see. We can't control the germs we can't see coming in advance

@WinehouseAmy I didn't use the term "clean freak" on your post, it was in response to a different post, and I was actually joking . Also, I didn't tell you to take a chill pill until you started talking about my comments on that whole other post, which again, was a joke! Nothing to do with you .

I love threads like this...

OP: AIBU?
Everyone: Yes
OP: argues with everyone about why she's not BU

You asked, the universe answered.

Exactly !! @LittleBittyKitty

I use to work food service and it drove me mad when parents would put their kids on the counter. It's disgusting and has the potential for a cross contamination issue. No one had to ask me to clean the counter afterwards.

@WhatToDoAboutWailmerGoneRogue following on from your AMA what would your McDonalds management response be in this situ?

*I love threads like this...

OP: AIBU?
Everyone: Yes
OP: argues with everyone about why she's not BU

You asked, the universe answered.*

Yes! This is like 90% of threads in AIBU. Most people apparently don't actually want to know if they're being unreasonable or even hear other opinions; they want validation and people to agree with them and a soapbox to stand on.

There seem to be relatively few where the poster is willing to listen to other opinions and take them on board.

@WhatToDoAboutWailmerGoneRogue sorry didn't see you'd actually already posted in here

Offs! A child being allowed to clamber all over a food counter is bloody disgusting if nothing else!
Also, it doesn’t sound highly appropriate for a 6/7yo to be in a fast food place at gone 7pm on a school night.

Looking at the post approximately 30% agree with me and 70%don’t?

YANBU

The guardian should have been told to get the child down and yes it should have been wiped down. Not sure I would have been particularly outspoken but I would consider leaving a note for management. The curious person in me is trying to work out why fast food took so long - we can get a full Chinese takeaway for four delivered in under 30 mins!

Some food places are shocking. I work in an office and the canteen staff do not use gloves (I have never seen this at a deli) they 'disinfect' their hands with some push machine soap thing and stuff cheese and fillings into rolls/sandwiches with their fingers!

Bimgy85 It’s actually less hygienic to use gloves, because the potential for cross contamination is far higher. Staff don’t change gloves when necessary and seem to think they’re a magic barrier and so they can touch anything and everything.

I won’t ever eat in a place that uses gloves to make food.

As I said, I’m a manager at McDonalds. We have a timed hand washing system that is strictly adhered to, and our hygiene practices and rules are extremely stringent. I would hazard a guess that a local independent canteen would not have such measures in place though.

sorry didn't see you'd actually already posted in here

MamaJune No worries I never actually realised before I became a manager how much of the job actually involved explaining to customers what behaviours are and aren’t acceptable

@WhatToDoAboutWailmerGoneRogue you see it's not unhygienic if used properly. I agree the majority of food places can not use gloves properly (changing them after every task) which is required. But the ones that do do well. I worked in a burrito bar for years and would literally change in between burritos, while serving at the till, changing gloves, getting new ones after every single task. It's easy if practice and trained properly. But yes if the gloves aren't used properly they can be just as bad as no gloves. If the staff aren't bothered to change in between each and every task - which is probably down to laziness not being busy because we used to have queues out the door and I still managed