QUIZNOS: Epic Customer Vs. Franchisee Fight over $6.53
UnhappyFranchisee.com [RE: QUIZNOS: Epic Customer Vs. Franchisee Fight over $6.53 editor’s note: based on new information, we have edited the original story, which remains in black type. New text appears in green.]
Have you ever been involved in a dispute that you just can’t let go of, even when it makes you look like a raving maniac to those around you?
UnhappyFranchisee.com chronicles many mutually destructive disputes that could have been avoided had both parties taken a step back, looked at the situation from the viewpoint of their “opponent,” then agreed to a mutually beneficial compromise.
[Read more on the Quiznos Sub Franchise]
How to create a lose-lose situation
According to a person who claims to be a Quiznos customer who witnessed the incident, the woman “parked her $70,000 Red Corvette across the handicapped parking space AND the handicapped loading/unloading clearance.”
“When she entered the store, she was clearly in a bad mood.”
According to the woman, she was in a great mood when she entered the Quiznos.
The woman ordered a Quiznos Large Cobb Salad.
A franchise owner wanted to sell her a Quiznos Large Cobb Salad.
The woman asked the preparer to put on a fresh pair of gloves.
The franchisee refused her request, saying it was unreasonable. explained that it wasn’t necessary, as the worker had just put the gloves on. The customer said she still wanted the worker to change to new gloves.
The franchisee complied, and had the worker put on new gloves. The franchisee stated, though, that next time he would not honor such a request.
Upset that the franchisee had questioned her (even though the salad was completed as she requested, the customer demanded her money back.
The franchisee refused to give her her money back.
A verbal dispute erupted. The woman claims she refused the salad and left.
A witness claims she threw the salad across the counter at the franchisee.
Afterward, both called the police.
The woman started emailing websites and posting complaints about the Quiznos franchisee.
She vowed to “pursue this matter in civil court and will ask for punitive damages…”
What turns rational, professional people into raving lunatics?
Initially, we thought this was a mildly entertaining story that illustrated how both sides of a dispute can blow things out of proportion, and cause each other unnecessary aggravation and damage.
After learning more from both sides, it seems we were wrong.
This now appears to us to be a story about how much abuse foodservice franchise owners must take from the occasional Customer-From-Hell.
Our sympathies go out to the Lenexa, KS Quiznos franchise owner who bent over backwards to please a rude and demanding customer, only to have his best efforts (literally) thrown back in his face, to be criticized on the Internet, and to have the police called on him.
Hopefully the woman will file her civil lawsuit to try to recover $6.53 plus punitive damages, and the laughter and publicity it generates will bring him much business and sympathy in the future.
What turns rational, professional people into raving lunatics?
In situations like this, it’s often a case of feeling disrespected.
I searched the customer’s name (which I’ve withheld), and learned that she’s a highly educated woman-of-color who has a government job and also owns a small business. It seems likely that, as a woman and member of a minority group, she has worked extra hard to achieve success and feels that she has the right to be treated respectfully when she is the customer.
Isn’t her patronage worth a few pennies worth of latex?
If a white business executive with a Rolex and expensive suit had asked for a fresh pair of gloves, would the franchisee have refused and told him he unreasonable?
At the same time, we know that Quiznos owners are highly stressed, with a parent company in financial distress and thousands of fellow franchisees having lost their investments, savings and some their houses. Quiznos franchisees are stressed about their thin profit margins, which have been strained by pressure from “dollar menu” competitors and a parent company that jacks up the products it sells to them, then advertises buy-one-get-one-free deals and “Million Sub Giveaway” promotions that eat up what little remains of their profits.
Don’t consumers care that coupons, discount prices and freebies are forcing local small business owners into bankruptcy?
Isn’t it enough that his employees wear gloves and prepare food in plain sight? Must he buy new gloves for every salad or sandwich? Where does it end?
The solution is simple when you follow the Rule
The customer is so incensed that she will waste hours writing long, passionate diatribes (see below) about an obviously (to everyone but her) trivial incident. Her overdramatization of the franchisee’s bad behavior (“outrageous and nefarious misconduct,” “theft, malice and reckless behavior,” “he is a thief; he stole my money, and caused public humiliation and embarrassment”) does not further her reputation as a emotionally balanced professional.
While she has every right to have Visa reverse the charge on her card, her threat of a civil suit (with punitive damages) over a $6.53 salad is, at best, silly.
Of course, the franchisee handled the situation as poorly as possible. Not only did he lose future revenue from a valuable customer over a few pennies, he created a lot of negative buzz about his store that will surely spread in the future. He sent a negative message to his staff that not only is the customer NOT always right, but it’s fine to tell them so to their face.
Unfortunately, the customer may be correct in saying “his reckless behavior, poor attitude, and lack of respect for customers is a high indicator that he will not be in business long.”
What’s striking is how easily this Lose-Lose situation could have become Win-Win with a single statement from either party:
The customer could have said: “I understand my $6.53 doesn’t cover it, so here’s 25 cents to cover the cost of the gloves.”
The franchisee could have said: “Be assured that we always do everything we can to provide a clean prep area. However, if it will help you enjoy your Quiznos salad, we’ll be happy to put on a fresh pair of gloves.”
Remember The Golden Rule?
The customer could have shown respect for the franchisee’s business by offering extra payment for extra service.
The franchisee could have shown respect for the customer and prepared her salad the way she wanted it, and probably gained a customer for life.
Are you engaged in a heated dispute? Take a step back and look through your opponent’s eyes.
There may be a simple, mutually beneficial compromise right in front of you.
HERE IS THE QUIZNOS CUSTOMER COMPLAINT WE RECEIVED:
Date: March 16, 2012: 1:30 p.m.
Subject: Outrageous misconduct and petty theft by a Quiznos manager
Location: Quiznos, located at 11099 Lackman Road, Lenexa, Kansas 66219
Food preparer: I placed an order (to go) for a large Cobb Salad and politely asked the Hispanic food preparer if she didn’t mind putting on a new pair of gloves before making the salad. The look on her face implied that she was somewhat disturbed about the request. She made eye contact with a short, white man, who had brown hair, a light beard and who appeared to be in his early fifties. He asked the food preparer what I had said.
The short man I interacted with demonstrated outrageous and nefarious misconduct. The nature of his wrong doing involved theft, malice and reckless behavior. Below is a precise account of the event.
Short man: (very defensive) “She just put those gloves on.”
Me: “I still would like for her to put on a new pair of gloves.”
Short man: “May I ask the reason why?”
Me: “I’m ordering food for someone else who is very meticulous.”
Short man: “We practice the highest standards of cleanliness and she just put on those gloves.
Me: “I want the salad made with a new pair of gloves.”
Short man: (harsh tone of voice) “We’ll do it this time, but next time we will not do it for you.”
Me: (offended) “You really should not say that, and in my case, the customer is right.”
Short man: (angry) “You’re wrong and now are you trying to tell me how to do my job?”
Me: (irritated and intimidated) “I don’t want the salad; refund the $6.53 back to my bank card.”
Short man: (arrogant) “I am not going to do it.”
Me: (upset but calm) “Why not, I don’t want the salad.”
Short man: “Because it’s already made.”
Me: “No it’s not; she’s still working on it.”
Short man: “You’re not getting your money back and you’re upsetting customers.” (other than me – only one customer was in the restaurant)
Me: “I don’t care about your one customer, you’re upsetting me, your other customer, and if you won’t refund my bank card then I will contact my bank and put a stop payment on the transaction.”
Short man: (very self -satisfied and sarcastic) “You would do that?”
Me: “I need to speak with the manager.”
Short man: (smug and proud) “I am the manager and I’m the owner of the store.”
Me: (disdainfully) “You’re really pathetic and I will never, ever come here again.”
Short man: (gives me the salad) “Get out of my store and you are never allowed to come back.”
End result I gave the salad back to the idiot and walked out, then after a few seconds I went back into the restaurant to ask for my receipt. He said that he had given it to me so I looked in my wallet, found it, apologized and left. Ten minutes later after arriving home I called the Lenexa Police to report the incident. The contact offered to send two officers to meet me at the restaurant to see if this idiot would refund my money but that they could not make him give it back because it’s a civil matter.
While I was on the phone with Lenexa Police, the contact said that someone from Quiznos had called the police to have someone put out of their store but that she was uncertain who the person was (probably me).
Summary The aggravating circumstance clearly involved a situation in which the short man acted foolishly, intentionally malicious, and with utter disregard of me as a customer. Additionally, he is a thief; he stole my money, and caused public humiliation and embarrassment in the presence of his two female workers and one male customer.
This individual is a lose cannon and something is seriously wrong with him. It is frightening to know that he is
the owner – if this is true. Owner or not, his reckless behavior, poor attitude, and lack of respect for customers is a high indicator that he will not be in business long.
Suspiciously, since the guy refused to refund my money and keep the salad too, business must really be hurting financially.
Last, this man is subject to treat other people like this and it is not right. I plan to pursue this matter in civil court and will ask for punitive damages to prevent this guy from acting out similar behavior in the future.
What do you think? Share a comment, example or observation below.
Contact UnhappyFranchisee.com
>>I was actually eating lunch at this store when this woman came in. She was rude and demanding and is completely lying about this altercation.
“Food preparer: I placed an order (to go) for a large Cobb Salad and politely asked the Hispanic food preparer if she didn’t mind putting on a new pair of gloves before making the salad.” –Which she did–
“The look on her face implied that she was somewhat disturbed about the request. She made eye contact with a short, white man, who had brown hair, a light beard and who appeared to be in his early fifties. He asked the food preparer what I had said.” –So, maybe she didn’t understand you–
“The short man I interacted with demonstrated outrageous and nefarious misconduct. The nature of his wrong doing involved theft, malice and reckless behavior. Below is a precise account of the event.” -stick to real estate sales. If you are looking at another career, maybe “creative writing” —
Short man: (very defensive) “She just put those gloves on.” -Which she did —
Me: “I still would like for her to put on a new pair of gloves.” –No, I want ANOTHER new pair–
Short man: “May I ask the reason why?”
Me: “I’m ordering food for someone else who is very meticulous.” –“because I am the customer and a said to.”–
Short man: “We practice the highest standards of cleanliness and she just put on those gloves.” –which she DID at YOUR request–
Me: “I want the salad made with a new pair of gloves.” –It was–
Short man: (harsh tone of voice) “We’ll do it this time, but next time we will not do it for you.”
Me: (offended) “You really should not say that, and in my case, the customer is right.” –hardly, you were rude and demanding–
Short man: (angry) “You’re wrong and now are you trying to tell me how to do my job?”
Me: (irritated and intimidated) “I don’t want the salad; refund the $6.53 back to my bank card.”
Short man: (arrogant) “I am not going to do it.”
Me: (upset but calm) “Why not, I don’t want the salad.” –screaming “calmly”–
Short man: “Because it’s already made.”
Me: “No it’s not; she’s still working on it.” –you said this, but the salad was already packed and in a bag on the counter in front of you–
Short man: “You’re not getting your money back and you’re upsetting customers.” (other than me – only one customer was in the restaurant) –there was 3 others–
Me: “I don’t care about your one customer, you’re upsetting me, your other customer, and if you won’t refund my bank card then I will contact my bank and put a stop payment on the transaction.” –This is clear, you do not care about anything or anyone but yourself–
Short man: (very self -satisfied and sarcastic) “You would do that?”
Me: “I need to speak with the manager.”
Short man: (smug and proud) “I am the manager and I’m the owner of the store.”
Me: (disdainfully) “You’re really pathetic and I will never, ever come here again.”
Short man: (gives me the salad) “Get out of my store and you are never allowed to come back.”
End result I gave the salad back –by throwing it at him– to the idiot and walked out, then after a few seconds I went back into the restaurant to ask for my receipt. He said that he had given it to me so I looked in my wallet, found it, apologized and left. Ten minutes later after arriving home I called the Lenexa Police to report the incident.
“The contact offered to send two officers to meet me at the restaurant to see if this idiot would refund my money but that they could not make him give it back because it’s a civil matter.” –This would never happen. Complete lie. Why would a police officer re-engage a volatile situation? A police officer would tell her it was private property and advise her to leave under her own power of they would arrest her.–
“While I was on the phone with Lenexa Police, the contact said that someone from Quiznos had called the police to have someone put out of their store but that she was uncertain who the person was (probably me).” –If it had been my store, I would have called WAY sooner. Strangely, I sat there for another 45 minutes and the police never came. Must be a lie.–
Summary The aggravating circumstance clearly involved a situation in which the short man acted foolishly, intentionally malicious, and with utter disregard of me as a customer. Additionally, he is a thief; he stole my money, and caused public humiliation and embarrassment in the presence of his two female workers and one male customer.
This individual is a lose cannon and something is seriously wrong with him. It is frightening to know that he is
the owner – if this is true. Owner or not, his reckless behavior, poor attitude, and lack of respect for customers is a high indicator that he will not be in business long.
Suspiciously, since the guy refused to refund my money and keep the salad too, business must really be hurting financially. –You threw the salad over the counter. THAT is rude.–
Last, this man is subject to treat other people like this and it is not right. I plan to pursue this matter in civil court and will ask for punitive damages to prevent this guy from acting out similar behavior in the future. –Take your own pill madam–
I LOVE the way this website immediately turned this altercation into a racial issue. Here is the racial make up of the altercation.
1 – African American woman
1 – White Male
2 – Hispanic Females
1 – American Indian
It is strange that ALL of the involved races were on one side and SHE was on the other. If 1 in 10 people are insane and the 9 people around you seem normal, guess what…
“Highly Educated” – After I pointed out 30+ grammatical errors in her rants on yahoo, she removed them. You might want to check her “highly educated” status further.
John:
We weren’t turning it into a racial issue, just pointing out that different people may have different perspectives that lead to their blowing things out of proportion. We’ve obviously got limited information about what set her off. The fact that she points out the race of all involved led us to guess race might be important to her.
As for education, her LinkedIn profile says she’s got a masters. You can’t judge by typos as many people commenting are typing in to smartphones.
If what you say is true about the worker having changed the gloves at her request and her actually throwing the finished salad at the franchisee, then she’s much more at fault than it appeared from her version of the story.
You still don’t give any explanation about what set her off? Simply a crazy woman roaming the streets, throwing salads, then lying about it on the Internet?
And are you really the lone male customer or the franchisee?
When she entered the store, she was clearly in a bad mood. She had apparently had a bad day and needed to lash out. I was sitting by the windows when she drove up. She parked her $70,000 Red Corvette across the handicapped parking space AND the handicapped loading/unloading clearance. She was WAY too important to use a regular parking space.
I am quite sure if someone else had been in line, she would have assumed the position at the front because she was so important. That was the attitude she exuded as she entered the store, before she even ordered.
After the salad had been started, she asked for the prep worker to put on new gloves. Which the manager had the employee do. I agree that the employee may not have understood her, the prep worker often looks to the manager to explain things she does not understand. The manager is bi-lingual. This alone seemed to set the complainant off. From this point forward, the conversation grew louder and louder as the complainant tried to keep the upper hand in the conversation by over-talking everyone else. She was “calmly talking” so loud I could not hear what the manager was telling her. The manager appropriately maintained an even tone.
When she left, through the door by the cash register, she said she didn’t want the salad and threw in over the counter. She said she was never coming back into that store again and she was going to file a complaint. She didn’t “give” the salad back to him, she threw it over the counter.
The grammatical errors were not typos, they were common mistakes made in English. In any case, education level has absolutely NOTHING to do with this situation. Your article reeks of bias sprayed with a little bleach to give you an out on the racial/class/sexist twist. In any case, her education level has nothing to do with this at all. There are asses in all walks of life.
First, the question of race never came up in the confrontation. Second, the question of her considerable income never came up int the confrontation. Third, her employment never came up. So ALL of these things were unnecessarily injected into an issue and only serve to paint a pale picture of an underlying race related confrontation. That is NOT what this was. She was in a bad mood and lashed out at the first person that crossed her path. I figure that one of her real estate clients had given her walking papers or a big deal fell through or something like that, but in any case, she was in a bad mood and it was clear in her body language before she ever entered the store.
The truth is, I was about to call the police on her before the confrontation eve reached its peak. As far as I can remember, the manager never threatened to call the police. The police never showed up, at least for the remainder of my lunch (about 45 minutes.)
When she “left for the last time” she got in her car then got out and came back in. I wanted to say “Welcome back!” but the anger she had exhibited made me wonder why she was back. I was standing ready to defend myself if she decided to go over the edge and start shooting. Fortunately, she was only there to further humiliate herself. She demanded the manager giver her a receipt. Which he certainly did, they ALWAYS do. I am not saying that idly either, they ALWAYS GIVE YOU A RECEIPT. She insisted that they didn’t and started to get wound up again. The manager asked if she put it in her purse…she mumbled something and left. I really wanted to jump up and say “IN YOUR FACE!” but the situation was already too intense.
I worked in fast food for decades. There are good managers and bad managers. Bad managers do not last years. There are right ways and wrong ways for managers to handle these situations. This manager tried every trick to defuse this situation. He didn’t raise his voice, he tried to understand her issue, but everything just made her more angry.
There are also good customers and bad customers. About 95% of the bad customers can be dealt with and appeased. There are a few that cannot be made happy at any cost. She had just been dealt a blow in her personal life and felt that belittling a lowly food worker would make her feel better. All I can say is apparently it didn’t work. Every demand she made (as far as I could hear) was fulfilled and she still got angry.
As far as refunding her money, she said that she was going to get her money back through her credit card company. The manager did the right thing by telling her to do it that way. This is a simple tactic to defuse these situations. She was clearly not going to become a “patron for life.” He did the wise thing and prevented another 15 minutes of confrontation while she stood around waiting on a credit to be issued on her card. In the end, the refund will be handled by the credit card company. He just took away 15 more minutes of ranting by her…taking the store back to a calm peaceful place to enjoy a good meal. I personally wasn’t interested in hearing her carry on for another 15 minutes. I am a customer too. I enjoy a peaceful meal. He has other people to consider, unlike her. Honestly, I was on the verge of confronting her, it would have certainly happened if she had stuck around another 2 minutes. The manager was absolutely right to do what he did about the refund.
The golden rule is called “The good, the bad and the ugly”
THE GOOD: Are customers that are regulars or easily won over by good food and good service. You want to keep these customers in your store. You want them to return and tell their friends about you.
THE BAD: Are customers that are a lot of work and are easily disgruntled. These customers can be converted to THE GOOD customer through the same good service and good food with a quite a bit of nurturing. In any case, THE BAD customers can be managed even if the remain bad customers for life. They still get good service, they still get good food, they still get handled with kid gloves. Over time, most of them become loyal customers.
THE UGLY: Are customers that simply cannot be converted to THE BAD customer, much less THE GOOD customer. The best thing is to service them with good service and good food and get them out of your store a quickly as possible.
The bottom line is I am ALSO a paying customer and I don’t care to listen to the rants of angry customers. The manager should do the best he can do, then get them out the door ASAP. That is exactly what happened here.
To answer your last question. I am a customer.
As I recall, I was there, she was there, the manager was there and two employees were there. These were involved in some capacity in the confrontation.
During the confrontation, at least 3 customers left the store, and one came up to the North doors and didn’t enter. When she left, I was the only customer in the store, but there were others there when she started.
We received 4 emails from the Quiznos customer last night. While she requested we do not publish her email messages verbatim, she provided the following clarifications/corrections:
> Contrary to our reading of her account, she acknowledges that the employee DID put on a fresh pair of gloves at her request.
> Contrary to what we wrote, she states that the franchisee did not feel the request for fresh gloves was unreasonable.
> Contrary to what John Hunkler wrote, she is not nor has ever been a real estate agent, she has a creative writing background, and she was in a great mood when she entered the restaurant.
> Contrary to what we wrote, she “NEVER worked extra hard nor have worked hard at all to achieve success.”
> Contrary to what we wrote, race played no role in the conflict.
> Contrary to what John Hunkler wrote, the police DID offer to accompany her to the restaurant
> Contrary to what John Hunkler wrote, she was very calm and professional and never threw the salad
We have asked for further clarification, namely: If the franchisee complied with her request for a fresh pair of gloves, why did she refuse the salad that she had ordered and paid for – and which was prepared to her specifications?
Is her entire dispute based on the fact that the franchisee said he would not comply next time? If so, how is that “theft” and “outrageous and nefarious misconduct”?
Interestingly, the customers emails imply that she may think we are a department in Quiznos corporate office – not an unaffiliated site that publicly discusses franchise disputes. It appears that her intention was not to make this a public discussion, but to try to privately damage this franchisee’s reputation with Quiznos corporate office.
While this started as a story about how a franchisee could perhaps have handled a situation better, it’s starting to become an example of how much abuse they have to take even when they do everything right.
I will add that you definitely have the right person. She originally posted this complaint on yahoo local under her first name. Being an uncommon name, I simply googled ” lenexa” then clicked “pictures.” Two pictures of her show up on the first page. BTW, there are only 4 people in this region with the same first name. There are two people in the US with the same first and last name.
It doesn’t matter how she paints the picture or what title she gives herself, she is a realtor…registered and in business as one. I clicked on her website (st******ll.com)and found more pictures of her. It was definitely the person we are talking about.
“It appears that her intention was not to make this a public discussion, but to try to privately damage this franchisee’s reputation with Quiznos corporate office.” — I can’t really speak to her intentions, but she posted similar rants on at least two other sites, one being yahoo local. It seems that her intention was to do as much damage as possible to this store. Her other postings have since been removed. I hope it is because she has re-read them and realized how unfair she has been. I honestly hope this week goes better for her than last week.
I am expecting a call from Quiznos today. I sent their complaint department a lengthy E-mail about the altercation and they responded by end of business Friday.
I would like to add that I have re-read your original story and I certainly apologize about the “race” remark. While I think the conversation probably should not be taken in that direction at all, I understand you didn’t have a full picture of the events. I would like to make a recommendation about the site however, the front page does not make it clear how to get to comments about a story. I know how to, but not everyone will. I think ma “view comments” link needs to be added. If one is there already, it probably needs to be made more visible.
Based on new information from Salad Lady and John Hunkler, we pretty much gutted the original story and came to a new conclusion.
The franchisee pretty much bent over backwards for this customer and had his best efforts (literally) thrown back in his face. While he probably should have held his tongue, how much crap can a person be expected to take?
Well, so much for being able to get away with a quick, fluff Saturday afternoon story…
I guess that Salad Lady will not be pleased with the revised version. At least she still has her little red Corvette and many more small business owners in Lenexa she can terrorize.
And at least we are several states away from her, hidden safely in a fortified bunker.
;)
I see from your corrections to the story that you have been adequately exposed to this woman; enough so to make an accurate assessment of her social skills.
All I can say is that I hope your fortified bunker is impervious to the dreaded salad shooter. :)
I like the Good, Bad, & the Ugly. We definitely get some “uglies” in our store. The whole thing with the gloves is that we (Quiznos) change them about 500 times a day. Swear to God. We touch this, we wash our hands and put a new gloves. We make this, we change our gloves. Someone comes in… we immediately wash our hands and put on new gloves. People are just peculiar sometimes and I have learned to just smile and obey their silly request. Maybe they did not just see me put these new gloves on or maybe they went to that other place and they never changed their gloves. What does she do at McDonald’s, where they do not where gloves at all? What about most restaurants who do not where gloves when preparing food?? The salad is basically made using measuring scoops anyhow. I feel bad for the owner. He is not alone though. Sometimes no matter how hard you try, you just cannot get the customer to cheer up or even smile. That is usually my goal if I noticed someone coming in with a frown. Throwing a salad DOES NOT happen by a well-educated lady, I am sorry. Obviously, someone needs some classes on being a good customer. They should implement that into high school. ;-)
Also… there is no way that the contact person for the police mentioned anything of the sort about another call! That is breaking confidentiality laws! It seems to me that she did a lot of “making things up” in her report.
A while back we wrote about Sub shop franchise employees posting how much they hate their customers on Facebook.
Facebook Horror Stories: Sub Franchise Employees Hating On Customers
http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/facebook-horror-stories-sub-franchise-employees-hating-on-customers/
In the story of the tossed salad above, I definitely am a bit horrified at how much abuse some customers feel they are justified in doling out on franchise owners and their crews.
S. Blaser is right. The ones who prepare food openly and wear gloves get more scrutiny than those hidden away in a kitchen where anything can be happening. Folks, cut your servers some slack. It ain’t easy putting up with what they put up with.
What i find more interesting in all of this is how some people think that if the last person to touch their food wears gloves, it makes the food cleaner somehow. the salad is grown in the dirt then picked by hot, sweaty workers in the heat of summer. These workers are absolutely filthy because of the sweat and blowing dust. The salad is most likely fertilized with nothing more than synthetic urine (that is all fertilizer is)…or in some cases non-synthitec urine (eat local my friends.) The salad is then put in big dirty trucks and driven to a processing plant along often dirt roads.
When it arrives at the plant, it is washed and chopped and shook and spun and ground up and reshaped by dirty machines and more dirty sweaty people. Some places wear gloves at this level, note that is mainly to keep workers from turning green from handling all of the lettuce. The point is, if the truth was known, the restaurant floor is probably one of the cleanest places that salad has been.
If you think your food doesn’t have human sweat on it, you probably should spend a few weeks working on a farm. Lets not forget that more people get sick by food contaminated at processing plants than by any other foodborne illness.
Don’t get me started on chicken processing plants. You know, the plant that makes pillow stuffing on a line about 8 feet off the ground, then human consumable food on a line about 3 feet under that, and dog food on a line 3 feet below that. It is super efficient, but not so appetizing.
No offense, John, but I think it’s now clear why you were dining alone… ;)
No offense taken, I get that alot. :)