Food for Thought

An article in our paper caught my eye today as I made lunch (yes, I've turned into my mother, reading every bit of print within eyesight - multitasking, you know).

Apparently this 74-year-old local guy travels the world, critiquing every restaurant he enters.

"I take notes and make recommendations," he said.

He's also taken note of bad habits diners have developed.

"Servers place menus down on plates," he said, adding that there's no telling how many hands have touched those menus.

Sometimes, he added, there's no clean place to put utensils after they are unwrapped.

"And (servers) wipe off the chairs and table with the same rag when everybody's been sitting everywhere."

Even worse, he's noticed parents placing their baby carriers on top of the tables, too. No telling what's been on those carriers, he said.
Another complaint he has is restaurants that offer bottomless salad bowls to be shared by those at the table. Rarely are there enough tomatoes, cucumbers and other prime ingredients to be shared, he said.

Let's break this down.

Firstly, the reporter got this all wrong when she listed these items under "bad habits diners have developed." Four of the five complaints should be directed to restaurant managers and staff; it is out of the control of fellow diners.

I'm not much of a germaphobe so I tend to just not think about it and hope for the best (really, considering the millions and millions of germs out there, we are a pretty healthy bunch. My kids, for example; I am not ashamed to admit that I used to put handfuls of Cheerios directly on the kitchen floor when Andrew and Stephen were little. I figured they'd end up there anyway).

Secondly, though, how can he think it is "even worse" to put a car seat on a table? Generally speaking, most carseats (and he is speaking of infant carriers) go straight from vehicle to stroller or shopping cart. No parent I know leaves their baby to sit in a cess pool.

This guy is a nut if he thinks I'm going to park my baby at my feet like a pet dog. Often times a parent has few options:

1. put the child in the seat on the floor, out of site, to serve as crumb catcher
2. put the child in a wobbly, upside down highchair at the end of the table where he/she will be touched by every server and/or patron
3. hold said child while attempting to eat, and not wear, your dinner
4. put the child in the seat on the table

Silly me, but I think I will go with option 4.
And if I happen to see Mr. Old Man Restaurant Guru (who, if he had children, never used a car seat), I will be sure to change the baby's diaper in view of all diners, then proceed to clean the table and menu with the baby wipe before stealing his "tomatoes, cucumbers, and prime ingredients" and walking out the door.