In which there is a huge fly in the [ointment] and Nightingale gets told off by the baker re his big buns.

I got into an argument yesterday at the supermarket while shopping for dinner rolls, of all exciting things. I can easily count the number of times I've ever actually argued in public or with an unknown person (hint: it's low). But. Sometimes you have to take a stand.

I know this is totally insignificant next to the major events and issues that mar this planet and many lives upon it at this time. But it's all I've got. And it feels good to stand up for what is right when necessary, whatever the issue. It is the principle of the thing, after all.

Yesterday I was at the bakery inside the local supermarket (one of a giant chain) where I regularly shop. I was choosing some dinner buns from a row of bins full of different kinds of bread rolls when I noticed a big ugly fly buzzing around inside one of the bins, landing on many of the giant crusty buns and walking around on them at will. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww. I called one of the nearby clerks over from her task of cutting bread and pointed out the fly. I expected that she would immediately pull all the buns from that particular bin. But she said she had to go and report it to the manager (of the bakery, not the entire store). She went to the back and I assume she did so.

Nothing happened.

I waited for a few minutes in front of that bin, telling any potential buyers not to choose those buns. There were still four other bins that looked fly-free at that time and people went ahead and purchased buns of varying types and sizes from the insect-less zones. My expectation was that bakery staff would come running to deal with this as they wouldn't want to sell fly-ridden food, would they?

When nobody had come to deal with the still buzzing fly after 5 or more minutes I went and checked again with the bread-slicing lady. She said the manager was in the back, in the freezer, at the moment and was "very busy". I asked her what she thought of people buying those buns in the interim, unaware of the fly contamination. She just stared at me, seeming not to know what to do. Why she couldn't have gone ahead and decommissioned those particular buns I do not know. I guess she wasn't allowed to make such a momentous decision.

A check-out clerk that I know happened by and I pointed out the big ugly fly in the bin to her. I said I didn't want to just let the fly out as I wanted the manager to see that it had been buzzing around for a significant amount of time and had contaminated all the buns in the bin, not just the one it happened to be on when he deigned to come and take a look. However, she went ahead and opened the lid and let the fly escape into the store (who knows its next destination). The bakery manager (who is actually the chief baker and you can tell from his physique that he samples A LOT of his own product) happened to wander by at that time, not en route to check out my report, but this clerk called to him and reported that she had let the fly out of the bin. He looked over, said "oh" and walked away. I still thought he was intending to return and take away all the contaminated buns.

No.

Another 5 minutes or more go by. I'm still standing there, waiting for someone to come over and deal with it. Slowly I came to realize that nobody had any intention of remaindering those buns. They were going to just go ahead and let people buy them. I went and asked Bread Lady again (3rd time) what they were going to do about it as I couldn't stand on guard there all day. Again, no answer. I asked her (politely) if she thought it was okay for people to purchase that product. No answer. Then she told me again how busy the manager (baker) was.

Then baker/manager wanders by again, this time pushing a trolley-load of bakery items for distribution onto various shelves near where I was (still) standing, shielding the contaminated buns. He walked by me twice, not even glancing over, and showing no indication that he was going to deal with it at all. One of the other customers whom I had advised not to buy the buns said she would report it to Customer Service. Still nobody came. After 15 minutes of standing there getting a little irate at being ignored and lied to (it felt like) I said out loud, to nobody there, that I would look after the problem myself, as I had to leave but no way would I let them get away with knowingly selling a contaminated product.

I grabbed a bunch of big plastic bags and one-by-one dumped a huge bin of buns into the bags. They filled up five large plastic bags, maybe about six dozen buns. I know why the staff didn't want to throw away all those buns, so much waste, but I had seen that fly walking all over many of them so you have to assume they are all contaminated.

I took all the bags over to Bread Lady, who was still at the slicing machine, and told her I had emptied the bin myself, as I had to go and the manager still hadn't shown up to deal with the problem. She looked shocked and I said again that she wouldn't want anyone to buy them, would she? She told me to put the bags of buns on the floor and she pointed to a corner, where I placed the bulging bags.

Again, the baker/manager happened to wander by and she called out to him and said, "The customer has taken all the buns out of the bin". He looked at the buns, his mouth dropped open, and he turned and yelled at me, with his arm up and index finger pointing to the pile of buns, "YOU CAN'T DO THAT!!!" I didn't take time to think of a civil reply, as is my usual approach. Him yelling at me was the last straw, I guess. I yelled too, "WELL, NOBODY ELSE WAS DOING IT!!!", meaning that no staff had come by to deal with the issue. I said loudly that I couldn't believe they would even THINK of selling food that was contaminated in that way. Then we had a few rancourous kindergarten-like exchanges along the lines of "yes I can", "no you can't". "Who else was doing it?" I yelled. "Who else was even PLANNING on doing it?"

Then Bun Boy changed tactics and every time I opened my mouth to make another comment he said loudly, "Thank you", "Thank you", "Thank you", drowning me out, not letting me speak, while turning his back on me. I saw red, a rare event for me. Very unlike my usual calm and courteous, peace-seeking self, I yelled again, telling Big Bun Boy exactly what he could do with his dirty buns and the bins they came in.

Not satisfied with such treatment, I went to Customer Service myself and related the entire incident in excruciating detail, as is my habit (if you can't tell from my posts!) That clerk called the store manager to whom I related the entire story again.

You know what the store manager asked me? "Did the fly land on EVERY bun in the whole bin?" Say what? Arggggghh. I became even more passionate about the way they were (mis)handling the incident and especially being a loyal customer and not appreciating having the baker yell at me for trying to do the right thing.

I went over to the nearby check-out counter where my groceries were awaiting scanning through and I decisively removed a loaf of bread, a bag of (other) buns and a few bagels, saying loudly, "I'm not taking this, or this, or this" and throwing them all on a convenient ice cream freezer near the check-out area. Other customers were looking at me wide-eyed but I didn't stop to explain myself.

You know what the check-out clerk said? "Those bins are always full of flies. There's nothing we can do about it."

O.M.G.

The store manager hastened over to assure me that she would speak to Bun Boy and that he should have "removed the product".

My point in relating this not-so-exciting story is that it's one of the few times I've spoken up for what I consider the right thing without fear or prior thought or being concerned about the effect on the other person (like, will he lose his job, is it really his fault, etc), just reacting to what was happening.

And it felt damn good!

A big part of it, for me at least, is no longer caring (too much) what others think of me, whether they know me or not. I just glide along doing and saying what is right in my own eyes. I still like the peaceful life but it is a luxury that may or may not always be within reach to achieve. And it may not always be the apogee of all ideals anyway.

I know that flies are often in the bread bins. I have seen them before. I realize that it's wise to wash all produce and other goods from grocery shops before consumption. I know that insects abound and that for most of us, our bodies can deal with much contamination and still, miraculously, thrive.

However, it was the principle of the thing. They were knowingly going to sell contaminated product. That shows an appalling lack of concern for the least amount of hygiene and a regrettable disdain for their customers. That angered me. As did the loudly yelling baker boy and his terrible customer service approach.

I'm sure the huge grocery chain will survive without the pittance I spend in their shop weekly. But still, I will derive pleasure from pointedly taking my business elsewhere.

Previously in life I have stood up for big principles and egregious flaws in systems or in human concerns but often, especially when it was for myself, I stayed silent. This was especially the case in religious settings. Such as the time in a small fundamentalist EV church I attended with friends for a while when they "shunned" a couple and a young teen daughter and commanded that they sit at the back of the chapel, not mingling with any other congregants. Why? Because the man was divorced (and this woman was his current intended). "I can't walk past people and not even say hello to them", I declared. But I was commanded myself to follow the shunning principle. To my shame, I did so, except for giving the family a nod as I passed by. Understandably, they only showed up twice and then were never seen there again. For myself too, when told that women couldn't speak in church or that I must forgive the unforgiveable or that my baptism was "no good", I accepted the pronouncements and stayed silent.

There have been many similar episodes in my churchgoing life. I'm at the point now where I say exactly what I think and damn the consequences.

It feels wonderful.

A great place to be, after years of churchgoing where obedience was the watchword, especially for females.

Can you imagine Baker Boy getting into a bun fight with a well-meaning customer? Crazy! I did walk away, knowing the exchange was going nowhere. But not until I got my 2 cents in, loudly. And I reported him. Previously I might have worried that it would adversely affect his bakery career, or something. Now I am more impulsive, although still controlled. So far. :)

It is the better way, I'm thinking.

Standing for Something. It has a lot to recommend it.

Good for you! Standing up for yourself, AND the rest of us.


My daughter worked in the jewelry department of a major chain store. Across the way she could view the produce aisle.

Things she's seen:
A lady sat her little dog on the broccoli while picking through the cauliflower.

A child was sat (in a diaper) on the produce.

May times it was knocked or dropped on the floor, picked up and placed back on the top.

LOTS of people coughing and sneezing on it.

One lady had her hands full, so she used her bare foot to point out something to her friend. She was pointing to the broccoli while also touching it.

LOTS of flies. Tons of people touching it.

This is why I won't buy anything that isn't wrapped. I don't buy from bulk bins that are open to the public. Who knows where it was before that? Always wash, produce. Even things like melons. Your knife touches the rind, then goes over the entire surface of what you're cutting.

Another thing to think about. Open cases that sit down low. I once watched a kid sneezing and coughing walk along the entire cheese case dragging his hand along everything he could reach. And we wonder how we caught that cold.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2014 04:58PM by madalice.

I think the clerk was probably terrified to go beyond what the manager wanted. I worked retail and once went beyond the call of duty... and almost got fired. Corporations don't want thinkers they want robots who do exactly what they are told. .. Just like you know who. You don't know if this poor person tried to help someone before you at some time and got a good chewing...

I did get the impression that the bread lady was meek and scared, which is why I didn't tell her off at all, just asked her how to fix it. When I said to her multiple times that she didn't want people to buy the product did she, I wasn't mean, just quiet and reasonable, sincerely asking her. Yeah, I didn't take it out on her. I wouldn't have on the baker either, until he yelled at me.

Do you know how many flies crawl on food that you DONT SEE? There is a government allowance of a few insect fragments, rodent hairs, etc per ounce of food. We all consume these things every day. You gave the employees a story to tell for a while, though!

Flies cannot chew. They have to suck up their food. Flies have mouth parts that absorb food like a sponge. Their food has to be in a liquid form in order for them to eat it. They have a tongue shaped like a drinking straw to slurp up their meals. Flies that eat nectar or blood do so by using their tongue which is called a proboscis. Even flies that eat other insects do so by sucking out the insides of their victims.

When a fly lands on our food, it vomits on the food. The digestive juices, enzymes, and saliva in the vomit begin to break down and dissolve the food. The fly can then suck up the liquid food with its sponge-like mouth parts. f flies eat food from garbage cans or any other source of germy food, some of those germs stick to the fly's mouthparts and when the fly vomits on its next snack (your sandwich?), it transfers some of those germs.

Now you're just making me hungry.

There is NOTHING they can do? How about industrial strength bug zappers. I see them in grocery stores in the meat area. How about some old fashioned fly strips?

Call the health inspector.


I feels good to be the Avenger from Hell.

I got into it once because I was not going to let a woman is her new big ass gas guzzling SUV hit a car in the parking lot and drive away.

She hit an unoccupied car, got out to LOOK at her car and was getting in to drive off when I got out of my car and said she had to report the accident. I used my phone to take a picture of her car but she had no tag in the front. When I went to the back she stood in front of the car tag. We went back and forth, she told me I had no right to photograph her car, I told her that her actions were illegal.

I told her I was calling the cops, which I did. They asked to speak to her, she became meek as a lamb. Was whining that most of the damage was to her new car. Stupid redneck beoch. I stayed until the cops arrived.

This was the week before Xmas, what a nice surprise it would have been to the owner of the car to find the damage and have to pay the hundreds of dollars for the deductible.

As I have gotten older, I have become twitchier about germs. I wash vegetables and fruit very well. I even have unscented dish soap that I use for the outside of melons.

I always wash my hands very well when I come in the house. I have not had the flu since 1999 and I don't get a flu shot, so I must be doing something right. Doctors say to not touch your face or eyes if you have been in a pubic area. That is how they avoid getting colds from their patients.


Part of it was watching my niece grow up. Her parents are very lax about table manners and washing hands. It grosses me out. She comes in from playing outside for several hours (petting dogs and cats) and then eats. Often with her fingers. She stick her face into the serving bowls to smell the food and her hair falls in. She regularly will touch things in the serving bowls (baked potatoes, or cookies on a tray) before taking what she wants with her fingers.

I can't believe my sister lets her behave this way. Our mother would have smacked us on the head if we acted that way at the table. She is 11 and has the table manners and skills of a child half her age. I always turn down her offer of candy if she has it in her hand and it is unwrapped (like M & Ms)

It's not your right to dispose of their property. As was mentioned you could notify the health department. Personally I've eaten food that flies landed on and didn't notice any degradation of food taste or quality.

elciz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's not your right to dispose of their property.
> As was mentioned you could notify the health
> department. Personally I've eaten food that flies
> landed on and didn't notice any degradation of
> food taste or quality.


That is because that fly had not been on some bad sheet, like a turd and was not carrying ecoli.

Diseases carried by house flies include typhoid, cholera and dysentery. Other diseases carried by house flies include salmonella, anthrax and tuberculosis. House flies have also been known to transmit the eggs of parasitic worms.

I didn't consider I was disposing of their property. I was bagging up the dirty buns for them, as it was my understanding from the clerk that the manager was coming to do so. She didn't say, no we're selling them anyway, she said OK the manager is coming to remove the buns. He showed no indication that he was going to do so and so I did it - bagged them up and asked her what to do with them at that point. I didn't throw them out. I just removed them from other customers buying them unawares because I couldn't stand there all day.

Two women at the Customer Service area said the staff should have immediately pulled the product. One of them was the Asst Store Manager.

So I don't think I did anything wrong or outside my "right" to do so. As I said, if the bakery clerk had said we don't care or if the customer service personnel had said so what I would likely have not touched the buns, as then to me it would have been a different problem. Not just the bakery mgr not caring but a store policy of not caring. Which I still would have addressed but maybe not by cleaning out the dirty buns. Or maybe I would have, feeling bad for other potential customers.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2014 05:45PM by Nightingale.

Agree.

That should be under Eluciz's post about it not being Nightengale's right to dispose of the rolls. You're not an employee there. They are going to be sharing the story for a while, though!

I appreciate your point but I didn't consider I was disposing of the buns. The clerk had told me THEY would dispose of them but they weren't coming to do it and they weren't ensuring that other customers weren't going ahead and buying the contaminated buns, so while I was bagging them up I wasn't taking it into my own hands, I honestly thought I was just helping to move them along, primarily as I had to LEAVE and couldn't wait around any longer.

The store manager didn't tell me I shouldn't have done it.

But even if so, the baker didn't need to yell at me. Which was just more evidence to me that he had never had any intention of coming to remove the buns, as I had been led to believe.

My position is that they LIED when they said they would come and remedy the situation. I honestly thought, for nearly 15 minutes, that they would come when they had time but meanwhile I was making sure nobody bought the defiled buns. So it all started with a lie on their part. If they had said who cares in the beginning then it would have been a different issue, as I said above. I wouldn't have stayed at the bins waiting for resolution that wasn't going to happen.

Amazing as it seems, even this little interlude reminds me of the Mormon Church, where they start out with lies (missionaries lying for the Lord, by commission or omission). My position there is if they didn't lie in the first instance they wouldn't have so many problems with disillusioned converts (and BICs).

My story;
I consider my Mobile number very private, nevertheless some solicitous people find cracks and call me,their timing can't be any worse when I am driving, even though I have blootooth, I find it distracting

-Hi Mr.Cienfuegos how are you this afternoon
-Who are you?
-This is Home Protection, I was wondering....
_Hey Bitch did I solicit your call? F@*k off!!!

I didn't feel a bit remorse....

Don't ever pick out food in the bread bins unless it has freshly baked and placed in the display. Only get the breads that are already sealed.

Customers pick through and touch the product all day long.

For months my sister who underwent a stem cell transplant was not allowed to eat anything that could have been touched by the public or exposed to insects or to open air. Since her harrowing medical experiences, I've learned to be very careful about hand washing and contamination.

I don't usually buy anything from open bins either, but with the buns I want, that's the only way they display them. That's the only product I buy from the bins. (But maybe no more). Certainly not from that store.

Yeah, I avoid the bulk buys at all costs.

I also wash my hands as well as all produce/fruit skins etc. I seem to easily catch colds and get quite ill with some of them, which I avidly seek to avoid.

Good example, Cheryl, of your sister's situation. People are way too casual about contamination and passing their germs along. I find this in medical clinics as well - people go in with raging coughs and colds and fevers and MDs keep you waiting forever for your appointment and meanwhile you're exposed to all that coughing and sneezing and horking. Yeech.

Yeah, cos flies are known to transmit a whole range of diseases like, eh,...

Email corporate, include the rude baker/managers name. Include as much detail as possible. Tell them how you've been a lifelong customer [till now] explain your very real fears of germs and other contaminants. In my experience this always gets results

You're going to get a standard letter of apology and a coupon for a free roll. Then, they are going to file your complaint in the "nutcase" file.

Yes, you're likely completely correct.

So are you calling me a nutcase or saying that's what they will call me? :)

They will. And I am. Sorry, I just think this was an overreaction to an everyday occurrence. You're mad because you think they lied? Of course they told you they would take care of it. Anything to get a demanding customer to move on.
Once at my work, a customer complained about the restrooms. I told her I would check on it. The toilets were clean, the only thing was a piece of TP on the floor. I thought "geez princess, how clean do you need your restroom? I had stuff to do!

You are going to freak out when you see a rat in the produce section then.

That is very...very common.

A fly?...you wish the only thing that touches your food is a fly...lol

The precise details about insect contamination and especially how flies eat etc are right up there amongst Things I Didn't Want to Know or Ever Have to Think About!

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

I have lately come to the conclusion anyway that trying to maintain cleanliness or expectations of decent hygiene in most instances is a non-starter. Many people either don't know or don't care.

But I didn't expect to get into an argument about it at a giant-chain, rich grocery store where most of the staff knows me by name as I've been shopping there for so long. And where I meant only the best (in the beginning) for the store and its customers. I didn't expect the baker to react in anger. He could have avoided the whole thing by telling the truth in the first place; i.e., saying "big deal, live with it" or otherwise indicating that I shouldn't wait cuz he wasn't going to fix it.

There's something about this thread that makes me feel like I've just entered into a Seinfeld/Curb Your Enthusiasm alternative reality.

First World Problems are such a bugger, eh?

Human

I so infrequently saw Seinfeld that I don't get your reference, sorry.

"First World Problems are such a bugger, eh?"

Yeah, I acknowledged at the outset that there are far worse issues going on in lives and places than my little bun ordeal but it's all I got. That I want to share at this time anyway.

It's astonishing how resilient our bodies are to filth.

The movie Babies, about four newborns from various locations and their first few years, took my breath away. Hygiene varies enormously, as well as simple things like supervision. Highly recommend this movie. See for yourself (trailer):

http://youtu.be/N009QUWUy7I

I saw that! It was fun.

That c.ock hanging out with the swaddled Mongolian baby put us on the edge of our seats.

In the end I actually felt a little sorry for the San Fran kid.

Isn't there a scene with a goat in the baby's bath? Been a long time since I saw it.

Remember the story from years ago when train travel was common:

A lady was travelling on a passenger train, and saw roaches in the car. She was indignant. When she got home she wrote an angry letter to the president of the railroad. She later got a personal letter from the president, which said something like the following:

"Dear Madam, I am very distressed and astonished at being informed of the presence of roaches in one of our coaches. I had no idea that there was such a condition on our line. We take every precaution to prevent such occurrences, and I assure you that steps will be taken to deal immediately with the problem in that particular coach. Sincerely,..."

The secretary who prepared the letter was obviously new and inexperienced, since she included the passenger's original letter with the president's response. On the passenger's letter was the notation: "Send the roach letter."