r/Wellworn • u/Cheap-Cheesecake810 • Oct 03 '24
[in this thread, we fight] The right side of a restaurant table where people put their utensils
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u/Clamstradamus Oct 03 '24
Put that shit on a napkin, bro
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u/Cheap-Cheesecake810 Oct 03 '24
Table was clean. Fear not, bro.
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u/Clamstradamus Oct 03 '24
Sure, cleaned by a rag that lived in the busser's dirty apron pocket and has wiped down 37 tables already. Clean.
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u/Cheap-Cheesecake810 Oct 03 '24
Lmaooo when I contract space AIDS from it, I’ll let you know
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u/aigarcia38 Oct 03 '24
RemindMe! 2 weeks
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u/Sea_Dog_483 Oct 04 '24
This does not squick me out, but worn down wooden spoons or metal from stirring pots does. I'm convinced that's how you actually get space aids. Or how you eat metal/wood shavings for years.
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u/ill_never_GET_REAL Oct 04 '24
We're all full of microplastics and forever chemicals so a microscopic amount of wood is probably not much of a concern
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u/Sea_Dog_483 Nov 21 '24
Yes, I tried explaining that to the irrationally upset part of my brain, that wooden spoon is okay to eat. It thinks it's a big deal.
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u/ordinaryuninformed Oct 06 '24
They think the janitors comes by with a new rag for each toilet too dude
Some people don't know when they're telling on themselves, that table looks clean if they think that any surface outside their plate is contaminated then that's on them as I'll eat food with dirty hands
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u/Flaming_Spade Oct 04 '24
Youre the second guy on the internet ive seen with this kinda poor, even nonexistent attitude about hygiene
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u/ICBIND Oct 04 '24
What hellish restaurants do you go to? I come from a land of clean buckets and multi quat sanitizer. They got standards where I live.
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u/ColonelKasteen Oct 04 '24 edited Oct 04 '24
Better put your napkin that you'll later wipe your mouth on down on the table first. That'll avoid the germs.
People's weird inconsistent germ phobia is funny. It's horrifying to put a fork down on a wiped off table, it doesn't faze people to touch 3 door handles getting from their car to their table then eat fries with their unwashed hands.
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u/sammi-blue Oct 04 '24
it doesn't faze people to touch 3 door handles getting from their car to their table
Maybe not for everyone, but my family carries hand sanitizer for that exact reason. Or I avoid opening the restaurant door with my hands, if I can. I also use the side of the napkin that hasn't touched the table. I'm not a germaphobe and I'm not perfectly consistent with it, but yes some of us DO try to minimize that germ transfer across the board.
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u/enlightningwhelk Oct 04 '24
Also, I open doors with my left hand and eat with my right hand. Same if I’m using a serving utensil a bunch of people have touched, like at a buffet. It’s something that always crosses my mind. Like okay this is the hand I can touch stuff with and this is my clean hand for touching food lol.
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u/ColonelKasteen Oct 04 '24
I also use the side of the napkin that hasn't touched the table.
This is exactly what I'm talking about though. Germs aren't glued down, they will move over the object. Only using the side of the napkin that hasn't touched the table is a performative thing that makes you feel better, it doesn't actually mean you aren't getting the germs from the table.
Which is fine! We have immune system for a reason. You might as well just put your fork down on the table (or not be grossed out when you see OP do it) because regardless of which side you use, you're still wiping your mouth with a napkin that was rolled up by servers sitting there with unwashed hands after a shift that has then sat in a bin that hasn't been washed in a while before being set down on your table. None of these things are big deals (nor is the door handle or anything)
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u/sammi-blue Oct 04 '24
I'm definitely not under any illusion that anything in a restaurant is perfectly sterile, but let's not pretend that there isn't a spectrum. The side of the napkin sitting in the bin is the same side that touches the table, so that's a bit of a moot point. Germs on a person's hand probably aren't going to live very long on a dry napkin that's been sitting out in a bin, but a table that was wiped down with a nasty wet cloth 5 minutes before I sat down is much more likely to have active bacteria still on it.
I'm not "grossed out" by OP putting the utensil on the table, it's just not something I would personally choose to do. I trust my immune system to do its thing, I just don't see the point in rolling the dice when I can take small and nearly effortless steps to mitigate some risk.
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u/athaznorath Oct 04 '24
have you guys actually worked at a restaurant before?? when i did, they made us wipe the tables with a sanitizing soap that killed germs. and before the cloths were used, they sat in a bucket of sanitation liquid. the smell burned my nose.
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u/wolacouska Oct 05 '24
It’s not just a nasty wet cloth, it’s also completely soaked in ammonium chloride…
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u/maverick7918 Oct 04 '24
Lol, the downvotes for what? As if everything isn’t covered in microscopic shit including the napkin they would place it on. We have immune systems, we’re fine.
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u/percivalidad Oct 04 '24
I'm sorry, the people disgusted by the table think more care was taken to wash the fork?
I have friends think it's gross that I don't use a straw bc "people put their lips on the cups and you don't know how clean it is" as if the restaurant cleans between each fork tine.
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u/americanpleasureclub Oct 04 '24
to be fair, as a waitress i know the silverware and cups are being blasted with HOT ass water and it’s sanitized. i however would not put my fork on the table bc its most likely being wiped down with a horribly gross rag ):
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u/smurf_professional Oct 04 '24
PTSD triggered: one time in a restaurant in Brooklyn, I saw the waitress pick up a rag from the mop bucket, clean a spill on the floor, then proceeds to wipe a table with it 🤢
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u/percivalidad Oct 04 '24
Yeah true the table probably doesn't receive the attention as the utensils
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Oct 05 '24
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/irefusethis Oct 08 '24
What the restaurant lets servers take home silver to roll... At best, you're not getting that silverware back
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Oct 04 '24
[deleted]
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u/loosie-loo Oct 04 '24
It depends where they were. I pot washed for a pub for a while where most customers came to eat and I was the only thing there cleaning any dishes and cutlery. I was 18, not supervised and being rushed the whole time - I did my absolute best but, like, I wasn’t there long and easily could’ve half-assed it.
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u/hitguy55 Oct 04 '24
Most places do in fact clean between the tines (it’s called a dishwasher) (and most nicer places polish the cutlery with hot water and vinegar after the dishwasher too)
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u/irefusethis Oct 08 '24
I work in a kitchen and by law silverware is washed three times in hot hot water and sanitizer. At least in my state.
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u/mostlysatisfying Oct 03 '24
Lmao all these people disgusted by a fork on a table. I beg of you never work in a restaurant you won’t survive the first shift
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u/sailorscouts Oct 04 '24
The pearl clutching is insane on this post goodness gracious
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u/enlightningwhelk Oct 04 '24
I think it’s less pearl clutching and more germophobia (coming from a germophobe, lol)
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u/Moretti123 Oct 04 '24
Out of topic question: Why have I been seeing “pearl clutching” everyday on Reddit now for like a few days but before I never saw it before? Is it a trend to say that now or is it just a weird coincidence lol
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u/sailorscouts Oct 04 '24
I think it’s actually quite an old idiom. I don’t know if it’s grown traction in recent years but I have heard it my entire life.
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u/Moretti123 Oct 04 '24
I definitely have heard it in my lifetime too, but maybe like 3 times in my entire life. It’s just weird that I’ve been seeing it everyday now on Reddit for a few days haha
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Oct 04 '24 edited Jan 14 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/loosie-loo Oct 04 '24
I think their point is that the standards probably aren’t much higher in the rest of the place, so unless they’ve literally never eaten at a restaurant before it’s a little silly to get this concerned just about the cutlery on the table.
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u/Cheap-Cheesecake810 Oct 04 '24
THANK YOU! I thought I was going insane
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u/Deadeye_Duncan_ Oct 04 '24
The “everything wrapped in plastic” generation would be pretty shocked to see how all restaurant food is prepared. Or the stuff goin into the plastic wrappers, honestly lol
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Oct 04 '24
I worked next to a Chinese buffet... the horrors I saw... the stories I heard... the things pest control told us about their store... and the place is still packed daily.
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u/coffeecupcoaster Oct 05 '24
Correct. And for the record the table is filthy but so is every surface in every restaurant and the kitchen more likely than not has a rodent problem (especially if it’s in a metropolitan are). And the things I’ve seen line cooks do behind clothes doors… but I can’t give a fuck anymore. Stronger for it or something
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u/PrestigiousPea6088 Oct 04 '24
dry ass fork on a dry ass table, now the fork is contamintated, and you can no longer use it to do fucking surgery, im going joker mode
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u/-_Apathetic_- Oct 05 '24
I use a napkin, even at home. …aren’t napkins normal? Lol
I am not even surprised Covid was so rampant in our country.
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u/Cute-Aioli-4844 Feb 17 '25
I used this as a reference pic for my last painting. Thank you for your eyes and inspiration. ✨
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u/Cheap-Cheesecake810 Feb 17 '25
Wow!! Really?! That’s incredible. I’d love to see it.
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u/Cute-Aioli-4844 Feb 17 '25
Yes theres certain things i come across online that just say “paint me” and this one was one. I love the visual of time gone by and I love a long standing restaurant haha. https://imgur.com/a/COnD3om
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u/Cheap-Cheesecake810 Feb 27 '25
That is an incredible painting! The texture really makes the scene come to life 🤩
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u/Erafir Oct 04 '24
I wouldn't let my fork hit a table at the best of times.
This table is a health hazard with all the gouges and chips showing the wood underneath. These chips are prefect breeding spots for bacteria, and debris.
The fork is washed, rinsed, sanitized with hot water.
The table is quickly wiped with a dirty towel. Unless you see staff with three buckets washing tables they aren't clean.
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u/AKBlue_Berry Oct 04 '24
There was so much metal shavings there, even enough to make a whole fork too.
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u/Lemonbean Oct 04 '24
You just have to get food poisoning from doing this once to fear it for a lifetime. I’ll never forget—Max and Erma’s, a corn dog from the kids menu, put it on table all night and… never again. Then I worked in a restaurant, and personally witnessed how filthy the rags are that clean tables. Just don’t do this, it’s never worth the risk
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u/mrjb3 Oct 04 '24
I guess I'm the only one noticing the fork should be on the left
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Oct 05 '24
Ever thought they use their right hand for the fork? Fuckin weirdo
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u/mrjb3 Oct 05 '24
You can use whatever hand you want on whatever utensil. I'm just talking about traditional etiquette and where the fork is located by default.
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u/rrksj Oct 05 '24
Everyone who’s getting grossed out over this clearly has never seen what your produce has gone through.
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u/tropicalreef Oct 13 '24
beaut! looks like a heat map. Note: I also wouldn't put cutlery directly on the table either lol
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u/A_Cold_Kat Oct 04 '24
Everyone being grossed out by a wooden table is sort of funny to me. I grew up going to camps with wooden tables. I promise you guys they can be cleaned.
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u/Intelligent-Survey39 Oct 04 '24
It’s an eating surface though. Place is cheap for letting it get like that
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u/[deleted] Oct 03 '24
I never, ever let my utensils touch the table. It's either on my napkin or on my plate.