I was dumbfounded that a public
place with many employees that
serves food to hundreds of people
every day, had no soap in the washroom.
It made me wonder about
how clean the restaurant, part of a
popular chain, the people and the
food being served could really be.
With all the health risks out
there such as hepatitis, AIDS, and
the pending influenza season upon
us, germs and health care should be
the number one priority, especially
at restaurants and other public
places. These places should be the
first to realize the risks.
When I got back to my table and
told one of the waitresses about
there being no soap in the washroom,
yes, she took my concern
into consideration and said it would
be addressed, but that didn’t
change my feeling about the restaurant
itself. Cleanliness is key, especially
when dealing with the public.
In October, a fast food restaurant
in Calgary closed its doors
after it was learned a customer contracted
hepatitis A, an infectious
disease of the liver that’s often
spread through contaminated food.
An employee of the restaurant was
said to have contracted the disease
during recent travelling.
If in fact the disease was transferred
from the employee to the
client (this has not been proven),
one wonders if this could be due to
the fact that the employee failed to
wash his or her hands properly, if at
all.
Because of this scare, hundreds
of people who ate at that restaurant
during a two-week period in
October must be tested and/or vaccinated
for the slight chance that
they too may have contracted the
hep A virus.
The majority of people these
days have jobs and busy lifestyles
and don’t always have time to go
home to cook gourmet meals, in
which case fast food and other
restaurants present the quick and
easy answer.
There may be many people out
there who still may not know or
care about personal hygiene, but
hopefully cooks, waiters and
restaurateurs that we entrust to handle
our food, realize it’s important
to take matters into their own hands
by washing up before preparing or
eating or at least providing the soap
to do it with.
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