Thing #3,476,523 that makes my eye twitch

[Brad Johnson]

My civic club's major annual fundraiser is a restaurant at a regional fair. Basics - burgers, fries, pizza, nachos. I'm running it again this year. So what's my beef? Club members who've worked the restaurant for years numbering in double digits who haven't the slightest *bleep*ing clue what to do.

You've worked that fryolator for twenty years and you never glanced at the big honkin' knob on the front to see what the temp setting was?

You've been the burger make-ready person for almost as many decades as I've been alive and you still don't know the five ingredients on a basic burger? How hard can mustard, lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion be?

You didn't notice the big sign with 2" high fire-engine-red letters sitting six whole inches above the warming station that says "Chili and Nacho Sauce must be at 145* F or higher to be taken to the serving area. No Exceptions!"? No, it's not new. It's been there for years.

Yes, you really do have to play by the Health Department's rules. No, they don't make exceptions because we are volunteers/non-profit. Keep ignoring the rules the moment I walk out of the room and I may drag you outside and bash in your face with a funnel cake.

Really? REALLY!!?? YGBFKM.     

Sorry, had to vent. Apparently putting on an apron sucks all relevant knowledge out of otherwise intelligent people. We're way up on the year but I am SO! FRIGGIN! GLAD! today is the last day.

Brad

[Fly320s]

Not the State Fair, I take it.

[lee n. field]

Rant away.  It's what we're here for.

I agree.  None of this sounds like rocket science.  "How hard can a burger be?" should be a rhetorical question.

My civic club's major annual fundraiser is a restaurant at a regional fair.

So, maybe there ought to be a hour meeting ahead of time, "just so we're all on the same page", covering this stuff.  And make them sign off.  The gun club here does something like this, ahead of the annual open house,just so everyone's on the same page vis-a-vis safety stuff.

[Brad Johnson]

Not the State Fair, I take it.

Thank goodness, no. Ten days is enough. My nerves and patience couldn't ake a month's worth of this. Why I develop amnesia and agree to do this again every year I'll never know.

Brad

[Brad Johnson]

So, maybe there ought to be a hour meeting ahead of time, "just so we're all on the same page", covering this stuff.  And make them sign off.  The gun club here does something like this, ahead of the annual open house,just so everyone's on the same page vis-a-vis safety stuff.

We did. Two of them. Plus a pep/reminder talk every morning to the opening crew and an update session with the closing crew.

Older members are the biggest problem. It's the "By God we've done it this way for 40 years!" mentality combined with a "we're volunteers, not employees" line of BS excuses. I've toyed with having them sign an agreement that monetary damages from willful failure to follow food safety and sanitation guidelines will be their personal responsibility. I held off because I would rather find a benevolent, cooperative solution. Being more of an ogre than I've already been would only add to our ongoing staffing shortages.

I hate being a grouch but this chronic craniorectitis has to be addressed. I'll spend the next few months mulling over solutions for next year.

Brad

[vaskidmark]

https://www.qrstraining.com/servsafe-training-exams/servsafe-foodhandler  $499 for up to 10 people.  Just be glad your Health Dept is not making you do this.

Make them take the free practice test?  https://uniontestprep.com/servsafe/practice-test

stay safe.

[lupinus]

I've spent the last five years in back to back terms as either VP or President (two year term, one served as VP one as Pres. and in the middle of my third) of my congregation, and another year before that heading up the board of trustees.

Don't get me started on volunteers, doing things right, and "we've been doing it that way for years!". There's been more than a few occasions I've had to catch myself, because my brains initial unfiltered response would have most certainly NOT been appropriate in Church.