I was very excited to see that our local Taco Bell was open inside. Until I ate there.
We went inside for the first time in a couple months. A huge hand sanitizer stood near the registers, all the condiment dishes were empty as were the straws and lids. Of course the drink dispenser was closed. We ordered, then we tried to find a seat…or rather a clean seat.
Planning to Fail
All the tall tables (where we prefer to sit), had signs on them like the image above and the legs were zip tied together so you couldn’t sit down. I was going to sit there anyway because none of the tables were clean. The tables were either occupied (only two) or they were dirty. My husband went to the counter to ask the cashier to clean the tables. She came out to the lobby and cleaned ONE table.
It does absolutely no good to “social distance,” wear masks and put away all the condiments if you aren’t going to keep the tables clean! What a joke. Why isn’t someone assigned the job of lobby cleanliness?
It matters not the amount of social distancing if you aren’t even trying to keep the place clean.
Social Distancing Theater
The tables were a joke. Only a third were available for customers and even with that light load of work they couldn’t keep any of them clean? Why should we assume that the kitchen is any cleaner?
Even so, the drive-thru has been a constant source of amusement for us the last couple months. Shortly after the lockdown began Taco Bell stopped “handing” food to you in the drive through and instead put it on a tray, then put the tray in front of you so you never came too close to the window staff. Of course they used the same tray for every customer, never cleaning it between vehicles. At least a half dozen times over the last couple months (as early as 7:30 AM) we would receive our food on a tray that still had cheese or grease clearly visible. Reusing the same tray just ensures that we are exposed to whatever bugs every car that came before us had.
It gets worse. Every single time the order was complete the window staff would pick it up and put it on the tray, then put the tray out to the window. How is this any different from handing it to us directly? I’ll tell you how: it exposes us to the added benefit of everything from everyone else that came close to that tray.
Sad State of Fears
If you’re concerned about our health maybe you should stop the social distancing theater and actually clean a little more.
If you are working the drive through, make sure your tray is clean, or even better, skip that fake middle man and just hand me my food. I’ll bet you won’t drop my food as much. I mean, here you get greeted by a masked and gloved individual, and handed your food on a tray — only to find the tray is disgusting. Yuck!
Stop the social distancing. If you are sick or immune compromised then stay home. Stop living in a state of fear. This only adds to your stress and stress lowers your immunity.
As for Taco Bell, you need one employee per shift to take care of your lobby, nothing is worse that having more than half your tables blocked off, and every other table dirty. Wipe the counters down regularly and wash around the garbage receptacles.
One More Complaint
As long as I’m complaining about Taco Bell I may as well include my final pet peeve.
Larry: If you’re going to have someone work the counter you should make sure they can communicate effectively. If the counter staff are hard of hearing then you should at least turn down the music you have blaring in the background that makes it impossible for them to hear us. I don’t think we’ve actually received what we ordered at this Taco Bell (inside) in at least two years.