eating out in a pandemic:
hello! i am a service worker and i do actually understand going out to eat occasionally right now for special occasions or because you are on the brink of losing your mind! but here is the thing: please respect the service workers when you go as much as you can. here are some ways to do it:
*wear your masks when they come near you, meaning pop them on even if they are just asking how your meal is.
* i like to leave my hand sanitizer bottle on the table both because i am using it often and because i want the service workers to know i am for ease of mind.
* i always do this, but right now it’s more important. if you are at a place where you take your own dishes to the trash, do it! it’s not the time to be lazy. workers have to touch your dirty dishes. if you are not at a self serve place, please stack them appropriately for easy carry! this means larger plates all together on the bottom, then smaller, then smallest. a neat little pile. collect your trash and set it on top of your dishes for easy removal and tossing. believe me, this makes a huge difference! instead of touching multiple dishes to stack them ourselves or to dig out trash, we only have to touch one.
* tip. listen, right now, i am tipping even at fast food drive thrus. it’s a respect thing.
* speaking of drive thrus, wear your mask in them. it’s 10 seconds of your time versus the life of them and their loved ones.
basically - i am, to a degree, thankful that some people are still coming out to eat. it helps me maintain my job and income. but there is fear everywhere and there are customers who make it blatantly obvious they do not care about us, both by refusing to wear their masks and by pretty much saying it to our faces. the more people that make this easier, the better it will be and the safer it will be.
not to beg for notes but this one would actually mean a lot to me if it was spread around like... working in the food industry right now really does come w it’s own little unique safety hazards and stressors and if more people were taught how to be conscious of that it could literally improve the current quality of life for me and people like me
