Warning: If you are grossed-out easily, or cringe at the mention of strange bodily fluids and other things of the like, then do not read this post! I hold nothing back!

(This is not an image from the restaurant I’m discussing below)

I’ve always known in the back of my mind that eating from a buffet line is never really a good idea. Of course, I’ve ignored that voice in my head all my life because let’s face it, buffet lines have tons of food choices and many of them are really good. Golden Corral has always been my favorite buffet-style restaurant, but after yesterday I have to say I’ll never do the ‘buffet thing’ again, ever. Before I explain, I would like to say that what happened was not necessarily the fault of the restaurant, though I think it could have been prevented if extra measures were taken for such a rush of people like there was.

I paid for my son and I, 2 people over $21 bucks, which I instantly regretted after we rounded the corner and I saw the amount of people in this place! The first things that went through my head were phrases like ‘bodies close-proximity’, ‘unsupervised children’, ‘teeming with germs’ and ‘oh my god, I don’t want to eat here.’  I took a deep breath and pulled Jonah to the side and told him to ‘scoop from the back’, meaning not to take any food off the top and closest to the front. He understood. We went to our seats, ate and the food was good. The waiter was nice and made sure our drinks were replaced when they got too close to empty.

Then it was time for dessert…

I got a clean plate (note: there was a boy leaning his stomach fully over the plates, I noticed) and went to get a piece of chocolate pie. (Note: it was almost impossible to walk through this restaurant without bumping into someone, or having to stop and wait for a large line of people to pass before you could get to the food two feet away). Lastly, I made my way to the fresh fruit section to get a few strawberries and pieces of cantaloupe.

And then I saw it…there was a piece of cantaloupe on the top that had clearly been bitten off of and thrown back into the bowl! You could see the teeth marks and the perfect shape of the mouth. I just about lost it right there. Calmly, I gestured an employee over, pointing at it and told him what it was. He said nothing, but just removed the entire bowl from the salad bar. Needless to say, I didn’t eat my dessert.

I think that restaurants should implement the same kind of rules that some other public establishments have in place. Ever seen a sign that says: “Children must be accompanied by an adult,” or, “Adult Supervision Required”? I strongly believe that ESPECIALLY in places like buffet lines where there is food that hundreds of  people will be consuming, children should not be allowed to run around like they are at Chuck E. Cheese’s and dip freely from the food! Any parent likely already knows how most young children have little to no sense of sanitary consciousnesses, how they are prone to stick their fingers in things, sneeze and cough and even BITE OFF FOOD AND PUT IT BACK IN THE PUBLIC BAR! Kids pick their noses, scabs, dig in their butt cracks, touch EVERYTHING. It’s just what kids do and even all the ‘uppity’ parents out there that think their children are too well-mannered and have been ‘taught well’ should never believe their children aren’t capable of disgusting, unsanitary behaviors. THEY DO IT TOO!

Aside from the obvious sanitary dangers of buffet lines where kids are concerned, there are MANY things about buffet food that is DANGEROUS, which most of those are pretty obvious too:

• Think about how many hands have already touched the handle of the utensils you’re about to touch to put food onto your plate.
• Then think about how many of those hands likely were never sanitized beforehand and then what they may have touched prior. Damn scary!
• Think about the false sense of security those small, clear panels of glass that hover over the food, which are supposed to protect the food from stuff like sneezing & coughing. A sneeze can travel up to 12 feet, and reach speeds up to 100 miles per hour. Do you think that inadequate piece of glass is going to protect all the food underneath it?
• Think about what there’s nothing in place (like inadequate glass) to protect the food from: flakes of dry skin, fingernails, scabs and other disgusting things that fall off human hands and possibly into your food!
• Think about how disgusting many humans are in general. I’ve seen a grown man sitting in his car at a red light eat the booger he just dug deeply for! I’ve seen a girl throw a USED tampon out a car window! I’ve seen adults of all kinds sneeze, cough and belch in public without even ATTEMPTING to cover their nose or mouths! I’ve seen A LOT of people come out of restroom stalls and walk right past the sink without washing their hands.

So, that’s why I will never eat at a buffet again. It wasn’t just the cantaloupe that did it for me – the cantaloupe just opened my eyes to everything else that I really already knew all along, but never wanted to think about it.

I’m actually offended by this, taken from Neil Gaiman’s latest blog:

“The strange thing is that, as an author, there are places publishers never send you, and the American South (if you don’t count Atlanta) is one of those places. When I’d ask, I’d be told it was because people didn’t really buy books there, or there wasn’t a demand, or something.”

Of course, I’m not offended by Neil at all (don’t shoot the messenger?) but I’m a bit disgusted by ‘publishers’.

I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but that actually hurts my feelings! :-S

Well, speaking for the ‘American South’, who are quite intelligent despite the stereotype, WE LOVE BOOKS!

I’m sitting at home alone on Christmas Eve because my apartment complex has flooded and I can’t get my car out to go anywhere.

Basically, every time it rains this stupid place floods. Seriously. And not just when it rains a lot. When it rains period. But it started raining early yesterday and did not stop until about 2 hours ago.

How about a visual?

Everywhere you see water there’s supposed to be a road or a sidewalk, and keep in mind this was taken earlier in the day long before it stopped raining.

Just like that one.

Some people drive through it, but I refuse to. #1, it’s unsafe to drive through water like that! #2, the car I had before the one I have now DIED not long after I drove it through this flooded complex in the past. Really though, does it take a genius to realize that driving through a lot of high water can screw up your vehicle? Especially if you’re in one lower to the ground than a truck might be. I’m still paying my damn car off. I’d like it to LAST a few years after I finally do!

On a different note get this, while we had floods in the center of the state, at the same time there was winter weather advisories in the northern parts of the state and TORNADO WARNINGS in the south! That’s Arkansas weather for you. In The Natural State you get a bit of everything.

So, that’s really all I have to say, other than Merry Christmas to everyone. :-)