From what I’ve “heard” spitting in food or other stuff is usually a personnel thing, not something you do a cheap assed low/no tipper but something that you do to someone you know like an ex or in some places to the cops in general. Less likely to happen at a chain or upscale restaurant than fast food or a late night diner. I went into a place with my cousin one time and he knew the waitress and she just kind of gave him a smirky smile while she took the order and he got up and walked out. In the car he told me how he screwed her over and there was no doubt in his mind that she was considering payback.
I did know of a Chinese restaurant where if people finished and had rice left on their plates, they would dump it back into the pot and serve it to the next guest.
Really, one always takes a chance when you go to a restaurant.
Or a bar. For example they can substitute a cheaper brand of whiskey or vodka in place of a more expensive name brand and probably most people wont know the difference. Or they can substitute a cheap brand of wine for a more expensive one.
I’ve worked a number of jobs in the food service industry and only ever saw it at one of them: when I worked at a pizza place. That one guy who lived on the very edge of the delivery radius in a bad part of town AND never tipped? The drivers did not like him. Not one bit.
Saying that something does no or negligible harm is not the same as justifying it. Saying that you understand why somebody might want to do something is not the same as justifying it. Saying that the issue is way, way too trivial to get all bent out of shape about it is not the same as justifying it.
Aha! But I still come out ahead, I pay them in dirty filthy lucre!
(and there was that waitress I did naughty things to/with - in my defense, she started it)
I worked in the food industry for about 10 years, everything from fast food to fine dining, I never once saw anyone do something like that. At most, people who wanted something well done would get the shit cooked out of the meat.
I think the biggest threat to your health dining out is that most of the workers don’t get any kind of paid sick days, and management were really dicks about trying to in sick. As a result, you’d have people who were very sick working because they couldn’t take a sick day.
I’ve never really understood why one would be shitty to someone who is handling their food, coat and credit card.
It may happen in fast food, but I’ve worked in a lot of different restaurants and bars and only seen it once. Some woman was a total bitch to a pregnant co-worker with a bad temper and she spit in her tea refill. That’s the only time I’ve ever seen something like that. Servers may not try to kill the belief that it is a regular occurrence because it keeps people from sending back silly stuff.
Usually if you’re a real dick to your bartender or server (or pull that “hook it up” nonsense) then you’re going to get a weaker drink or that Absolut and cranberry is going to be poured with well vodka, but never anything with bodily fluids or disgusting stuff. I don’t really get the problem with sending stuff back if it really was prepared wrong or if it isn’t good. Yeah it makes the job harder, but that’s the job. On the other hand if you complain about not being able to taste the alcohol in your fruity frozen drink that I poured correctly then you can go fuck yourself.