For the reading-imparted, apparently the worker did heat the meat in the toaster oven, and the woman asked for it to be microwaved as well. She then proceeded to pull out a thermometer and lecture the guy about the meat not being heated to 165 degrees.
I’m torn. Yes, you try to accommodate all customer requests, but if the store was slammed, it could mean pissing off a long line of other customers. It’s still the correct thing to do, but people have limits, especially when they’re getting paid minimum wage. If you didn’t happen to know about the CDC recommendation, wanting an already heated sandwich reheated to an exact number of degrees does sound like an unreasonable request, and could even pose liability issues. Maybe you think the woman is trying to pull a scam where she then claims you overheated it and she sues for getting burned. Or maybe she sues microwave heated unevenly and you didn’t kill all the bacteria even after agreeing to heat it to the correct temperature. In all, I can’t blame a harried fast food worker for just saying, “Sorry, lady, we don’t do that.” His actual response, “It’s not fine dining,” is only slightly ruder.
I’m glad the owner is responding with retraining and not promising to fire the worker.
No, the article says the employee pulled out the meat thermometer, not the customer.
If you’re in the business of selling deli meat, I think it’s fair to expect you to know what the CDC says about deli meat. If you’re not willing to heat it up to that extent, you are excluding pregnant women from your business, and I don’t think it should be a surprise that eventually someone is going to complain.
Somewhat related, a friend of mine when to Togo’s yesterday and was told she could not order a cold pastrami sandwich. She’s not pregnant. The kid at the counter told her they could not serve pastrami cold. Anything else, yes, but not pastrami.
You’re right, I misread. That does change things. And yes, Subway should have a policy, since their business is selling sandwiches with deli meats, but I’m not surprised that either they didn’t or the employee didn’t know what it was. Again, address it through training, not firing. Though pulling out a thermometer just too argue with a customer might very well be a firing offense. And I apologize for accusing others of being reading impaired!
Except that it would hassle the other customers less if he tossed the sandwich in the microwave and nuked it while she was finishing the order instead of finding a meat thermometer and arguing with her, which both holds up the line longer and pisses off other customers. (Arguing with a pregnant woman doesn’t generally win you brownie points).
Yes, and it’s stupid. If you’re worried about listeria, you’re as likely to get it from a cantaloupe as deli meat. Pregnancy is the only time in my life where the “recommendations” have been ridiculously paternalistic and other people who don’t even me have tried to “enforce” them.
Maybe. Arguing is a bad idea. But I assume the thermometer was right at hand (as it should be). And as for microwaving it, how many second does it take to raise the meat from 140 to 165? Is she going to complain if it’s too hot? If you’ve never heard of this advice, saying it has to be exactly 165 sounds exceptionally picky. A lot depends on how she phrased the request. Did she say as she was ordering, “Could you please microwave this for a minute before toasting it?” or did she wait until the sandwich was already made and then say, “This isn’t hot enough I want you to microwave the meat until it’s 165 degrees like they do at the other Subway I go to. Can’t you see I’m pregnant?!”
'Strooth. Notice that the CDC says that listeria is also deadly to the elderly…but no one’s telling Grandpa that he shouldn’t eat Subway, or shrimp cocktail, or soft cheeses. :dubious:
Don’t you pay after your 'wich is made at Subway? Why didn’t she just tell the buttmunch that if he didn’t heat it she wouldn’t pay and then go elsewhere? Not everything needs to be a national case.
Then she went on Facebook to complain to her friends about it, and people saw it and agreed, and kept sending it to others. Subway is the one who chose to fire the employee and promise to train everyone else, due to the bad publicity of the viral Facebook post.
But, hey. Even if she did take it public on purpose, what’s wrong with that? Not paying doesn’t get her her food, now does it? Clearly, not paying didn’t get the guy at the counter to relent.