From Fried To Fired, Part 2

(I usually work day shift, but my manager has asked me to work an evening shift to cover a staff absence. A coworker is getting cooked chicken strips out of the fryer to serve a customer, and he drops one on the floor. He throws it back into the fryer.)

Me: “Hey [Coworker], what are you doing?”

Coworker: “Freshening up the chicken.”

Me: “What? You’re not going to serve that, are you?”

Coworker: “Yup, it’s fine; you just need to fry it a bit.”

Me: “No you don’t! You need to throw it out and cook a new one!”

Coworker: “[Manager] said this was fine! The hot oil kills germs.”

Me: “No way!”

(I make him re-cook the order, and go find the manager and explain what happened.)

Manager: “[Coworker], what the h***! You do NOT serve food that’s been on the floor!”

Coworker: “You said that we didn’t have to follow hygiene for fried food; you said the hot oil kills germs. That’s what you told me.”

Manager: “I said you don’t need to wear gloves to handle frozen food that’s going in the fryer as long as you have washed your hands. What made you think it was okay to serve food that’s been on the floor?”

Coworker: “What’s the difference?”

Manager: “In the back. Now.”

(The scary thing? I’d eaten there in the evenings because I knew we had really good kitchen hygiene. At least, the day shift did…)