Posted by:
Nightingale
(
)
Date: August 20, 2014 04:08PM
In which there is a huge fly in the [ointment] and Nightingale gets told off by the baker re his big buns.
I got into an argument yesterday at the supermarket while shopping for dinner rolls, of all exciting things. I can easily count the number of times I've ever actually argued in public or with an unknown person (hint: it's low). But. Sometimes you have to take a stand.
I know this is totally insignificant next to the major events and issues that mar this planet and many lives upon it at this time. But it's all I've got. And it feels good to stand up for what is right when necessary, whatever the issue. It is the principle of the thing, after all.
Yesterday I was at the bakery inside the local supermarket (one of a giant chain) where I regularly shop. I was choosing some dinner buns from a row of bins full of different kinds of bread rolls when I noticed a big ugly fly buzzing around inside one of the bins, landing on many of the giant crusty buns and walking around on them at will. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww. I called one of the nearby clerks over from her task of cutting bread and pointed out the fly. I expected that she would immediately pull all the buns from that particular bin. But she said she had to go and report it to the manager (of the bakery, not the entire store). She went to the back and I assume she did so.
Nothing happened.
I waited for a few minutes in front of that bin, telling any potential buyers not to choose those buns. There were still four other bins that looked fly-free at that time and people went ahead and purchased buns of varying types and sizes from the insect-less zones. My expectation was that bakery staff would come running to deal with this as they wouldn't want to sell fly-ridden food, would they?
When nobody had come to deal with the still buzzing fly after 5 or more minutes I went and checked again with the bread-slicing lady. She said the manager was in the back, in the freezer, at the moment and was "very busy". I asked her what she thought of people buying those buns in the interim, unaware of the fly contamination. She just stared at me, seeming not to know what to do. Why she couldn't have gone ahead and decommissioned those particular buns I do not know. I guess she wasn't allowed to make such a momentous decision.
A check-out clerk that I know happened by and I pointed out the big ugly fly in the bin to her. I said I didn't want to just let the fly out as I wanted the manager to see that it had been buzzing around for a significant amount of time and had contaminated all the buns in the bin, not just the one it happened to be on when he deigned to come and take a look. However, she went ahead and opened the lid and let the fly escape into the store (who knows its next destination). The bakery manager (who is actually the chief baker and you can tell from his physique that he samples A LOT of his own product) happened to wander by at that time, not en route to check out my report, but this clerk called to him and reported that she had let the fly out of the bin. He looked over, said "oh" and walked away. I still thought he was intending to return and take away all the contaminated buns.
No.
Another 5 minutes or more go by. I'm still standing there, waiting for someone to come over and deal with it. Slowly I came to realize that nobody had any intention of remaindering those buns. They were going to just go ahead and let people buy them. I went and asked Bread Lady again (3rd time) what they were going to do about it as I couldn't stand on guard there all day. Again, no answer. I asked her (politely) if she thought it was okay for people to purchase that product. No answer. Then she told me again how busy the manager (baker) was.
Then baker/manager wanders by again, this time pushing a trolley-load of bakery items for distribution onto various shelves near where I was (still) standing, shielding the contaminated buns. He walked by me twice, not even glancing over, and showing no indication that he was going to deal with it at all. One of the other customers whom I had advised not to buy the buns said she would report it to Customer Service. Still nobody came. After 15 minutes of standing there getting a little irate at being ignored and lied to (it felt like) I said out loud, to nobody there, that I would look after the problem myself, as I had to leave but no way would I let them get away with knowingly selling a contaminated product.
I grabbed a bunch of big plastic bags and one-by-one dumped a huge bin of buns into the bags. They filled up five large plastic bags, maybe about six dozen buns. I know why the staff didn't want to throw away all those buns, so much waste, but I had seen that fly walking all over many of them so you have to assume they are all contaminated.
I took all the bags over to Bread Lady, who was still at the slicing machine, and told her I had emptied the bin myself, as I had to go and the manager still hadn't shown up to deal with the problem. She looked shocked and I said again that she wouldn't want anyone to buy them, would she? She told me to put the bags of buns on the floor and she pointed to a corner, where I placed the bulging bags.
Again, the baker/manager happened to wander by and she called out to him and said, "The customer has taken all the buns out of the bin". He looked at the buns, his mouth dropped open, and he turned and yelled at me, with his arm up and index finger pointing to the pile of buns, "YOU CAN'T DO THAT!!!" I didn't take time to think of a civil reply, as is my usual approach. Him yelling at me was the last straw, I guess. I yelled too, "WELL, NOBODY ELSE WAS DOING IT!!!", meaning that no staff had come by to deal with the issue. I said loudly that I couldn't believe they would even THINK of selling food that was contaminated in that way. Then we had a few rancourous kindergarten-like exchanges along the lines of "yes I can", "no you can't". "Who else was doing it?" I yelled. "Who else was even PLANNING on doing it?"
Then Bun Boy changed tactics and every time I opened my mouth to make another comment he said loudly, "Thank you", "Thank you", "Thank you", drowning me out, not letting me speak, while turning his back on me. I saw red, a rare event for me. Very unlike my usual calm and courteous, peace-seeking self, I yelled again, telling Big Bun Boy exactly what he could do with his dirty buns and the bins they came in.
Not satisfied with such treatment, I went to Customer Service myself and related the entire incident in excruciating detail, as is my habit (if you can't tell from my posts!) That clerk called the store manager to whom I related the entire story again.
You know what the store manager asked me? "Did the fly land on EVERY bun in the whole bin?" Say what? Arggggghh. I became even more passionate about the way they were (mis)handling the incident and especially being a loyal customer and not appreciating having the baker yell at me for trying to do the right thing.
I went over to the nearby check-out counter where my groceries were awaiting scanning through and I decisively removed a loaf of bread, a bag of (other) buns and a few bagels, saying loudly, "I'm not taking this, or this, or this" and throwing them all on a convenient ice cream freezer near the check-out area. Other customers were looking at me wide-eyed but I didn't stop to explain myself.
You know what the check-out clerk said? "Those bins are always full of flies. There's nothing we can do about it."
O.M.G.
The store manager hastened over to assure me that she would speak to Bun Boy and that he should have "removed the product".
My point in relating this not-so-exciting story is that it's one of the few times I've spoken up for what I consider the right thing without fear or prior thought or being concerned about the effect on the other person (like, will he lose his job, is it really his fault, etc), just reacting to what was happening.
And it felt damn good!
A big part of it, for me at least, is no longer caring (too much) what others think of me, whether they know me or not. I just glide along doing and saying what is right in my own eyes. I still like the peaceful life but it is a luxury that may or may not always be within reach to achieve. And it may not always be the apogee of all ideals anyway.
I know that flies are often in the bread bins. I have seen them before. I realize that it's wise to wash all produce and other goods from grocery shops before consumption. I know that insects abound and that for most of us, our bodies can deal with much contamination and still, miraculously, thrive.
However, it was the principle of the thing. They were knowingly going to sell contaminated product. That shows an appalling lack of concern for the least amount of hygiene and a regrettable disdain for their customers. That angered me. As did the loudly yelling baker boy and his terrible customer service approach.
I'm sure the huge grocery chain will survive without the pittance I spend in their shop weekly. But still, I will derive pleasure from pointedly taking my business elsewhere.
Previously in life I have stood up for big principles and egregious flaws in systems or in human concerns but often, especially when it was for myself, I stayed silent. This was especially the case in religious settings. Such as the time in a small fundamentalist EV church I attended with friends for a while when they "shunned" a couple and a young teen daughter and commanded that they sit at the back of the chapel, not mingling with any other congregants. Why? Because the man was divorced (and this woman was his current intended). "I can't walk past people and not even say hello to them", I declared. But I was commanded myself to follow the shunning principle. To my shame, I did so, except for giving the family a nod as I passed by. Understandably, they only showed up twice and then were never seen there again. For myself too, when told that women couldn't speak in church or that I must forgive the unforgiveable or that my baptism was "no good", I accepted the pronouncements and stayed silent.
There have been many similar episodes in my churchgoing life. I'm at the point now where I say exactly what I think and damn the consequences.
It feels wonderful.
A great place to be, after years of churchgoing where obedience was the watchword, especially for females.
Can you imagine Baker Boy getting into a bun fight with a well-meaning customer? Crazy! I did walk away, knowing the exchange was going nowhere. But not until I got my 2 cents in, loudly. And I reported him. Previously I might have worried that it would adversely affect his bakery career, or something. Now I am more impulsive, although still controlled. So far. :)
It is the better way, I'm thinking.
Standing for Something. It has a lot to recommend it.