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>Interesting responses....most said "right on" but I did get some whiny
>responses saying, in effect, that they don't get "any respect" in
>restaurants.   Well, in plain English, if you aren't getting
>respect....IT'S YOUR FAULT.  You aren't coming across as someone who
>needs to be taken seriously.  It's time to get some back bone and stand
>up for your rights. Perhaps some assertiveness training would be a good
>thing.

Because of the tone and inaccuracy of the above post, I am also going
to respond to the group. It appears from this summary that the poster
believes everybody on this forum is either a whiner or easily eats
safely everywhere all the time because they assert themselves. She
couldn't be more wrong.

First let me say that I do indeed eat out a variety of places and I
have plenty of backbone.

Suzanne already said some of what I wanted to say. A busy restaurant
kitchen is controlled (and sometimes not so controlled) chaos.
Anybody who thinks they will get a 100 percent safe meal at ANY
restaurant every time they go just because they are assertive and
have "backbone," is, quite simply, delusional. Are you back there to
make sure they didn't accidentally drop that piece of bread on your
food and the take it off? Are you back there as they prepare your
meal making sure they're changing gloves, wiping off the prep
surface, using a clean utensil? Of course not. Do you think just
because you gave them a restaurant card and a lecture they will
suddenly understand all the issues it took you months to learn? Not
hardly. This is not whining. This is reality.

The poster indicated that with some assertiveness we can eat
anywhere. In her summary she forgot to mention the class of
restaurants that I wrote to her about. My daughter, who does not have
CD, works for a small local chain that ships virtually everything
preseasoned, marinated, or mixed to each location. The workers
essentially heat it up. The manager at each site has absolutely no
idea at all what's in the food or how it's been prepared. You can
assert yourself all night long but they still don't know what's in
the food and can't tell you diddly-squat about whether it's GF. The
corporate office doesn't want to go into it and basically tells
people with CD to eat elsewhere. We all know of large national chains
that operate the same way. I defy anybody to eat safely at these
places. We could maybe have a salad with our own dressing or a baked
potato, but I don't go out to eat salads or baked potatoes. I can do
that at home for a heck of a lot less money.

I also pointed out to the poster that some of the "whiners" are
people who are very new at this who are looking for some help. I
probably "whined" some early on and I most certainly was scared to
death to go out and eat. These folks will stop "whining" once they
get more comfortable. (In case you can't tell, I don't consider this
whining).

Finally, other people who ask about restaurant recommendations or
suggestions are experienced folks who do want to eat out but know the
reality that anytime we eat out anywhere, we take a chance. Some of
the people also get VERY ill from the smallest amount of
contamination. So to improve the odds at least a little, they ask
others for places where they've had a good experience. This is smart
and the rational thing to do.

End of rant.

richard

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