CUE: OCD Old Man Rant

I’m not much on the all you can eat buffet.

Sure, when I was 20 years old nothing excited me more than a pizza buffet.  I remember once, when complaining to Mama at Mama’s Pizza that more pizza was needed on the hot table, she told me I’d had enough.  I had to emphasize to her that it was not all she could eat.  Rather, it was all I could eat.

But those days are long gone.

Unless you’re visiting some uptown Sunday morning brunch, most of the food on a buffet is quantity over quality.  Not so at Sweet Tomatoes (aka Soup Plantation). I love the selection.  Fresh salads, wide variety of soup, potato bar, fresh breads… Yummy, healthy choices!

My experience last night will keep me from ever visiting there again.

I cannot help but note that Sweet Tomatoes promotes itself as “family friendly.”  Apparently that means that you can expect a dining experience akin to Chuck E. Cheese with children running and screaming across the restaurant with care free abandon.  It also means that you can expect that the little darlings with their runny noses and hacking, mouth-uncovered-coughs will be serving themselves at the buffet.

Oh sure, they’re cute, the wee children, but let’s call them what they are: carriers of deadly diseases.  Who else is cute?  My dogs are and I see very little difference between my Terrier (who on occasion rolls in his own poo) serving himself at the buffet and a five year-old.

Remember, the kids are shorter than the sneeze guard.  They’re on the same level as the food!

I asked my wife, “How much phlegm would you like with dinner?”

Seriously, why isn’t this a health code violation?

You can choose healthy foods at Sweet Tomatoes, but before it gets to you it has to pass through a foggy bacterial haze exuding from the children.

I’m out.  I’ll make my own salads and soup from here on out.