Hold the Spit, Please: Food and Beverage Security at Sporting Events

Ever go to a ballgame and buy a beverage, and then watch the server pour your drink while his/her back is turned? You probably don't have much to worry about--it's unlikely the server would do anything malicious, especially since most people aren't crazy, and in the unlikely event that particular server might be crazy, he/she is in your plain view.

But think about when you order something at a fast food restaurant, and particularly when you go through a drive-thru--and you have no idea what the server might be doing. Do you ever wonder what's going on, especially when it seems like they are taking a little bit too long and there aren't many customers around?

If you have these thoughts and share them with others, most would say that you are just being paranoid. But I suspect those persons don't live in Barnstable, Massachusetts, and I strongly suspect they haven't been to the Dunkin Donuts in Barnstable. Here's why: two employees of that fine establishment have been arrested for spitting in customers' coffee who ordered through the drive-through. There are also allegations that they urinated in customers' coffee. Their modus operandi was to add their own blend of seasoning and then shake-up the coffee so as to visually obscure the added substance. Both employees have been fired, but of greater concern, they face felony charges for distributing food intended or expected to cause injury. According to Chapter 270, Section 8A of the General Laws of Massachusetts (M.G.L), they face up to five years in prison.

Regardless of their punishment (and, absent a past criminal record, I suspect they don't spend a day in prison), let's hope they don't wind up working at Fenway Park or TD Banknorth Garden. It's bad enough that we need to remind employees to wash their own hands; now we need to remind them to not spit in customers' food. But maybe there's a rainbow at the end of this gleak-shower, at least for most sports fans: When you go to ballgames and sit in the cheap seats, you have to order food from vendors and concessionaires who are usually in your line of sight, whereas when you order menu food from those luxury box seats . . . you just never really know how that food is going to be "prepared"!

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