Do you have a potluck nightmare?
Potluck Nightmares
Do you like potluck dinners? I personally can not stand them and after hearing my story, you will think twice before excepting an invitation to your next potluck.The reason I don't like them is because I don't know by whom or how the food was prepared! My imagination runs wild and I can't get past the first dish. I used to contribute to the potluck seen, until one day I was working for the school district and the PTA decided to put together a potluck dinner. That was a great idea so I thought! I made my specialty, brought it to the potluck dinner. Many people arrived all bringing their specialty dishes dressed like they were on their way to a professional business meeting! The food looked great... it was a spread like no other. You had your choice of any kind of food better than a restaurant. I admired the beautiful dishes and helped myself to most of them.
A few days later I decided to visit the President of the PTA whom was always dressed like a princess, wearing make-up and always looked clean. I wouldn't hesitate eating what she brought, looking at her appearance she seemed vary clean! She was so nice to invite me to her house, she wanted to become friends because she said she didn't know to many people. Our kids were in the same class so she wanted to get together and let the kids play. When I arrived, I noticed the outside of her home needed a little cleaning which was not an issue for me. I went to the door, she opened the door totally excited to invite me in and to my surprise, I could not help but notice all the things lying on the floor of her living room. Yes, I noticed a path to her kitchen. On each side of the path were piles of garbage, boxes of buttons, assuming she collected buttons and paper goods as though she didn't have a trash can or liners to throw her trash in. As I walked through the path, the trash on each side of my path came to the calves of my legs! Did she have any furniture? I couldn't tell. I only see trash! I continued walking to the kitchen, thinking, I do not want to be here! As I entered the kitchen the first thing I noticed, broken greasy bike parts all over the floor. I looked at the table and there sat jars of jelly and peanut butter along with all the clutter and there were fly's stuck on the side of the jars. At this point I was trying to remember! What dish did she bring to the potluck? I just know I must of ate some of it. It wasn't long after that, I visited another lady and she had a slow cooker full of beans cooking on the table and her cat seemed to enjoy rubbing himself against the slow cooker. I sat and watched the cat for 10 minutes as she did nothing to stop the cat. So do I hate potlucks? Yes, I avoid them at all times! People know the dangers of potluck food, but continue to become excited when they are invited to one. I don’t think some people understand the dangers of potlucks. If the food is cooked with the improper handling, heat, or is left out of the refrigerater more than two hours, you are taking your chances. How many of you go to barbeques and see salads sitting on the table for a few hours? To some people this doesn’t matter, therefore you are taking your chances when you eat the food. This is dangerous for everyone, but children, pregnant women, elderly people, and persons with chronic illness are more likely to get sick from food poisoning. Do you know someone who does not wash off the cutting board with soap in between cutting their meat and then their vegetables? Do you know someone who mixes green salads and fruit salads with their hands? Do you know someone who has animals crawling on their kitchen counters and tables and think nothing of it? Okay, you may not get sick from eating their food, but you are taking a big risk! Not all food poisoning results in diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps. Some types of food poisoning have different or more severe symptoms. These can include weakness, numbness, confusion, or tingling of the face, hands, and feet. So next time you are invited to a potluck dinner, beware! If you don’t know where the food came from, then you shouldn’t eat it.
