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[dmw]

Originally Posted 12 April 2001 - Ral

I worked at the Golfland in Sunnyvale, CA for about 6 weeks in 1990. I did whatever shift was needed that day, but the fun part was working the snack counter.

Some of the prepackaged food is okay, like the microwavable corn dogs and the cookies (which we actually baked fresh every day from prepared frozen dough).

There were, however, three things here that I would warn friends off of eating (and sometimes customers, too). The nacho cheese, the chili and the soft-serve ice-cream.

Now the ice-cream is okay provided that the previous shift employee actually disassembled and cleaned the machine the way we are taught. This process includes taking apart the spiral mechanism that churns the ice cream out, washing it thoroughly, and running the machine through a "wash cycle". The wash cycle basically involves draining out all the leftover ice cream (which is a thick liquid when refrigerated), pouring a bucket of fresh water into the top to rinse through. Then we added a second bucket with a huge chlorine tablet and pushing a button on the machine that says "wash stage".

This is a sanitary process -- if, as I said, it's done correctly. I'm proud to say I would have eaten the product of my own cleaning. Don't know if the same was true of other employees.

The ice cream was the tasty part. It got drained into a clean bucket, a lid placed on it, and put in the refrigerator to be re-used again the next day. I don't know when (or if) this material was ever thrown out in favor of a fresh carton, but I personally never saw anyone do so.

Next, the nacho cheese. This is the soft, Velveeta-type stuff that usually resides inside a pump container that keeps it hot. This machine, like the ice cream one, has to be disassembled and cleaned every night. Cleaning out the pump tube is a pain in the ass, because it's long and thin. Our favorite tool was a long bristle swab, sort of like a big pipe cleaner. Once again one relies on the conscientious nature of the employee in question, although the cheese is kept and re-used (refrigerated every night like the ice cream).

The chili was the really gross part. It was kept in a large crockpot-like container with a lid and a ladle. It also kept the chili hot (warm, actually). We kept and re-used the chili, too, with the caveat that the hardened scum on the surface was to be scraped off before packing it up for refrigeration.

Oh, well *that's* all right then!

Maybe the only really safe thing was the jalapenos...although those did etch a jalapeno-shaped burn mark into the counter if left too long.

To be fair, the facility itself was very clean, if a little creative. The golf ball cleaning process involved an old washing machine, a floor fan, an outdoor hose, and a can of degreasing agent. But that's another story.

Why did I take this awful job if I didn't need the money, you ask?

The video games. I got keys to them, which allowed me to turn down the volume on the ones I hated, and up the volume on the ones I liked. No one ever changed it even after I quit. Nobody cared enough.

I also came out of the experience with the ability to make a really killer Oreo milkshake.

[battouai]

dude, i've been to that golf land before
thank god i killed all my money on the arcade, i would of eaten those stuff
btw, do u know how to play on those arcarde machines for free?
last time i killed over $50 on them