Before I update this I have to say this review isn't for any of the staff in the place. The people who work there are the best. Really--every time we're there they've got smiles on their faces, are friendly and helpful.
The one star is for a really disturbing company policy they have. We stopped in for a beverage last night after the gym and watched them throw about twenty doughnuts in the garbage. The woman just kept grabbing trays and dumping them in a trash can--WHACK-THUMP!
We were like, "Woa! That's kind of wasteful."
"I know she said," WHACK-THUMP! "I hate doing it, but any doughnuts that don't sell during the day have to go in the garbage." WHACK-THUMP!
My partner asked her: "Do you ever donate any?"
"I think so," she said as she tossed another tray full: WHACK-THUMP!
It was only six o'clock. The irony is, We've been in there at night and wanted a doughnut but they didn't have any.
"You got chocolate cake in there--you can't throw those away," I said teasingly "That's sinful."
She laughed and grabbed another tray. WHACK-THUMP! Six Boston creams. WHACK-THUMP! Three long johns. WHACK-THUMP! Four old fashioned.
"If you want anything you'd better grab it!" she said.
A little kid was standing there watching this and asked if she meant he could have a doughnut.
"No," she said to him, laughing. "You can't HAVE it for FREE. You still have to pay for it." WHACK-THUMP!
Now, this was the really disturbing part. The kid got a couple of messages here: First, it's OK to waste food. And second: We'd rather throw this in the garbage than give it to you for free. Ouch. That one was really hard to watch.
All and all, it was a really disturbing thing to witness all around.
It makes me wonder how it is that we have people starving in this country, and yet we continually support this sort of business and social model that says it's OK to throw food away rather than do something useful with it. Not only that, but we are supporting models that teach the next generation that's the way the world is supposed to work. Meanwhile we cry about how we don't have enough and how we have to be more sustainable.
Now, I have a feeling Thornton's would say it was the worker's fault for doing this. But she made it perfectly clear that this was Thornton's policy to throw away all doughnuts not eaten by the end of the day. Not hers. I believe they also do that with all the uneaten roller dogs and Tornadoes.
Think about it for a minute. If someone doesn't give them a useless piece of paper--something that has value only because we all choose to agree to. A real item of nourishment that could relieve someone else's pain or hunger (or just brighten their day) is thrown in the garbage.
Wow.
That's really says a lot about what we've become. read more