placement of fingers when handling your plate of food

[Robin Garr]

The server with his or her thumb in your plate is a classic image of a bad server.

I'm trying to make out from your post whether you actually saw anybody touching the food, though. That would be the killer for me.

What is wrong with hands and fingers? As long as proper hand washing procedures have been followed I don't see the problem.

imo, thisis a perfectly fair question. although i make mistakes just like anyone else, im a stickler for the details when it comes to handling food. of course anyone handling food should consider clean hands near the top of their list of priorities, but 'showing' proper handling to the guest is also important.
MANY servers hold this standard, but alas, many do not. ive heard every excuse there is... 'i dont know how', 'my hands arent strong enough', 'they (the guest) wont notice', etc.
obv all of those are wrong
long ago, i worked at Kunz's with a wonderful, older lady who was about 5 feet tall, MAYBE weighed 100 lbs, and could pack 8 entrees with metal lids on an oval tray without batting an eye (anyone on the board that remembers Kunz's will know who im talking about). so i have ZERO sympathy for anyone who says they 'cant' carry plates or trays when its their job to do so.
now, Annmarie, back to your original question, there is a technique (i know, its not rocket surgery) to properly carrying a plate that all 'good' servers employ. you cant palm plates of hot food for the obv reasons, but you CAN cradle the plate with your 4 main digits wile bracing the side of the plate with the side of your thumb while the tip of you thumb points straight up and no tips ever touch the surface of the dish.
i take handwashing very seriously... EXACTLY 35 times a day, but i still am respectful when im handling other peoples food and would like to think that other servers are as well

there's no guarantee that a server is washing their hands. i've been in the ladies room when servers have come in, did their business and not wash their hands.
servers don't walk around with signs that say, "hey i washed my hands after i picked my nose, played with my hair, or picked my pimple"... lol
also what about a cut on someone's finger that may be infected and they not know it. hand washing isn't going to help that.
i've seen some poor fingernail hygiene that would gross you out.

Absolutely true, I think the problem lies with each restaurants ability to properly train their servers. A lot of "lower end" places (bars/pubs/fast service places) they may not have the managerial staff in place with the knowledge to train their waitstaff, so I think it's important that the health department makes proper handwashing it's number one priority as opposed to implementing more rules and restrictions.

And peoples with cuts should totally be wearing gloves.

I also think it's unlikely that a server will take someone's money, give change, then go wash his/her hands before sticking them into the plate of food.

I also think it's unlikely that a server will take someone's money, give change, then go wash his/her hands before sticking them into the plate of food.

I find that highly unlikely in the current world of debit/credit cards.

Although that brings up a good point.

Back in the late 80's/early 90's when I waited tables, I was responsible for handling a "bank" that all servers at that time either "borrowed" from the establishment or maintained themselves for making change for the patrons. You "paid back" the total of the receipts of your tables, sans gratuity(+ borrowed bank), at the end of the service period.
As a server, you could easily gauge how you were doing financially by how much you had in your "bank". It was a rarity to handle a credit card for a customer at the places I worked in. .
(Tax free gratuity!)
Unfortunately, you also got stuck with paying for the stiffs and low tippers out of that bank as well.

Come to think of it, at that time in my early 20's, I wasn't that all that concerned or conscious about washing my hands like I am now. I was just trying to make a buck like everyone else.

As for the kids that might handle my food these days, unless it's blatantly flagrant like someone licking my spoon or poking a hole in my burger bun, I'm not that hung up on it. I have bigger worries to concern myself with.
I'm pretty certain that someone in the back of the house might possibly be doing something worse to my to-go box, than putting a finger ever so close to the food on my plate.....and I'll never see it....MWAH AH AH
It's a frickin conspiracy, I'll betcha........Those no good servers.....

Stupid Servers!! (done in the tone of Angelica from Rugrats) You go Dan!! But I was trained old school TGI Friday's technique of running a dozen plates up each arm. LOL We had this one chick that would carry an O soup on top of her beret. Then there is "tray" service. HD has no problems with either. But it is up to proper training from mgmt for the LT empoyees, but with temps and newbies, ( We haven't seen any of those this week), mgmt just needs to keep their eyes open and hope for the best. "Some folks just don't know better, cause with family, it don't matter anyhow!

I can remember the issue of finger placement coming up in a dining room service class I took many years ago in culinary school. I remember hearing that the rim of a plate was for leverage when carrying hot food by a server. Adding the side of the plate with thumb pointing up for rimless bowls. I made reference to At Your Service: A Hands on Guide to the Professional Dining Room, by John W Fischer produced by The Culinary Institute of America. Although it does not state any direct opinion on thumb placement, it clearly shows a thumb on the rim in diagrams explaining how to carry a plate. I agree palming a plate is much more elegant but take into consideration things such a temperature of a plate set in a hot window as the order comes in to ensure hot food hot plate, the direct bottom of a plate can become quit uncomfortable if carrying it threw a crowded dining room unless you have callused the palm of your hand as well. That being said, the thumb should never be over the rim and in a plate, I agree if my food was brought in a fashion like that I would not be happy.

I worked for a crafty woman in Canada that told her servers that you could catch herpes from touching the rims of glassware.

Along the same vein, it drives me crazy when the server grabs my glass by the rim with all four fingers and thumb. What's with that ? If not covered in basic training, it seems like that would be common sense not to do something like that ?

It's quite simple, really...

'Thumbs out.'

If your fingers point towards the center of the plate, you're doing it wrong.