Servers Balk at State's New Rules

Tennessee has allowed restaurants to reopen, provided they—and their customers—meet a few conditions. Handwashing is involved a lot, as are temperature checks. The state issued an eight-page compliance document to restaurants, though the governor's office said it doesn't plan to enforce the new rules, the Commercial Appeal reports. There are issues. One restaurant had to find a new device when a customer told the staff it was using a thermometer meant for heating and air conditioning systems, not people. And employees at O'Charley's, a chain restaurant, told BuzzFeed it's all too much. "There’s no possible way for us employees to do what they're asking us to do," a server said. The rules, per BuzzFeed:

• Temperature checks for every guest and employee before entering.
• Asking guests about exposure to the coronavirus and possible symptoms.
• Asking customers to take their food from the server trays themselves and put it back on the trays after their meal. Some guests have refused, saying, "You’re supposed to be serving us."
• Servers must replace their gloves every time they go to a different table.
• Employees must wash their hands after handling money.
• Workers have to wash their hands after every credit card transaction.

(More coronavirus stories.)