Rub-a-dub-dub, thanks for the grub. Yeah, BK!

August 13, 2008 8:55 AM

Timothy Tackett (aka Mr.UNST@BL3) decided to celebrate his birthday by taking a bath in the utility sink at the Burger King where he worked in Xenia, Ohio and videotaping the stunt. He then posted the footage to YouTube [video | 3:44]. [Slideshow]. Health officials found out about the "Burger King bather" video. They and Tackett's employers weren't very happy with the four-minute clip. All of the employees involved have been fired.

Burger King's statement:

"Burger King Corp. was just notified of this incident and is cooperating fully with the health department. We have sanitized the sink and have disposed of all other kitchen tools and utensils that were used during the incident.

We have also taken appropriate corrective action on the employees that were involved in this video. Additionally, the remaining staff at this restaurant is being retrained in health and sanitation procedures."

posted by ericb (78 comments total)

Teenager does something stupid. Posts it to Internet. Gets fired.

This story sounds familiar.
posted by Plutor at 8:58 AM on August 13, 2008

...countdown to 'best of the web' discussion starts in three, two, one...
posted by fixedgear at 8:59 AM on August 13, 2008

Why throw the baby out with the bathwater?
posted by Avenger50 at 9:00 AM on August 13, 2008

Additionally, the remaining staff at this restaurant is being retrained in health and sanitation procedures.

HR people really have no idea, do they? Subjecting the rest of the employees to dehumanizing 'sanitation training' because of what some idiot did is going to make attitudes worse rather than better.

"Because Bob took a bath in the company sink, everyone has to sit through two hours of the Burger King dancing with a 'Do not bathe in the company sink' sign. I hope you have all learned an important lesson here."
posted by unixrat at 9:00 AM on August 13, 2008 [8 favorites has favorites]

Teenager does something stupid. Posts it to Internet. Gets fired.


Dude was 25.
posted by Benjy at 9:01 AM on August 13, 2008

Pfft... She should just DTMFA.
posted by Debaser626 at 9:01 AM on August 13, 2008

My first job was at a Burger King back in 1989. The stories I could tell would make you shudder.

At least these kids bathe.
posted by turaho at 9:02 AM on August 13, 2008 [11 favorites has favorites]

Timothy Tackett interview with local TV news [video | 10:53].
posted by ericb at 9:02 AM on August 13, 2008

At least these employees had an ethos of hygiene, which is a rarity in a day and age of fast, disgusting food. In fact, Burger King should probably give them all medals for cleanliness.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:03 AM on August 13, 2008

Well as George Costanza said, "It's all pipes!" I'm not sure what the big deal is about bathing in a sink.
posted by crapmatic at 9:05 AM on August 13, 2008

Unixrat, I'm pretty sure if you are a Burger King employee a 2 hour seminar is no worse than your usual day of idiocy. When I had a job as a security guard in college, they had an instructional comic book.
posted by BrotherCaine at 9:08 AM on August 13, 2008

How coy! So many bubbles.
posted by tellurian at 9:09 AM on August 13, 2008

How's his health?
posted by WPW at 9:09 AM on August 13, 2008

Benjy: "Dude was 25."

Teenagerness knows no age limit.
posted by Plutor at 9:10 AM on August 13, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

I don't get why people video tape themselves doing stupid things. And then posted to YouTube. How do you get to be 25 and not realize what a bad idea that is?
posted by DU at 9:10 AM on August 13, 2008

One would expect better from the citizens of Xenia.
posted by The Straightener at 9:11 AM on August 13, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

what a bad idea that is

Although if the punishment is a mere firing from BK plus 15 minutes of fame....maybe he's stupid like a fox.
posted by DU at 9:12 AM on August 13, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Dude's a rapper! And one with quite a myspace page. Can't listen at work, let me know if Timdog brings the dope beats.
posted by The Straightener at 9:24 AM on August 13, 2008

When I had a job as a security guard in college, they had an instructional comic book.

Oh, God, that's glorious. Did they have the guards depicted as Captain America-like crime fighters?

Tell more!
posted by unixrat at 9:25 AM on August 13, 2008

I particulary like the outraged customers who now refuse to eat at that BK location. I am guessing it's now actually the cleanest and safest BK for some distance (I realize that may not be saying much) during their post-incident lockdown mentality. Seems like this would be exactly the place to go, at least until the hubbub dies down and they go back to cutting corners on cleanup like every other fast food joint in town.
posted by aught at 9:26 AM on August 13, 2008

Can't listen at work, let me know if Timdog brings the dope beats.

It's no "Punch 'em in the dick".

Actually, it's pretty awful.
posted by unixrat at 9:26 AM on August 13, 2008

Foot Fooooooooot! She's looking a bit impregnated.
posted by fiercecupcake at 9:28 AM on August 13, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Burger King needs to fire whoever came up with those god-awful chicken fries. What a terrible idea.

But Whoppers are delicious, much better than any comparable McDonald's product. It's too bad my local Burger King is filthy, sticky, and fly-blown; while McDonald's, purveyors of a much inferior product, is spotless and gleaming.

But at both places the shake machines are always broken.

Also: I'll bet Taco Bell has already hired this kid.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 9:28 AM on August 13, 2008

Damn, TheStraightener. Teach me to preview.
posted by fiercecupcake at 9:29 AM on August 13, 2008

Way to go, Otto, get fired from your job at BK in a big way!

posted by porn in the woods at 9:31 AM on August 13, 2008

How do you get to be 25 and not realize what a bad idea that is?

Dude's not the freshest bun in the bag.
posted by octobersurprise at 9:32 AM on August 13, 2008

Actually, it's pretty awful.

Well, let's hope he keeps at it, and with any luck this exposure will get Tim a spot on next year's Gathering of the Juggalos.
posted by The Straightener at 9:33 AM on August 13, 2008

A guy I knew in high school used to work at Friendly's, whose service wasn't. The uniform included an apron, tied around the waist, that went maybe two-thirds of the way to the knees. Every time he put that apron on, his unit came out of his pants, dangling just inches from unsuspecting families. He was kind of a dirtbag.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:33 AM on August 13, 2008

Whoppers are delicious

Big ups here. World's best kept secret. Even the veggi-whop goes down pretty damn smooth.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 9:34 AM on August 13, 2008

Before my meteoric rise to the top of the restaurant industry I did some time at Kentucky Fried Chicken (now KFC for you Kentucky adverse youngsters.) The head day cook had spent more than a few years in prison for undisclosed crimes. His favorite trick was to crispy-batter his arm up to his forearm and then flash fry it. He'd look however the new guy in the eyes (as you can imagine there was always a new guy) scream like a lunatic (which was unsettlingly easy for him) and move his fingers to break away his fried hand-shell. We loved him. I hope he found peace in life, or at least a clean cell.

Anyway, this kid is an amateur.
posted by elwoodwiles at 9:36 AM on August 13, 2008 [16 favorites has favorites]

I'm glad his birthday rolled around so he had a reminder to bathe.
posted by starman at 9:36 AM on August 13, 2008

HR people really have no idea, do they?

they have to have a record that they trained people for the lawyers

Subjecting the rest of the employees to dehumanizing 'sanitation training' because of what some idiot did is going to make attitudes worse rather than better.

you mean they might have to watch something on tv? or read something? or listen to someone talk?

how dehumanizing

here's how it works - they pretend to train us and we pretend to listen

and i thought the people who worked at the beckley rd taco bell were badasses for smoking dope on the roof
posted by pyramid termite at 9:37 AM on August 13, 2008 [3 favorites has favorites]

How do you get to be 25 and not realize what a bad idea that is still working in fast food?

Get a real job, dude.
posted by desjardins at 9:41 AM on August 13, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Ah, Gummo... At least that dude's bath was better than this one.
posted by xena at 9:41 AM on August 13, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

HR people really have no idea, do they? Subjecting the rest of the employees to dehumanizing 'sanitation training' because of what some idiot did is going to make attitudes worse rather than better.

Well, to be fair, the HR people at Burger King have a tougher job than most - the staff is underpaid, often ill-educated, and under-motivated. There's a reason why they have step-by-step procedure manuals at franchise chains for everything from cooking french fries to mopping the floors.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:47 AM on August 13, 2008

The Veggie-Whop is just a Morningstar Farms burger. Sorry to bust the "secret".
posted by GilloD at 9:54 AM on August 13, 2008

uncleozzy: "Every time he put that apron on, his unit came out of his pants, dangling just inches from unsuspecting families."

Whether it was in his pants or out of his pants, wasn't it always dangling just inches from unsuspecting families?
posted by Plutor at 9:55 AM on August 13, 2008 [4 favorites has favorites]

How did he get all those bubbles?
posted by A189Nut at 9:55 AM on August 13, 2008

Whether it was in his pants or out of his pants, wasn't it always dangling just inches from unsuspecting families?

the quality of american sex education must be even worse than i thought for families not to suspect that units dangle in pants
posted by pyramid termite at 9:57 AM on August 13, 2008

Unixrat, not so much on the superhero angle, but they did have a couple of pages in the back dedicated to recognizing that issue's Pinkerton Service Hero™, who's super powers appeared to be the ability to call the fire department, and use class D fire extinguishers on class D fires. Most of the guards I worked with on the job were pretty far from Pinkerton Service Hero™ material though, although they did exhibit special powers occasionally, like sleeping on duty, and cowering in break room during patrol intervals.
posted by BrotherCaine at 10:04 AM on August 13, 2008

you know, maybe if he'd taken the tomatoes in there with him...
posted by mandal at 10:08 AM on August 13, 2008

although they did exhibit special powers occasionally, like sleeping on duty, and cowering in break room during patrol intervals.

you should have worked for burns security - my co-workers' special powers included playing house music at high volume, raiding the cafeteria kitchen for bags of chips and fucking the boss' daughter in an elevator

they did have this great training video of a guy getting a chili dog all over his uniform though - i gathered we were supposed to hit our mouths every once in awhile
posted by pyramid termite at 10:13 AM on August 13, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Well, to be fair, the HR people at Burger King have a tougher job than most - the staff is underpaid, often ill-educated, and under-motivated.

The turnover is also absurd. Your average worker lasts some crazy short amount of time and then just doesn't show up some day.
posted by smackfu at 10:14 AM on August 13, 2008

Silly Burger King, that's NOT how you see McC!!!
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 10:24 AM on August 13, 2008

That's a pretty creative way to get fired. When I wanted to get fired from my menial dead end shit job I just smoked a huge blunt to the dome and went and hid in the basement and drank a case of snapples.
posted by Divine_Wino at 10:27 AM on August 13, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

His grandkids, Thanksgiving 2048: "Not the sink story again".
posted by davebush at 10:31 AM on August 13, 2008 [3 favorites has favorites]

In other news, small-town attention whore contrives to get himself fired from shitty job and become known as a douche worldwide at the same time. Say it with me, people...
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:38 AM on August 13, 2008

Make it shine, guys! Make it shine!
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:38 AM on August 13, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

wasn't it always dangling just inches from unsuspecting families?

Sure, but if it's in his pants, you can't occasionally catch a glimpse. And there's a slightly better chance that it hasn't touched your Supermelt.
posted by uncleozzy at 10:54 AM on August 13, 2008

So THAT'S why Whoppers smell like BO... seriously, they do.
posted by Cosine at 10:55 AM on August 13, 2008

How is this all that different than all the big time chefs who run their Croc clogs through the dishwasher at the end of the day?
posted by StickyCarpet at 10:57 AM on August 13, 2008

I'm not outraged, I'm relieved.

Wait, are we on his side?
posted by Paid In Full at 11:03 AM on August 13, 2008

It's a shame he had to go and ruin his chances of advancement like that. You get your foot in the door of a company like Burger King, you don't look a gift horse like that in the mouth. Now where is he going to find work?
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:03 AM on August 13, 2008 [3 favorites has favorites]

Now where is he going to find work?

he's got a bright future in hot tub sales ahead of him
posted by pyramid termite at 11:12 AM on August 13, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

This dude was on Inside Edition yesterday, saying something like "Well, looking back, maybe it was a bad idea."
posted by owtytrof at 11:37 AM on August 13, 2008

Oh my god! He took a bath to get clean in a sink. The end of the world is nigh!

Seriously, why does anyone care? I used to work at a pizza place in high school and we had a bigass stainless sink like that, and while nobody took a bath in it, I don't think it would be a problem if anyone did. Just to put it in perspective, every night someone had bathroom duty, cleaning the lavatory. Guess which sink they usually washed up in afterwards? Exactly.

We used that sink for dishes and utensils as well, but we also filled it to the brim with hot water and dumped about a quarter cup of bleach in. Nothing could have lived in that water, if you washed without gloves on you lost about 5 layers of skin. If the BK does even 1/10 of that diligence I'm sure it's fine.
posted by barc0001 at 11:42 AM on August 13, 2008

My favorite quote:

"That's just, it's wrong it's a place where families come to eat and them taking a bath in the sink that's just not work ethic," said Crystal Dodge, who said she used to eat at Burger King all the time.

You're right, lady who used to eat at Burger King all the time. That's just not work ethic.
posted by naju at 11:45 AM on August 13, 2008 [7 favorites has favorites]

You know who else just wasn't work ethic?
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:09 PM on August 13, 2008

Mother Teresa ??
posted by palidor at 12:37 PM on August 13, 2008

Rich guys who were born into money?
posted by cmonkey at 1:17 PM on August 13, 2008

If you've ever been to Xenia, you'd know that this story isn't news.
posted by Rykey at 2:22 PM on August 13, 2008

BK just missed the boat on a great new ad campaign showing off their employees hygiene practices.
posted by mannequito at 2:25 PM on August 13, 2008

I don't get why people video tape themselves doing stupid things. And then posted to YouTube. How do you get to be 25 and not realize what a bad idea that is?

Did you look at the guy? Don't think he's too worried about his lack of future.
posted by cjorgensen at 2:39 PM on August 13, 2008

Burger King needs to fire whoever came up with those god-awful chicken fries. What a terrible idea.

I disagree. This is the very essence of modern fast-food innovation. Alongside the Crunchwrap Supreme and the Patton'ted KFC Bowl, it is the evolution of the species to its proper plane of existence, where any resemblance to any living organism is purely incidental. I can't wait till these guys figure out how to mass-produce molecular gastronomy.

"Dude, I'll have a large fried chicken mask and two aerosol canisters of sizzlin' beef taco."

"Would you like atomizer with that?"

"On the side."

"Pull forward to the second window and recline your seat to 145 degrees."
posted by gompa at 2:42 PM on August 13, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

You know what I blame this on the collapse of? Work ethic!
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:54 PM on August 13, 2008

When I worked at a not-to-be-named pizza chain in college, our boss once put a dead mouse in a cup, then set the cup on top of the dishes-to-be-done pile and sent one of the female employees back to do dishes. We're waiting up front for the scream, but it never comes. Finally, I go back to find that she'd just dumped the cup contents into the sink, mouse and all, never noticing, and was happily washing all the dishes in dead-mouse-tainted water. Even when I pointed out the mouse, she just picked him up and tossed him in the trash, and kept washing dishes. Come to think about it, I don't think she re-washed the dishes that had already been 'finished' in the mouse-water, nor made a fresh sinkfull for the rest of the night.
posted by nomisxid at 3:34 PM on August 13, 2008

Let's thank our lucky stras it wasn't footage of him gettin' busy in the bathroom.
posted by louche mustachio at 6:55 PM on August 13, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Er.. "stars."

Or possibly "straws." Take your pick.
posted by louche mustachio at 6:56 PM on August 13, 2008

When I worked at McDonalds in High School (in Chesterfield Township, MI) one of the other employees would regularly urinate into the large metal bucket-shaped pump/filter thing used for cleaning the fryer grease at night. Because of the design the liquid would just settle into the bottom below the filter media and oil.
posted by c0nsumer at 7:27 PM on August 13, 2008

I don't get why people video tape themselves doing stupid things. And then posted to YouTube. How do you get to be 25 and not realize what a bad idea that is?

If YouTube were around when I was 25, you bet I'd be that stupid. I'd be that stupid and raise you some downright idiotic and throw in some pathetic. But we all had very slow modems in those dark days, which turns out to have been a good thing, at least in this respect.

I was drunk a lot back then ...
posted by krinklyfig at 8:17 PM on August 13, 2008

You are out of your mother-loving mind if you let teenagers cook for you.
posted by popechunk at 8:36 PM on August 13, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Ugh. Just tell me they don't do this at Chik-Fil-A, and I'm set.
posted by Mael Oui at 8:45 PM on August 13, 2008

An ex-girlfriend knew (or knew of) a guy in her hometown that was busted for jacking off in the shake machine at whatever fast food joint he worked at. Apparently he had been doing it for some time before he was caught. Never eat fast food. Your demi-food is being prepared by the bottom of the unskilled teenager barrel. Even teenagers with no work experience can get a better job stocking shelves or whatever if they're not a total cretin.
posted by DecemberBoy at 9:28 PM on August 13, 2008

The first time I went to BK in this town, the order-taker-guy was wearing a name tag that said, "Faggotty Ann".

The second time I went to BK in this town, the 30-something assistant manager asked a fellow employee, "How does my ass smell?"

There is no third time I went to BK in this town.
posted by dirigibleman at 10:06 PM on August 13, 2008 [4 favorites has favorites]

Mr Carnegie: Lack of proper cleaning routines, dirty and greasy filters, greasy and encrusted deep fat fryer, dirty, cracked and stained food preparation surfaces, dirty, cracked and missing wall and floor tiles, dirty, marked and stained utensils, dirty and greasy interior surfaces of the ventilator hood, ...

Basil: About the fat fryer...

Mr Carnegie: ...inadequate temperature control and storage of dangerous foodstuffs, storage of cooked and raw meat in same trays, storage of raw meat above confectionery with consequent dripping of meat juices onto cream products, refrigerator seals loose and cracked, ice box undefrosted, and refrigerator overstocked...

Basil: Say no more.

Mr Carnegie: ...food handling routines suspect, evidence of smoking in food preparation area, dirty and grubby food handling overalls, lack of wash hand basin which you gave us a verbal assurance you'll have installed at our last visit six months ago and two dead pigeons in the water tank.

Basil: Otherwise O.K.?
posted by dhartung at 10:37 PM on August 13, 2008

Experimenting with McDonald's fry grease was the occupational pastime of my first job. Sure, the under-3 toy (Sonic the Hedgehog plastic ball) was pretty interesting to see deep-fried, but if you want some real action, just pour a 32-oz cup of ice water in there. Make sure you stand back after you do; it takes about three or four seconds to see the performance start.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 7:56 AM on August 14, 2008

if you want some real action, just pour a 32-oz cup of ice water in there

Yeah, that was my favorite "Get the managers all worried" trick when I was a 14-year-old burger jockey at BK (they used to let 14-year-olds work at BK). It makes a hell of a noise and spits up hot grease, with the delayed reaction that spikeblahblahblah describes. The perfect prelude to leaving my station for lunch break/end of shift.

Of course, I've got nothing on this bather guy.
posted by Rykey at 9:34 PM on August 14, 2008

FARK!
posted by mrgrimm at 5:12 PM on August 15, 2008