Welcome to the Pathogen Station! Which will you be having?

The Mister and I had a very interesting experience at the pasta station of a buffet we recently visited. I guess the first question you'll want answered is, "What were you doing at a buffet?"
We were at the casino. Now, before you go about judging my well-managed vice of choice, let's understand that, if I, as a chef, who grew up in a kitchen in the 1980s survived with no STDs, no substance problems and I have successfully sustained a healthy marriage and family, then I am doing great. Slot machines be damned.
And buffets can be fine. They can even be glorious. The Paris, in Las Vegas is one of my all-time favorite places to eat because it houses a gorgeous European-style buffet. I am a grazer and a buffet allows me tiny portions of many tastes and textures.
But on this recent visit, to a local casino, I stood in front of an unmanned pasta station. When the cook Giancarlo arrived, he was gloved up and ready to go, or so I thought.
As I watched, I noticed that he had no tongs for any of his ingredients. So, even if I had alerted him to any food allergies (as a paper sign in front of his station instructed me) cross-contact would have still been a big problem when he dug his gloved patties into the broccoli after he touched my neighbor's shrimp.
But the worst part? After he plopped my fettucine into a pan, he took a paper napkin and wiped his mouth...In front of the guests...And then he didn't even change gloves, let alone wash his hands and then change gloves.
Not only did Gian not have tongs, but he didn't have a clean side towel to wipe his hands on in between ingredients. But, not to worry, he smeared his fingers on the front of his apron. And to clean the pans? A side towel, stored under a space on his station, appearing to never be rinsed out, let alone resting in a bucket of fresh, food-grade sanitizing solution.
My poor Mister. As I sat back down, I asked him, "When I see this stuff happen (and it does, more and more) am I supposed to send an email to the casine or am I supposed to talk to a manager right now?" Mister's vote was to email.
However, I couldn't help myself. A server found the manager, Michael, for me and he and I had a brief chat. I figured if I could prevent someone else from taking an extra portion of cross-contamination or a helping of pathogens it would be a good thing.
Michael was responsive. I'm not suer how he handled it in the end, because I didn't see a lot of corrections to the station while I was still there. I did however see Michael himself don gloves to refill the stack of dinner plates. Good move, Michael!
At the end of my meal, my ever-patient Mister said, "Geez, the casino's food service should bring you in to trouble shoot, or consult, or even be a mystery shopper or something!" I could hear his subtext..."so maybe I wouldn't have to hear it when we go out..." It's an idea.
Pay attention when you visit buffets, please.  Take a look around before you even commit by paying for your meal. For your own food safety.

Some corrective/proactive actions that could have been taken:

• Make sure the employee has a clean apron and a supply of clean side towels for his hands and for handling those hot pans.
• If there are two burners on the station, a supply of 6 or 8 pans that could be washed and sanitized or switched out after they are used would prevent both cross-contact and cross-contamination.
• A bucket of sanitizing solution is handy for the wipe used to sanitize the station.
• Tongs should be in each and every ingredient.
• Sometimes, specially colored tongs are reserved for high-allergen ingredients or protein ingredients.
• And by the way, it might be a wise idea to put a sign in front of the brownies identifying them as containing walnuts before someone has an allergic reaction.

How would you have handled this experience???