ARGGHH

I really dislike the phrase "banging my head against a wall", but that's the only way I can think of to describe this.
At work we tend to have a lot of leftover soup at the end of the night. So the procedure for saving it is to pour it into shallow pans, cover it, label it and put it on a rack in the cooler.

Here's the problem. Without fail, people seem to think they need to insert an extra step. Namely, "leave the soup sitting out on the counter for half an hour". Too "cool".

Ok. Look. I'm not some great chef. I'm really pretty passable at what I do. So I don't have a lot of great chefly advice to impart on you. But if I can leave you with on vital bit of culinary knowledge, it is this-

There is no reason to leave food sitting out at room temperature.

Got it? None. If it is meant to be served hot, or cold, it should never be just sitting around. Keep it hot, or keep it cold. Don't let it sit there in a temperature zone where bacteria can fester.

This seems fairly obvious to me, and yet almost every day I have to correct someone on it.

"But it needs to cool first!" they protest.

"Yes" I agree, my teeth practically grinding in futile despair "and it will do that. In the cooler."

Between 40 degrees and 140 degrees Farenheit is bad, ok folks?