HOUSTON – The Houston Astros are winning (this game), the hot dogs are selling, and all is right with the world at Minute Maid Park. But not inside a men's restroom.
Local 6 sister station KPRC-TV in Houston obtained cellphone video that shows a ballpark snow cone vendor sitting on a toilet in a stall with an entire box full of the products he's about to sell. They sit on the bathroom floor right next to him.
The person who recorded the video and gave it to KPRC said: "I couldn't believe what I was seeing. This guy is taking a dump. There's no doubt about it. What sane person could possibly think, 'Yeah this is a good idea. I'll just put the food that I'm about to sell on the floor.'"
The man complained about what he saw right away.
Just hours into his brand new job, Reid Ryan, the Houston Astros' new president and son of Nolan Ryan, had just attended his first game as the MLB team's president when KPRC told him the news.
"This being your first game. Your first day on the job. What was going through your head when you heard what happened?" he was asked.
"Well, right away, I just thought, 'We gotta' let this guy go. There is no doubt about it.' That was my decision," Ryan said.
Ryan said that snow cone vendor was fired immediately.
When asked what the ballpark could do to make sure something like this doesn't happen again, Ryan responded: "I don't think there is anything you can do to make sure human beings don't make mistakes. What you can do is make sure all employees are trained and that our policies are followed."