shrimp thieves

Why do people do things like this? Not only did they (or s/he) steal food at Costco and leave it next to the purification system products, but they didn't even eat every piece of shrimp!

costco samples

People, just because Costco offers samples doesn't mean that you can go ahead and sample all their products, like this big bag of Kettle chips. At least have the decency put this in the trash.

bathroom keys

I didn't want to stay in the bathroom any longer than I needed to, but I captured a photo to accompany the entry I wrote on August 25: Have you ever had the experience of needing to use a key to get into the (restaurant or business) bathroom? Those keys are filthy. I always make sure I wrap them up in paper towel to transport them. Just imagine all the places that thing has been.. and all the urine and feces it has come across... I disapprove of these kinds of bathroom keys.

automatic dispensers

Imagine my delight when I discovered the automatic toilet paper dispenser in the restaurant's bathroom tonight. That's A+ in my book. That's the first one I've ever seen. They also had an automatic faucet and an automatic paper towel dispenser. They need to change the soap dispenser to an automatic one, and they'll be almost all set.

finger in cup

If I got a dollar for every time I saw a waiter put a finger in my cup/glass I could retire by now.

bathroom keys

Have you ever had the experience of needing to use a key to get into the (restaurant or business) bathroom? Those keys are filthy. I always make sure I wrap them up in paper towel to transport them. Just imagine all the places that thing has been.. and all the urine and feces it has come across...

dirty hands

Taking out your gum from your mouth with your hands then putting it back into your mouth once you're done with your drink is just.. dirty.

public condiments

Table condiments are disgusting. As much as I love the chili oil, you couldn't pay me enough to use this publicly shared one. I've heard horror stories of people licking the spoons in these things...

a thousand words

toilet seat covers

If you really need to use the public toilet for #2 purposes, use three sheets of toilet seat covers. You heard it here first.

bathroom signs

I suppose it doesn't hurt anyone to have overly helpful bathroom signs unless it gives people ideas...

flies

Flies are terrible. They're worse when they're flying around you while you're trying to use the public toilet. They're even worse when that same fly lands on your food at a restaurant.

sneezes

Having a cat sneeze on me wasn't as bad as having a human do it. I don't blame the cat for not sneezing into his arm, but I'd be infuriated if a human didn't do that!

triple D

Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives is a great show. What would make it better? If there were clips of Guy Fieri and the chefs washing their hands prior to preparing food.

thumb violation

When I see other people noticing unsanitary things, I feel a sense of relief knowing that others are becoming more aware and conscious of the ways people transmit germs and bacteria and what role they can play to help the world become more germ-aware. I gasped after I watched the waitress pull out shoyu dishes from her apron while her thumb was in the middle of the dish. I was NOT going to use that dish. My friend asked, "What?" when she heard me gasp. I paused, and she asked if it was because the dishes came from the apron. I responded, "Yes, that's one reason but also the thumb violation." My friend was one of those who never noticed these germ violations before but she has become more aware! Whenever I see the fingers of waiters in my plate, bowl, utensil, glass, etc. it disgusts me. The thumb/finger/hand violation is a common one!

rule of thumb, literally

Rule of thumb for waiters/servers: please don't touch the top of my glass. I don't want your fingers anywhere near where my lips are about to touch. I say don't touch the top half of the glass - a whole thumb length.

power to the germ-aware

To my germ-aware friends: don't fret if others don't understand or tease you for your germ-aware ways, they're only jealous of your superpower ability to see germs in ways they can't even imagine. :)

gloveless sandwich artists

Should sandwich artists wear gloves when they make your sandwich? I've watched sandwich artists handle money, not wash their hands, then make my sandwich. Needless to say, I never returned.

sanitary door opener

Warms my heart to know there are more of us out there. While I appreciate the creative genius of whichever germ-aware person created this, I trust the old-fashioned paper towel method more.

enjoy spit with your food

This article confirms what I've been saying all this time! Cockroaches, bandaids are all common things found in food!!! Read on:
A McDonald's waiter was arrested for spitting in the drinks of two patrons: http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/mcdonald-8217-worker-spits-tea-gross-fast-food-185600556.html

sweaty hands

Sweaty hands, otherwise known has hyperhidrosis, doesn't bother me as long as it doesn't interfere with my life. As I sat there at the sushi bar watching the sushi chef make my rolls, I found myself wondering if he had sweaty hands, and if other chefs who have made my food had sweaty hands. I really need to stop watching the chefs prepare my food.

stay away from my straw

While I appreciate the thoughtfulness, I would much more appreciate your thoughtfulness of not touching my straw. That means, no grabbing a straw for me at the pearl tea drink places, no unwrapping my straw for me under any circumstance, and basically just don't get me a straw unless it is in its original wrapper.

public restroom etiquette

I don't care what someone does in the privacy of his/her home bathroom. Nor do I want to hear someone's phone conversation while she's on the toilet, so please save your phone conversations for outside of the public restroom. While I was waiting in line to use the restroom, I had to listen to this lady chat on her cell phone, which she was also holding after she came out of the bathroom (dirty!).

kids

I thought the little kid was adorable until he started picking his nose with his fingers.

barefeet

I understand some people like to walk around bare feet but it's pretty disgusting to see bare feet... at the dinner table... in public. Yes, I witnessed this yesterday. Please put your feet back into your shoes.

gas pump prices

Gas pump prices are almost $4.50/gallon. That's ridiculous. Please don't forget to wipe your hands with baby wipes after you fill up, or just use a napkin to grab the handle.

porta potty

I had to use a porta potty this weekend. Enough said.

the incident

The scenario: While eating at a restaurant, a waiter came to remove the plates, cups, and settings next to me as they were being unused.

Waiter, as he is digging his fingers into my cup: Oh, are you using this? This is your cup?
Me: (Speechless because everything was moving in slow motion. All I could see were his fingers inside my cup.)
T and I look at each other.
T: I guess you're not using that anymore.

food off table

Watching people eat food that fell onto a restaurant table (or any table for that matter) or floor makes me cringe and gag a little!

bathroom signs

How sad that employees wouldn't know to wash their hands without these instructions:

What is wrong with this picture?

The bottom half of the lettuce is completely contaminated by the dirty tongs, which everyone has touched..

sign at restaurant

This sign says it all. Kudos to the restaurant that posted this up in the bathroom! (Click on picture to see the a larger version.)

peach

I hope that this hair inside the canned peaches is mine...

unwashed produce

As you can read, I find a number of things to be violations of the germ-aware code. Eating unwashed produce is one of those. To me, eating unwashed produce equates to having direct contact to hundreds of sets of hands that have touched the produce, including the guy who fondled a few of the oranges immediately after his use of the bathroom followed by not washing his hands and touching a few door handles.

coughing child

Of all the tables in the restaurants, the child had to choose mine to cough into. As the five-year-old walked by on his way out of the restaurant, he turned to my table and coughed directly into my tea cup. Thank you.

scented soap

If you want to confirm that your guests have washed their hands with soap after using the restroom, be sure have heavily scented soap available for them. It's a true telltale sign!

company parties

Stay vigilant at company parties (buffet-style) and potlucks. There are so many violations that can and do occur at these events. To name a couple:

- fingers that touch a piece of food and everything else surrounding it
- spitters: people who have conversations right next to the food and unintentionally spit into the plate of food

Solution?
Be at the front of the line for food and hoard.
Encourage your company to forgo the buffet-style celebration and opt for a three-course meal or enjoy simplicity with a boxed meal!

wrappers for boba straws

Every bubble tea place should have wrapped boba straws like the one in the picture. This way people won't get their grimy fingers on what touches my lips:

door handles

While I applaud the efforts of this person using paper towel to open the door, leaving the paper towel on the door handle defeats the purpose and is unnecessary when there is a trash can next to the door:

2012

Happy New Year! Like every year, I wish you an as germ-free as possible year surrounded by the love of germ-aware people. With all these new laws that passed for 2012, they missed the most important one: Banning people from sneezing directly into their hands. We have the hooks of our arms, people; USE IT! Be safe and germ-considerate in 2012!