Acceptable or Unhygienic?

Yes indeed, well said DaphneBroon

Good post DB and I have firsthand experience of much of what you say. My DH is the designated shoe putter-on of all 3 little grandchildren and doesn't mediwipe himself afterwards. Yes, he's had quite a few bouts of sepsis but we are told these are very likely generated internally. Common sense hygiene is obviously needed but we have to keep a sense of proportion. Hopefully our little ones don't tread in dog mess any more than we do.

I buy my food in the local supermarket and at a local greengrocers. Very often some vegetables and fruit are not wrapped, especially if I have chosen a single pepper or a couple of small turnips as I just bung them in the trolley. Other fruit and veg, such as potatoes, onions, carrots, apples and pears, are chosen from stacks and then we put them into plastic bags ourselves. Before eating, most of them are washed (e.g. grapes), some of them are washed and peeled (e.g. carrots) and some of them are peeled (e.g. melons). I can't really see a problem and neither Mr absent nor I suffer from a constantly gippy tummy.

As for the assistant using the tester lipstick, that's her problem, not mine. I have never seen the point of tester lipsticks anyway. I have never sen anyone use them on anything other than their hands whose natural colour does not match the natural colour of their lips.

DaphneBoon I m with you all the way so much fuss is made of so many 'hygiene' things, so what if kids sit in trollies isn't that what they are for, food is made for sharing and why worriy about cutlery Haven't any of you guys kissed a man ( or woman Wobblybits) or shock horror shared a bed All those terrible body fluids exchanging their way around the world really put a blooming old lippy into perspective

We are killing the planet with our blooming aerosols of cleanliness spraying everything in sight with chemical laden bursts We are killing our kids natural ability to fight germs by under exposure .... There is more asthma there are more allergies there are more major immune system illnesses but hey ho let's worry about a lipstick or a fork that may have touched someone's lips Far far too precious

I agree with one thing she shouldn't have been making her face up in work time

Our daughter when she was a student at uni used to work in an up market restaurant as a waitress. The staff were told to wash and use again any salad leaves that were left on the plates by customers. To send out again!!!

Oh I've hardly ever considered any of these things. I haven't noticed or been advised by my DiL who's immune system must be shot to pieces. I suppose with all those children, a dog she just takes her chances. Surly the assistant with the lipstick was only putting herself at risk? My pet hygiene hate is public loo's it's not the toilet it's the door handle. I use paper or my sleeve to open the door. My grandchildren use their hands on the toilet seat to balance makes me shudder. oh and I don't like those hot air dryers. Germs love warm damp air, although I use them I use hand gel after. Now I think about it I'm a bit nervous about reasturant levels of hygiene. I still eat the food though. I use wipes at work to wipe down computers and work stations not before after I've used them (now there's a whole new worry about spreading germs. It's called hot desking) I'm sure public transport is awash with germs, as are public places, library's, G.P surgeries, veterinary surgeries, elevators the list is never ending. What can we do about it? Not much except be sensible about our own cleanliness. Most supermarkets will give you a piece of paper roll and I've seen people use wipes to wipe the trolley or put two baskets inside the trolley. I keep a small bottle of sanitizer in my bag. Oh dear it looks as if I'm more fussy about cleanliness than I thought

I am one who subscribes to the "peck of dirt before you die" philosophy and think that being too fussy is causing problems as children aren't being naturally sensitised to the nasties of the world. I've taken hand sanitizer when I'm going somewhere without washing facilities, but otherwise don't worry about things. If you start fretting about who's touched an item (whatever it is) before you, you'll never stop fretting, surely?

Basic hygiene is a must though, and should surely be second nature. Just washing your hands at appropriate times and always before cooking and eating. Not sticking your own spoon into a communal bowl is just good manners, and yes, it can cause problems for people with delicate constitutions.

Medical professionals sometimes shock me. A nurse came out to change my DBIL's horrible dressing after surgery. Then held out her arms to take the one month old granddaughter my sister was holding She looked affronted when my sister suggested she wash her hands first.

DaphneBroom of course you are right that most of the infections contracted by those with suppressed immune systems are from bugs already in/on their bodies. Or from hospitals. (or the effect of heavy duty antibiotics creating a nice clear field for things like CDiff to invade.
And there is no need for healthy people to be using "anti-bacterial wipes". The only way to sterilise something is to swab it with bleach solution.
Quite a lot of evidence that children brought up on farms etc get fewer allergies.
Biggest risk for public in normal health is noro virus and flu - and hand washing is the best protection.
Supermarket trolleys - well the biggest risk is not little shoes but the multiple hands that push them. Colds, flu and viruses get transferred by hands, not feet. I try to remember to wash my hands when I have been out shopping etc.

DaphneBroon RE supermarket trolleys, it isnt just about not having unwrapped food in your trolley and more about the fact you take your wrapped food and place it onto your kitchen worktop where you do have unwrapped food, you also place in your cupboards and fridges.But if you dont mind traces of dog muck and human spit in your cupboard thats up to you.
Many years ago there was a study that showed unless anti bac spray is left on a surface its a waste of time.

Most supermarkets give a warning about children in trolleys except for small children in the child seat. There is more risk to the child than to the consumer as there is so much packaging on goods nowadays.

Bluebelle I didn't mean children sitting in the seat in trolleys - yes, in a mask. hat's what they are for - I meant large children, 7 or 8 year olds, sitting in the main part of the trolley (because they are presumably too lazy to walk.)

But if most other people are perfectly relaxed about it it must be me, as I said, being a GOW.

And I don't spray everything and I don't walk around in a mask, although I did wonder if it was the norm in Hong Kong. I do wash my hands.

Oh FGS this tablet is jumping all over the place - the bit about the mask in the first sentence should not be there!!
It should read 'yes, that's what they're there for'
Obviously.

Daphne the point is not to put the fondue fork in your mouth. Use another fork to eat the bread or meat or whatever. I think double dipping is gross too. Dip once for goodness sake!

I have to inspect the toilets everywhere before I eat there.........

I find interesting debates here a huge turn off when they become heated and sometimes even nasty. Cool it ladies. We didn't reach this ripe(ish) age without experience of the good, bad and ugly. Share your experiences, please. I find them very informative and valuable BUT, please, LESS aggression. Oh I know, if I don't like it, disconnect, but, in the main, I find this an enjoyable part of my day. OK?

Something similar. I have used my gym for 10 years, in the changing room l see another woman maybe 5 years younger than me , we say good morning and talk about the weather nothing more.
This morning l had a shower washed my hair and wouldn't you know it left my hair brush somewhere. i asked the woman "may l borrow your hair brush just to go through my hair"she said 'no'. I accepted this but l do not understand why. My hair was clean she has seen me about for 10 years etc. What do l not get?

Hi...has anyone thought of wearing shoes inside the house as unhygienic? I have a strict rules that NO ONE wears shoes in the house.

Totally unhygienic ...... Annoyingly the lippy you dab on the back of your hand looks quite different on one's lips

Hence I have a huge selection of unused lipsticks ???

I subscribe to don't worry about it other than appropriate hand washing. I will not anti bac anything the only way to self immunise is to allow small amounts of bacteria to enter our lives. So yes my work surfaces and cupboards whilst clean, will have traces of every hand that handled the packaging, everything it touched etc. etc. Most of it dies quite quickly if not it is a necessary exposure to community germs - I wouldn't knowingly transfer it to our lives in quantity I.e. Basic food hygiene washing, peeling, storage and prep segregation etc prevails but I just don't think about it and accept my peck of dirt for run of the mill community germs. I don't use testers in makeup - but if others wish to I'm not going to object.

You lot make me sick, reading your whinging. I was born, raised and lived in Glasgow from 1933, until being conscripted into the army in1954. There were five of us living in one room, known as a single end. The hygiene, left much to be desired. Even in the home, which was kept scrupulously clean, was unhygienic, by today's standards. The muck we kids played in, would make you people terminally Ill. Our homes were surrounded by factories, belching out muck and fumes. My mother used the same knife to spread butter, jam and anything spreadable, on the same bread board. I never heard of anyone coming down with e-Coli, or anything else, other than the usual infectious diseases. In my opinion, you all should have got a dirt injection, or some such, when you were born. The old saying, comes to mind"clean meat never fattened a pig"

I totally agree about the lipstick, it should always be the hand not the mouth. And lots of other things that somme posters mention. But I do honestly think that we have become too fussy generally about hygiene.

Kim19you're right. Some of us may have very good reason to be a bit 'wary', cannot boost our immune system whatever we do and know how to be sensible and live a normal life without wrapping ourselves in cottonwool.

To be accused of being 'precious' delicate' or of 'hysteria' is neither kind nor helpful.

Why are you on the thread then Balini if we lot make you sick
And why do we make you sick if you have such a great immune system?

I expect mine was great at one time, spending half my life on a farm. However, you never know what life will come and hit you with.

I may have been guilty of being smug years ago too.

I saw a couple of teenage girls in Boots spray deodorant on their armpits. I nearly died but didn't say anything because they looked abit intimidating. I told the floor manager and she just rolled her eyes. Who knows what's lurking in testers or otherwise these days. If it isn't cellophaned be aware.

Whilst hygiene is a consideration to a greater or lesser degree depending on your tolerance levels, the point that I consider most important is being courteous to others. It's simply good manners not to double dip as there are people out there for whom it is a off putting. Used cocktail sticks being put back on plates of food is another.

My personal bug bear is men who get into the pool or jacuzzi without showering esp. if they have been in the sauna. Just a lack of consideration.

Oh, and aggressive posting - Balini was that really kind?