A New Pet Peeve Discovered...

[kybearfuzz]

A lady I was working with had a nasty habit of licking her finger and then turning pages of documents we were reviewing. I've seen people do this before, but for some reason it never really hit me how disgusting this can be.

The documents were not freshly printed, but months old and had potentially been handled and written on by several people. The documents were also used in a laboratory setting, which means who knows what they may have been exposed to over time. I kept thinking of every person who didn't wash their hands that reviewed those or whatever and then watched this lady just lick her fingers every three or four sheets.

I admit that I have done this before, but usually only with freshly printed materials that I printed myself and picked up from the copier. This experience has changed that for me.

Ewwww....

Comments

[anziulewicz.livejournal.com]

Calm down.

Funny you mention this.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

A buddy of mine was at a party; and he was commenting on how gross it was when women were licking their fingers, while enjoying their food. He was disgusted by it; but worried he was being a prude.

Not at all, I told him.

I then described how on a television program, there was a "manners expert," watching a dinner party. One of the women at the table licked her fingers after having a bite. Miss Manners instantly pointed out the error of her ways. Why was that bad? It was pointed out that while licking fingers was ok back in cave men days, it's not anymore. We have wonderful napkins to wipe our paws with; and should use them with glee :)

So no, your reaction was a completely normal one :)

[dendren.livejournal.com]

SO with you on this. Ever since I started working with the health dept it has gotten harder and harder to tolerate such things, especially with all the new nasties popping up nowadays. I can barely make myself go to a buffet anymore... I spend more time watching what people do (or worse... their kids) than I do eating the food. It's downright nasty :P

[mikiedoggie.livejournal.com]

I keep "Sortkwik" on my desk at all times because its an awesome way to go through scores of documents without having to lick your fingers or smudge your papers. I look at so many old documents, I can't imagine having to lick my fingers all the time. ew. I know where my fingers have been!

[anziulewicz.livejournal.com]

I believe in good personal hygiene, but I also think it's possible in this day and age to be a little too germ-phobic. Witness all the ads for disinfectant wipes. "Don't touch that boy's soccer ball, hon, I have to dunk it in bleach first!"

If I'm looking at a magazine at our local library, I'm not going to suck on the pages, but I might occasionally moisten a fingertip to more easily turn them.

Fact is, there are all kinds of common germs (viruses, bacteria, fungal infections, etc) around us all the time: In food, in water, on surfaces, in the air, and so on. It's why we have our immune systems. New things like colds and flus will come along from time to time, and our immune systems eventually learn to cope with those germs also.

As for the "laboratory setting" you mention, if there's a possibility of contamination with blood or other body fluids, I think your co-worker might wish to be informed of that. But for the most part I wouldn't worry too much.

Just my humble opinion.

[chrisglass.livejournal.com]

I do this all the time and never consider how fresh the print is.

That'd be weird!

[clintswan.livejournal.com]

germs = life

[spatts5.livejournal.com]

I'm a big licker and do it all the time (yes, I've set myself up for a barrage of comments - give it your best shot).