Poor hygiene makes me cringe - AIBU?

[Defenbaker]

I've noticed that quite a lot of people seem to be clueless about basic hygiene, and I inwardly cringe when I see poeple doing certain things. For instance:

A woman served cake to people at a party. She served one slice then licked her fingers before offering slices to others (who all declined - think I wasn't the only one put off by that).
A cleaner at work picked up something dirty from the floor and threw it in bin, then emptied clean items from dishwasher without washing hands first. (She had disposable gloves on throughout, so perhaps as no dirt touched her actual hands she didn't think twice about it.)
A woman played ball with children in garden, then went into kitchen and began making sandwiches for people, without washing her hands first.
A woman in swimming pool changing room used a towel to dry her body off, then threw it onto the floor and dried her feet, before finally drying her hair with it. (I wondered how many people with athletes foot might have walked barefoot on that floor before she did that).

More generally, I hate it when people in cafes handle cash then serve/touch food without washing their hands first (it's widely known that there are lots of germs on money).

Maybe I'm more careful than some people, as I am emetophobic, which makes me very careful about food hygiene. Also I realise that there are germs everywhere, and children develop their imune systems by coming into contact with germs, so a totally sterile world wouldn't be ideal for humans, but AIBU to cringe at this sort of stuff?

Please share your pet hates here, re people's poor hygiene.

I consider myself fairly lax but always wash hands when I come back in from work/shopping, and before preparing food. I reckon that’s a minimum. We rarely get ill.

I’m never, ever ill and I don’t care about the stuff you mention. It’s the people who are over the top about hygiene that are ill all the time

@ilovemytumbledryer or perhaps people who seem "over the top" behave that way because they are aware that many people aren't lucky enough to have strong immune systems. Those people will get taken down by bugs when lucky people like you won't. It doesn't make you better than them it makes you bloody selfish.

If you believe in vaccination for herd immunity them you should also practice good hygiene. To me poor hygiene is the same as being an anti-vaxer.

Unfortunately others aren't always so scrupulous. Even the chef!

That shocked me Twinkletoes. Had always thought poor food hygiene in restaurants, school kitchens etc was down to lack of training.

My pet hate is when people walk out out of a public loo - the old fashioned kind that don't have a sink inside - and start faffing with their hair and make up without washing their hands.

I’m very hygienic....I’ve never been ill either.

Food remnants have no place in the dishwasher. Everything should be rinsed first before it goes in. The dishwasher is for a higher temperature 'hygiene clean' only (so no mucky rags tea towels need to be used to spread germs and towel fluff all over everything dry up).

Yes, but you realise these are your own made-up, completely unnecessary rules in your own head, right? .

I don't know if I have noticed all of these things but I am pretty obsessive about washing my hands and my sons when he first gets home...then again I have an autoimmune/ blood disorder so am prone to getting poorly

There does actually need to be food remenants on plates in the dishwasher, they shouldn't be washed first.

These days, there's no need to rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. ... If you pre-rinse your dishes, the sensors won't pick up any food particles and the machine will run a shorter cycle, leading to a less thorough clean and possibly leaving food that wasn't caught in the rinse

None of the examples in your OP would bother me that much.
The only things which really get me re people handling animals and not washing their hands. Especially if they've been letting dogs lick their hands or picking up mess.

People are filth. I do not touch buttons on lifts/buses with my fingers but with my knuckle. I wash my hands as soon as I get home and then purell. I never use public toilets. If DD needs to, I hold her above the toilet and she washes then purells. I bring my own straws if we're eating out. I inspect the knife and forks. I try to watch how they prepare and handle our food. I even put handwipes in DD's lunchbox😂 I could go on. I just do NOT trust peoples hygiene levels unless they're family!

I think an element of exposure to germs is good for your immune system. People are far too germ-phobic thee days and seem to have weaker immune systems as a result.

However, I drew the line today at buying vegetables from my local supermarket after I saw a small child handling all of them while their mother stood next to them and did nothing about it. No vegetable buying for me today. It's good that my local supermarket has reduced the amount of packaging but not so good when people start handling things that they aren't buying.

I wouldn’t really care about any of those. Maybe the finger licking one. And I also put my pet bowls in the dishwasher too.

Yes I think all of those things are totally gross esp the towel one, I hate swimming pool hygiene.

I’m a general slattern but I wash hands before touching food, handling clean plates esp as I have kids. My house is rarely clean ( 4 kids!) and I think that’s why we rarely ever get ill. One friend disinfects everything. If you changed a nappy then touched any thing except a tap on the way to the bathroom her dh had to disinfect it. Her and kids are always ill. I do think it’s due to my kids picking every bug in early life and hers not getting that onslaught on the immunity.

My second child is a germaphobe (sp?) possibly with ocd as he has SEN but it’s weird to witness as he seems happy with his own filth?

Someone drying themselves with a towel they'd wiped all round a changing room floor wouldn't bother me. Up to them if they want to go home head to toe in verucca spores but the rest of your examples are pretty foul, OP.

MIL used to pick up potatoes, lick her fingers then pick up more when she was dishing up roasties. Used to turn my stomach. Dh didn't even notice until I told him

I can remember looking forward to an ice cream cone from a van. The seller was taking cash then handling the cones with bare hands. Paid for it before I realised

Possibly the worst though was going to a friend's house for lunch and getting served a dollop of tuna mayo with a pube curling merrily out of the top. I can laugh about it now...

Wash hands after the loo (although there are some public toilets where I think it is more hygienic not to wash hands but to use tissue to open doors, etc), arriving home and before food prep. Generally believe in the 3 second rule for things that land on the floor and dislike public pools a lot. I got ring worm when I had a gym phase.

However the only really awful thing I have ever seen was at a carvery. Chap in front was deciding on which gravy. So. He dipped his finger in each, licking after each one. That was the first and last time we have ever been to a carvery. Ugh. Dry dinner wasn't great even for £6.95

YANBU

I’m never, ever ill and I don’t care about the stuff you mention. It’s the people who are over the top about hygiene that are ill all the time

Actually, I grew up with parents who are very lax when it comes to hygiene, and was ill very often as a teen & student. My ex-partner was the opposite, very health and safety conscious, and living together with her I picked up a lot of her habits. I'm almost never ill now.

Also, science is firmly against you. Washing hands saves lives.

Yes also to people walking out public loos and not washing hands, esp staff in restaurants 🤮. Sorry but in my head I’m judging that person very unfavourably. I always open any public loo door at the very top with my little finger.

But I have found mouldy weeks old food under my sofa from the kids on occasion, so I guess what some people finding totally minging is another’s normal.

I think YABU op, as you are emetophobic and I think you are projecting your issues upon the rest of the world.

so a totally sterile world wouldn't be ideal for humans,
That’s an understatement, we wouldn’t be able to survive in a sterile environment.

My DH enrages me by putting the kitchen bin lid on the work top when he changes the bin bag, then he doesn't wipe it afterwards. He'd happily prep food there after. It's disgusting, I don't know why he doesn't put it in the floor, dirty bastard. I'm surprised we remain healthy.

A mate’s husband was making a sauce when we were having dinner. He kept using the same spoon to taste, added salt etc, tasted again with the same spoon. His kids were all telling me not to touch the sauce, I was like ‘I’ve been watching, no way am I touching it.’ Made me want to puke.

Definitely Yanbu OP. I can’t believe how many people aren’t bothered by this stuff! Well I can...as I’ve decided not to eat in a number of places where basic hygiene clearly isn’t observed. And I’ve asked for new gloves in Subway. I don’t worry about the rails on the Tube etc (more risk from the possibility of falling over), but would wash my hands before eating anything afterwards. Even public swimming pools don’t bother me, but I will shower at home as the chlorine smells awful and you can’t get properly clean on the poolside showers.

I think people miss the point when they say they’re never ill. I know people who say this too, but then you see them drag themselves into work with a streaming cold etc. They don’t seem to consider this as being ill as they’ve not needed time off work. You don’t only get food poisoning bugs from poor hygiene.

I’m not a germophobe-I don’t expect a sterile environment-I just don’t think basic handwashing etc too much to expect.

Oh and the 5 second rule has been scientifically disproven...well sort of...it largely depends on the texture of what you have dropped.

The not washing hands would bother me much more than the finger licking or double dipping. It's just spit and most people I share a meal with/cook for me I know well and know they don't have some hideous contagious disease. Obviously it wouldn't be ideal in a restaurant, but if everything else was clean then 🤷. What exactly is going to happen?

Not washing hands when you've been in the garden etc is different as I don't want to eat actual dirt.

My mum
Licks her fingers whenever she’s cooking and I HATE it!

Geez this is the reason we are becoming a snowflake generation that we are.

I agree the lady preparing food should wash her hands first but some of the examples you cited are just ridiculous