Don't want DH sitting on kitchen island/worktops - AIBU?

[BearBirdBaboon]

Do the adults who live in your house sit ON the kitchen island or worktops?

YABU - it's OK for them to sit on the kitchen island/worktops
YANBU - they should sit somewhere else

You don’t let people put phones on your worktop? What?!

I sometimes sit on my kitchen counter, our house is quite small so if I want to take a phone call away from the rest of the family and keep an eye on the dinner cooking it's that or the floor!!

I'm not that fussed about germs, none of us are dead yet from my occasional sitting on a kitchen counter 🤷‍♀️

So... Presumably you wash your shopping before putting it away.

And also post? Never touches a side? Do you wash your hands after handling everything?

How often are you washing your computer keyboard and phone screen? And your car keys, and your car, inside and out. And your office?

I do worry that Covid has made some people rather - overobssessed about hygiene.

Weren't there quite a lot of people who had boxes by their front door and anyone coming in, had to entirely strip off, put their clothes in the box and then go and shower before putting on fresh clothes? Wonder how many are still enforcing that? I suspect quite a few people on this thread would like to.

@SpringIntoChaos
No, not naked arse, thankfully!

@AlwaysLatte
We have a sofa, two bar stools and six dining chairs DH could plonk his arse on in our kitchen/diner...

@LivingMyBestLie
Thank you for highlighting possibility of damage to me. Have now done a little bit of research into that and will definitely be telling DH not to put his 14 stone backside on the quartz tops!

I couldn't care less. One thing I avoid is to micromanage my husband. My mum used to do it and we all hated it.

Yes, dp and i both do.

Shitting on the kitchen table is taking it a step too far 🤣

You are clearly not from New Zealand..

Wouldn't bother me. The worktops get wiped down constantly anyway and unless you have a weird habit of licking them or are incapable of using a chopping board, I think it's unlikely that you're going to catch the lurgy from someone's trousers coming into contact with your worktop.

Same with the handbag on the table thing. Unless you are a stranger to plates and simply eat your Sunday roast direct from the table, it's not a problem. The germs aren't going to leap off the table into your Yorkshire pudding.

@sheepdogdelight Agreed. I have never seen so much ill-informed hygiene paranoia anywhere as I do on Mumsnet. There was someone on here once who wouldn't let her children sit on their own beds unless they changed into clean pyjamas first 'because their clothes have germs on them'. Yet presumably they'd been wearing those germ-ridden clothes all day without coming to any harm as a result, and therefore any germ-to-duvet cover transfer is unlikely to be problematic.

Definitely not good from a weight point of view. Our kitchen fitter put extra supports under our kitchen cabinets for a quartz worktop, apparently the standard legs can buckle under the weight, so I wouldn't think adding 12 stone or more of bloke on top would be at all wise!

Tbf putting your phone down on the worktop is far more gross from a bacteria perspective! As is your handbag. So nope I can't get worked up over it. Also we have a cat so wipe down any food prep area before anyway.

Why do people keep mentioning New Zealand?!

In Maori culture, sitting on the table or anywhere where you put food is considered really rude. We teach all the children not to do it - it's a bit like spitting, if you want, acceptable in some cultures, in others not at all. So, in NZ you will not see it, not among the people who went to school here for sure.

Our work surface is ruined from people being on it, where it joins with the sink it's all pushed in. So no I wouldn't want anyone sitting on it. I don't know why you would really.

🤣🤣🤣 I thought this was a deliberate joke before your update.

There should be an edit button!

I'd like to see my DH try to get up there, he's not exactly nimble!

I do it on occasion, I used to do it a lot more often when I was younger (as in still an adult, just a younger adult) I think it gets less appealing the older / heavier / less upper body strength I have...

I've never seen an adult do this, can't imagine going to someone's house and sitting on a worktop or table, seems kind of bleurgh! I wouldn't ever do it at home either because the only unit without a cupboard over it is a bit wobbly and would prob collapse.

If you are so paranoid about germs then I'm sure you wipe the countertop before you start cooking anyway? Sounds like you're making a big issue about nothing

Somehow I only sit on the kitchen counter when I’m anxious or very cross. When DH sees me sitting there, he knows something is up.