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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Felt sick over customers wearing disposable gloves when shopping

180 replies

noggla · 09/11/2025 14:25

Do they not understand that this is worse for germ cross contamination than bare hands? Doctors, nurses, anaesthetists, dentists, vets etc change their gloves with every patient or more often if a messy job.

Shoppers with disposable gloves touch hundreds of stuff, face, money, cards etc.

This particular couple I saw wearing disposable gloves which had holes in the knuckles. This is caused by sweat breaking down the material in the DG. Then as they left the shop, they took off their gloves with their teeth and popped them into their coat pockets. That made me feel sick

I do wish someone would tell them that their protection is rubbish. I would love to see their faces on showing the results of Petri dishes with their gloves being swabbed v hands washed 15 mins earlier.

OP posts:
Moii · 10/11/2025 18:21

Not as bad as kids in trolleys with shoes on, I don't mean in the chair where they should be.

ITIgnoramus · 10/11/2025 18:25

noggla · 09/11/2025 14:25

Do they not understand that this is worse for germ cross contamination than bare hands? Doctors, nurses, anaesthetists, dentists, vets etc change their gloves with every patient or more often if a messy job.

Shoppers with disposable gloves touch hundreds of stuff, face, money, cards etc.

This particular couple I saw wearing disposable gloves which had holes in the knuckles. This is caused by sweat breaking down the material in the DG. Then as they left the shop, they took off their gloves with their teeth and popped them into their coat pockets. That made me feel sick

I do wish someone would tell them that their protection is rubbish. I would love to see their faces on showing the results of Petri dishes with their gloves being swabbed v hands washed 15 mins earlier.

There is no logic to some people's behaviour.

I've seen people in the service industry using gloves and as you point out they don't change them between customers! It's crazy.
I don't mean medical people.

Maybe the gloves protect them but not their clients or customers.

It would be far better if they washed their hands!

ITIgnoramus · 10/11/2025 18:25

Moii · 10/11/2025 18:21

Not as bad as kids in trolleys with shoes on, I don't mean in the chair where they should be.

Or shoes on train seats - not just kids but adults too.

Gwenhwyfar · 10/11/2025 18:29

HungreeHipp0 · 09/11/2025 15:20

There's a woman on my bus every morning that wears a face mask and disposable gloves. As soon as she's off the bus she removes it all to light a fag. Clearly wants to choose lung cancer over daily germs. Who are we to stop her. Whatever gets people through their day.

Sorry, but this made me laugh!

I suppose we all have some inconsistencies though.

EverythingElseIsTaken · 10/11/2025 18:29

singthing · 09/11/2025 18:06

"Shoppers with disposable gloves touch hundreds of stuff, face, money, cards etc."

But how is that any different to someone not wearing gloves, who will touch exactly the same number of things?

Because hands get washed. The way OP describes these particular gloves means they are being worn over and over again so actually far more dirty than hands.

Gwenhwyfar · 10/11/2025 18:30

Moii · 10/11/2025 18:21

Not as bad as kids in trolleys with shoes on, I don't mean in the chair where they should be.

Shopping trolleys are really filthy anyway and surely you wash/peel anything you put in there that is not in packaging.

XenoBitch · 10/11/2025 18:31

YABU just assume everyone has dirty hands. Whether they wear gloves or not does not matter. They are still touching all the same stuff.

Mumtobabyhavoc · 10/11/2025 18:31

when I'm wearing medical gloves, for whatever reason, I wash them by washing my hands while wearing them. I use them until they tear before throwing away.

I don't know why people need to make snide remarks about other people wearing gloves or masks. You do you. 🤷‍♀️
I still see people masking up. I was just at Costco and I saw a handful of shoppers in masks and two cashiers. I assumed they were either ill or were making efforts to avoid illness. It is cold/flu/Covid season and Covid started up again late August. What is bloody wrong with taking precautions and being considerate? 🤦‍♀️

HildegardP · 10/11/2025 18:33

TheatricalLife · 09/11/2025 18:12

I've never seen anyone doing this! Maybe I'm just unobservant. I've seen quite a few with masks on recently.
DD works in retail and is always ill, much worse than when she was at college or school.

The current flu variant is highly mutated, the vaccine won't protect quite as welll as usual because it's mutated so much sence vaccine production began for this year. Consquently many elderly, immuno-compromised people & their carers/ close contacts are going back to masking this winter.
If you're eligible, get your flu jab ASAP, it will provide mitigation which is important when an aggressive strain is circulating.

TheatricalLife · 10/11/2025 18:34

Gwenhwyfar · 10/11/2025 18:30

Shopping trolleys are really filthy anyway and surely you wash/peel anything you put in there that is not in packaging.

Shopping trollies really are absolutely filthy-rodents, foxes, old food...I can't get wound up over kids shoes when I've seen rats scurrying over them at night. They don't get washed. I don't put anything unwrapped on the trolley surface.

BrightSpark10 · 10/11/2025 18:36

Why you didn’t say something then if you’re that bothered 😶

Catonacoldfridgefreezer · 10/11/2025 18:37

HildegardP · 10/11/2025 18:33

The current flu variant is highly mutated, the vaccine won't protect quite as welll as usual because it's mutated so much sence vaccine production began for this year. Consquently many elderly, immuno-compromised people & their carers/ close contacts are going back to masking this winter.
If you're eligible, get your flu jab ASAP, it will provide mitigation which is important when an aggressive strain is circulating.

Yep - I have autoimmune lung disease so the masks have come out. I really do not want to be catching this nasty strain of flu if I can help it!

DragonsArise · 10/11/2025 18:38

I wear a disposable glove to shop sometimes. My skin reacts to both cold and the hand soap my work uses. This causes them to dry out and then crack and bleed in many tiny cuts over my fingers and the sides of my palms. Far too many for me to plaster and more appear as I move my hands and new bits split.

Currently, I keep my weeping, bleeding hand in a plastic glove to keep the thick hand cream layer on my hand and the blood off everything I touch. I hadn't realised it was such an outrageous move to be honest.

EverythingElseIsTaken · 10/11/2025 18:43

houseofisms · 10/11/2025 18:19

I’m on chemo. If I catch something it’s straight to hospital. I wear a mask and it’s a scary place out there when you’re going through something tough.

these people are obviously scared and they may have compromised immunity or just extremely anxious.

personally I wouldnt wear gloves but I do carry sanitizer. Have some humanity?

If they are scared then they shouldn’t be rewearing gloves and certainly not removing them with their teeth!

AllTheChaos · 10/11/2025 18:45

AintNoPunshineWhenShesGone · 09/11/2025 14:31

I do wish someone would tell them that their protection is rubbish.

Well it sounds like you had ample opportunity 🤷‍♂️

I can't say the hands of fellow shoppers have ever crossed my mind when I'm in the supermarket.

Then again, I tend not to go round licking the tins of beans or the frozen peas.

DD used to lick them - frankly small children are revolting!

ImogenBrocklehurst · 10/11/2025 18:46

Screamingabdabz · 09/11/2025 15:18

Ignore the naysayers op - I agree it’s bloody disgusting. I want to shout at them just wash your sodding hands you mingers.

How don’t know they’re not washing their hands?

XenoBitch · 10/11/2025 18:47

ImogenBrocklehurst · 10/11/2025 18:46

How don’t know they’re not washing their hands?

Or the reason they are wearing gloves. It could be fear of germs, but could be they have sensitive skin, allergies, or are wearing gloves to try and prevent skin picking.

Zov · 10/11/2025 18:50

I have NEVER seen anyone in public wearing disposable gloves!

IsntItDarkOut · 10/11/2025 18:52

DH works with some dodgy stuff and has to wear gloves. He always says there’s a particular technique to removing them so you don’t contaminate yourself with what you’ve touched.
I suspect wearing these is a total waste of time, if people are removing them with their mouths they are probably picking up more germs than not wearing them.

Dollymylove · 10/11/2025 18:52

I dont understand why its an issue, unless these latex gloved characters are forcing you to lick their hands 🤣🤣

MolkosTeenageAngst · 10/11/2025 19:02

Gloves are less hygienic than regularly washing your hands but I wouldn’t think most people are washing their hands between shops, are they? I touch my face, money, cards etc with my bare hands and can go hours without washing them if out shopping. I agree gloves aren’t hygienic but not sure bare hands is hygienic for most people either when at the shops as it’s not like the average town has sinks placed in between shops. Unless you find a public toilet to use you probably aren’t washing your hands at the shops.

CanSeeClearlyNowTheRainHasGone · 10/11/2025 19:13

noggla · 09/11/2025 14:25

Do they not understand that this is worse for germ cross contamination than bare hands? Doctors, nurses, anaesthetists, dentists, vets etc change their gloves with every patient or more often if a messy job.

Shoppers with disposable gloves touch hundreds of stuff, face, money, cards etc.

This particular couple I saw wearing disposable gloves which had holes in the knuckles. This is caused by sweat breaking down the material in the DG. Then as they left the shop, they took off their gloves with their teeth and popped them into their coat pockets. That made me feel sick

I do wish someone would tell them that their protection is rubbish. I would love to see their faces on showing the results of Petri dishes with their gloves being swabbed v hands washed 15 mins earlier.

Who do you think they are protecting?

There is an internal and external surface to gloves. In comparing gloves to hands you'll be looking at the external surface. You're right that this will have touched as many things as the bare hands, but the one thing it probably hasn't touched much is their own bare hands. So, it's reasonable to consider that they are marginally less contaminated than the equivalent bare hands.

Then you want to compare them to freshly washed hands. Which is strange because you don't want to compare new gloves to the washed hands, just the much-used gloves. So I really don't know what that's all about.

And lastly, you're not considering the internal surfaces of the gloves. That's in contact with their hands and is a barrier to their hands.

Let's say they have a cut on their hand. Without gloves that cut could be infected by everything they encounter in your shop, with gloves it won't.

Or let's say they have a nasty skin condition. Without gloves they could pass that on. With gloves they probably wont.

Does that make you hate them any less???

tommyhoundmum · 10/11/2025 19:16

I often see supermarket workers wearing gloves at the till.

Ddakji · 10/11/2025 19:18

What a colossal overreaction.

Swg · 10/11/2025 19:27

Halloweennight · 09/11/2025 23:50

This is what I don’t get - you’re either trying to protect yourself, others or both. I don’t understand the people who say ‘stay home’ or bitch about your mask. Masks are very triggering for some though and they may not be able to or want to access the support they need to address that anxiety. Sorry you have been bearing the brunt of this by some.

I wouldn’t bat an eyelid if someone had gloves on - I don’t know their reasons. If I saw someone wearing a decent respirator, I’d assume they were trying to protect themselves. If I saw someone wearing a baggy blue mask, I’d either feel a bit sorry for them as they’re trying to protect themselves but either don’t have the knowledge or money to protect themselves better, or I’d think ‘shit, this one’s got something nasty, might hang back a bit’. I realise how ridiculous the second thought is as at least those people are protecting others a bit, rather than someone who thinks covid/flu/noro etc are harmless to others/doesn’t cross their minds not to pass on or just don’t want to protect others at all. I think it’s because not deliberately spreading viruses is seen by some as more weird than reining it in a bit - peer pressure is very powerful, even if it’s nonsensical.

I’ve been wearing a mask today and I fully intend to tomorrow. Because I had to take my aunt to hospital with a really bad case of flu. She’s tachycardic and in at least overnight. I’ve absolutely been exposed now but I don’t need to hospitalise anyone else, and I know I work with some people who might be vulnerable.

There’s some nasty stuff going around this year.