Asked for a new coffee lid

[CountryVic]

Went to a cafe this morning that only does takeaways, you order and they call your number. Often your foods ready before your drink and vice versa, so you go one side to collect food, and another for your drink.

My number was called literally by both the barista, and the food server at the same time, so I collected my toastie then took a few steps back and went across to the barista counter.

My late was the only drink on the counter, as I stepped over the lady behind me, who also ordered after me, walked up to the cup and put her hand on the lid, picks it up and says is this mine. The barista says number 72, the woman says no Im 74 so she puts it down, then rubs her finger over the spout where some of the latte foam has come out, licks her finger and steps back.

I step forward, hesitated for a second, then asked the barista for a new lid. She just looked at me and I just said sorry, that lady put her hands all over the lid, I’d like a clean one please, the baristas handed one to me not saying a word, and I swapped them over, said thanks and put the other one in the bin on the way out. The other lady just stood there 2 steps behind me watching.

Part of me thinks I was being fussy, and wasteful of a new lid, but the other customer didn’t just pick the cup up at the side, her palm was flat on the lid and she ran her finger over the drink hole. Who knows where her hands had been?

I’m travelling for work with very limited luggage so only bought my water bottle. Plus my normal at home coffee shop won’t allow outside cups so I’m used to the disposable ones, I typically make at home though but I needed the extra caffeine hit today.

Check the lid first, tho!!😄

OP, I worked in a cafe where the lids are chucked in a basket behind the counter, we have to separate them as they are packed together tightly and everyone who is serving is constantly touching them.
Don’t overthink the cleaning of equipment in these places either - you’d never buy anything again!
Staffing cut to the bone, poor wages, overworked, rushed and badly treated…I’m retiring next month.
I might do an AMA…🤔

I thought that too, but to be honest she probably just did it as a reflex action without even thinking.

OP, it was fine to ask for a new lid (although bear in mind that everything will have been touched by the baristas anyway) but I'm not sure why you'd overthink it to this degree. You didn't even have to explain to the barista why you wanted one. It's no different from asking for a couple of extra napkins or a second straw or something; it's not something they're going to question.

I’d have done the same OP! It’s one thing to know a barista has handled it but a random person rubbing the bit where you’d put your mouth? No way!

Seems like a non event. What did you expect the staff member to say when you asked? They gave you what you wanted. And presumably they don't especially care about extra lids or the fact a woman touched yours by accident.

Did you want them to reprimand her? If you thought it was gross you should've said something to the woman at the time. But her reaction was clearly done without thought rather than she maliciously sabotaged your cup by touching the lid.

Exactly

I’d have asked for a new coffee tbh

I'd have done the same as you, OP.

Such a non event. I thought my life was pretty dull…

The coffee maker would be making coffee with reasonably clean hands so that’s not the same as some random punter touching your lid. You are not being unreadable.

Takeaway coffee is wasteful full stop if you use disposable cup snd lid

With kindness, you sound bloody patronising.

I've been in loads of cafes where you pick your own lid. I always get flustered because I seem to be incapable of identifying the right size by eye. I blame it on having dyspraxic tendencies, plus I get performance anxiety if there are other customers waiting for me to get my lid and piss off out of the way!

YANBU - I would have done the same.

The local Costa near me are really good on hygiene - every time they switch to or from working on the till to making drinks they disinfect their hands.

If she had just picked it up it wouldn't have buttered me (presuming she looked like a normal clean person) but the wiping the foam from the drinking spout would have bothered me & I'd have asked for a new lid,

you're massively over thinking what the stranger or the barista were thinking though!

I hope you're heading home today to enjoy the weekend at home 🌷

I was just thinking in some of these places they seem to have a little wet rag that is use to regularly clean the spout of the coffee machines. If I had the brain space for the worry, that's what I wouldn't want to see them doing before they made me a coffee.

Why would you want the coffee to be made with a dirty spout though? The wet cloth is specifically for cleaning the spout

What I'm saying is how long do you think they've been using that rank old cloth? I reckon they go several days with some well juicy bacteria building up on them .

Not anywhere I’ve worked, but you never know. That does for anything really though, kitchen clothes, hand washing etc, you just have to use a certain amount of trust.

@ToKittyornottoKitty my point exactly..No point worrying about most of this stuff. Unless you have majorly serious health problems

The worker handled both the lids, I’m not sure how this is much better.

Why the fuck did that woman do that?! Silly fool. She needs to look with her eyes and not her hands and keep her grubby paws to herself

YANBU, op @CountryVic

Where I am coffee lids are often left off too. At least one of the large chains here does that. I think it’s so you can add sugar etc before leaving.

You’ve obviously never worked in a coffee shop…

I’m with you OP I hate it when people touch where you could be drinking. It gives me the rage (before anyone starts not really) when people, usually on the telly, pass people drinks holding the cup by the rim

i got a barista to change my lid at a coffee shop. One made the coffee whilst the other member of staff was emptying a bin then cleaning it with a dodgy looking bin rag. The barista cleaning the bin then picked up a lid and pressed it very well down on my coffee. No way was I drinking from that lid - gross