AIBU to think wiping down trolley handles is utterly pointless?

[RaspberryCoulis]

Just back from my weekly trek round Asda to do the shopping. Got hissed at by some woman because I bypassed the queue of people waiting in a (socially distanced) queue to spray and wipe their trolley handles.

I never bother, I have never bothered. Seems utterly pointless. Rates of Covid in my area sitting around 100 per 100,000. That's 0.001%. Even if you believe that 90% are asymptomatic, that would be 1000 per 100,000 or 0.01%. You'd have to be very unlucky for one of the 0.01% to be the person who had the trolley before you.

Then, that person would have had to be not wearing a mask (mask compliance in this town is very high), sneeze/cough/lick the trolley handle (removing their mask to do so), and then i'd have to smear my hands exactly where they'd licked, remove my own mask, and lick my fingers.

A somewhat unlikely scenario.

It's all about the supermarkets trying to show how "covid secure" they are, isn't it? And actually, it makes bugger all difference?

@wintertravel1980

Waitrose is catering to its customers - anxious middle class (often - working from home) population who might treat their weekly trip to the supermarket as a highly risky activity.

I have hardly been to Waitrose since the pandemic started. I tend to avoid places that go over the top with “COVID security”.

You'd be ok at my local Waitrose then, as they seem to have given up on trolley cleaning. Could be something to do with the fact that the store is closing down at Christmas, and everyone is feeling pretty dejected, but even so.......

The problem with a lot of public sanitising is that it's performative, it's about being seen to do it, and then those people feel that they can abuse those who aren't being seen to do it.

Recent case, on a local FB page, someone was ranting about people not using the hand sanitiser provided in Asda "They were just walking in without doing their hands, this is why we're in Tier 3" etc etc.

Someone very reasonably pointed out that many people prefer to use their own, kept in car or handbag. They got shouted down by the "performance sanitisers"

I would love to see the faces of the people commenting here when they go to the hospital for an operation and the surgeon refuses to wear a mask or wash their hands cos "they cant be arsed and they haven't got any infections, so its not a problem"

But you’ve touched the troller before you sanitised it? Makes no sense to me?

I don’t quote the trolley handles either. I do sanitise my hands before touching a trolley and after leaving the store though.

Of course if there’s a huge queue and you are walking past everyone, you are going to cause offence. We are a social species and if you break the social status quo somebody won’t like it. So when it’s busy I do personally queue to wipe the trolley, because I don’t like pissing people off. We are all doing our best at the end of the day.

@Farle29

I would love to see the faces of the people commenting here when they go to the hospital for an operation and the surgeon refuses to wear a mask or wash their hands cos "they cant be arsed and they haven't got any infections, so its not a problem"

I'm almost certain thay picking up an infection internally during surgery which could kill you is entirely incomparable with incredibly rare secondary transmission of a virus with a survival rate of 90-98% depending on which study you read

I don’t wipe the handles or in fact, quote them

@Bythehairywartsonmywitchychin

It’s not just transmitted by hand to mouth.

If you touch your eyes, nose or other bodily orifice, or if you’ve got an open cut/graze ect after touching an infected object/surface etc it can be transmitted that way.

I generally do give the trolley handles a wipe down, but then think to myself what’s the point as the rest of the trolley isn’t sanitised and I’m picking up items on the shelves.

I use alcohol gel before and after I’ve shopped, that is probably enough to protect myself as long as I don’t touch an orifice ect 😷

Must remember not to finger myself after touching supermarket trolleys

I thought they’d found cases in New Zealand where it was transmitted via a lift button and a bin lid? They have had so so few cases and such thorough track and trace that they were able to narrow down to that because there was no other source of contact.

So I think it’s one of those things that is rate snd unlikely, but possible.

And I think even if something is only a one in a million chance, it’s still shit if it happens. The cost/benefit ratio of a quick wipe vs avoiding lung failure is enough to tip the scales for me.

Rates of Covid in my area sitting around 100 per 100,000. That's 0.001%.

Not so long ago you had to quarantine if you returned from somewhere where the rate was above 20 per 100000. We have very short memories.

@Nomorescreentime

I don’t wipe the handles or in fact, quote them

But if you were to quote them, what would they say?

@wintertravel1980

Waitrose is catering to its customers - anxious middle class (often - working from home) population who might treat their weekly trip to the supermarket as a highly risky activity.

I have hardly been to Waitrose since the pandemic started. I tend to avoid places that go over the top with “COVID security”.

My local Asda staff clean all the baskets and stack them neatly in the lobby. Actually, it’s very nice to pick up a clean basket, I say thank you every time. I don’t generally use a trolley but I think they wipe those down too.

The NZ examples represent infrequent cases of direct surface transmission (although there is an equally strong argument that the lift transmission might have been caused by aerosols in the air). So yes, there is some low risk to the OP if she touches the contaminated handle and then gets herself infected.

However, some PPs argue that OP might spread the virus to others by touching a different surface and transmitting COVID from the trolley handle to - say - supermarket packaging. Such occurrences of secondary transmission for COVID have not yet been documented.

@RaspberryCoulis

One of the very few benefits of masks - no-one can see you muttering "just fuck off" as you walk past them. She didn't really speak to me.. she did that typically British passive aggressive thing of commenting loudly to her husband about SOME PEOPLE who think they don't have to follow the rules about sanitising.

There are no rules about sanitising. She’s an idiot. I bet she went right off to feel up all the tomatoes!

You are so right about that benefit of masks, mouthing “fuck off” is so satisfying!

And I don't expect a medal, it's nobody's business but mine. If you really, really think there's a risk from handling an "infected" trolley, you carry on with your squirting and wiping and don't pass comment on people who can't be arsed and think it's pointless.

So what's the point of starting a thread if you don't wants opinion other than yours .

OP’s posts: See next | See all

A factory near to us had an outbreak. We know 3 people there, all said once it got in there was no hope, the place was so clean, social distancing in place, 8 on a large factory floor, constant spraying. 22 people there got it. The handles possibly/probably don't help, as don't a lot of measures, but the more little things people do, the more there's some chance something has stuck, plus I think it gives some people piece of mind. So possibly a placebo, but placebos help sometimes!!

@wintertravel1980

Waitrose is catering to its customers - anxious middle class (often - working from home) population who might treat their weekly trip to the supermarket as a highly risky activity.

I have hardly been to Waitrose since the pandemic started. I tend to avoid places that go over the top with “COVID security”.

You seem to know an awful lot about all of this.

Are you a member of Sage or just trying to offend people who happen to like Waitrose and the food they sell?

Do you know that libraries are putting books aside into quarantine for a few days? And book shops?

Funnily enough I DID know that! I'm a charity shop volunteer and we're told to quarantine stuff for 72 hours.

That's utterly pointless too.

I didn’t bother wiping the handle until I got Covid. I started having symptoms about two hours after I’d been to the supermarket. Then I had massive guilt about the trolley id used and the fact I may have unknowingly spread the virus on the handle of the trolley. I do clean them now as Covid isn’t a virus i’d care to repeat and also i sanitise extra carefully because the guilt of me possibly passing it on to someone else is not worth the 60 seconds of queuing for the spray.

It did make me laugh when a pp said “well I don’t have it so....” 🤦🏽‍♀️

The thing is, there are lots of little measures that probably make almost no difference on an individual level. But if all of them together may help reduce the spread in any way, and it's not a great effort for me to do (which wiping some sanitiser on my trolley handle really isn't) then I don't see the point of arguing about it really. It's no bother for me.

I don’t sanitise the trolleys or the baskets

At Asda I use my own for hands if needed at the time as I am not touching theirs as everyone else has touched it why can’t they get a bloody automatic one would be much easier plus the things is disgusting. I pity the member of staff that has to clean it.

"the more cleaning the better."

I agree. Some people just can't be bothered.

@RaspberryCoulis

See I don't think you're going to catch it from products either. Or the sanitizer bottle - because you're touching it, then sanitizing.

Covid is spread by face to face contact, at a distance of less than 2 metres, for 15 minutes or more.

Not by touching stuff in supermarkets.

This. But now people are terrified to touch anything. Schools are 'quarantining' Christmas cards for 72 hours. Laughable.

Surely, in the midst of a global Pandemic, it's better to clean too much than not enough?
Are we not supposed to be doing all this stuff for the greater good - not because as an individual, I'm ok?
I think it also serves as a visual reminder that things are not normal so promotes caution.

Totally agree OP - obvs l don't want to catch this wretched virus but l would say my immune system in general is good - am very rarely ill and l am sure that is down to not being a germaphobe!! I wipe a trolley if there is someone watching but other than that l never do.