It’s not a joke. It’s not a comedy. It’s a real tragedy. It’s a true story.
I am shopping at a local grocery shop. There are some people inside. A woman is buying raw meat. Saleswoman is nice, of course. She likes talking to customers. Anyway, the woman asks for raw meat and the saleswoman, smiling, reaches for the meat and – that’s the worst part – takes the meat with her bare hand and puts it into the plastic bag. She places it on the weighing scale, presses some buttons and counts something. She gives the meat to the woman and gives change. I am next in line. I want to buy some bread. And what happens? I feel that my hands are sweating. I feel that I need to say something to the saleswoman, that she needs to wash her hands which have just touched raw meat and are still covered with it. Why didn’t she put on any gloves? Does she feel it is unnecessary? Did she forget to do it? Is it too much to ask? But to my surprise, even though the saleswoman does not put on any gloves, she puts her hand into the plastic bag to pass me the bread I am asking for. It’s seems the problem is solved. But it’s not. She gives me the change with her dirty hands covered in raw meat. I put the change into my wallet, but to a separate compartment. I know exactly what will happen when I come back home. I think about it all the way back.
When I arrive home, I put all the things on the table and run to the bathroom with my wallet. I put the coins given by the saleswoman to the sink and wash them. I am terrified to even think of how much meat the saleswoman could have touched before and did not even bother to wash her hands.
And there you go - some money-washing compulsion.
So Dear Saleswoman, I am begging you, wash your hands.
Do you have similar experience? Do you react or prefer to keep quiet?
Etykiety: english, lifestyle