Social Question

Val123's avatar

If you're at a, say, Subway Sandwich shop, where they custom build your sandwich, would you actually ask the person making your sandwich to change their gloves because they'd made someone elses sandwich before yours?

Asked by Val123 (12734points) January 19th, 2010
36 responses
“Great Question” (1points)

This just happened. There were two people in front of me. The gal had just checked someone out at the register (they take turns doing that) and had put on a fresh pair of gloves. The gal made the first guy’s sandwich and passed it down the line to the gal who was cashiering at the moment. She didn’t touch anything except the food. The next guy in line, in front of me, actually asked her to change her gloves before she made his sandwich. I thought, “WHAT is going through his head?” Something really stupid like, “You were touching other people’s food before mine, so you should change your gloves”? It’s not like they’d put their lips on it yet! I totally did not get that. He was weird.
I, personally, wouldn’t care if they made my food with their BARE HANDS! I really wouldn’t.

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Answers

lilikoi's avatar

Me neither. Those are probably the same people that use a paper towel to open the bathroom door and smell like Purell.

chyna's avatar

My co-worker can not stand mayonaise, so if he has noticed that they have mayonaise on their glove from someone else’s sandwich he asks them to change. Maybe something like that happened and you didn’t notice.

Allie's avatar

Nah, I don’t think that would bother me. Unless she picked up something gross like anchovies… or ONIONS! No I’m kidding, even then I wouldn’t ask them to change their gloves. It’s not that big of a deal to me.

gemiwing's avatar

It’s actually better to have people not wear gloves. Employees wash their hands more frequently and have tactile input. When they touch something through gloves they think ‘clean’ instead of ‘cross contamination’.

gasman's avatar

I agree, unless he saw her contaminate or tear the gloves.

oratio's avatar

Some people have serious allergies, but if that’s not the case here, that’s just weird.

Val123's avatar

@chyna She hadn’t gotten that far! Come to think of it….she’d put the weird guy’s meat and cheese on it, slid it down to the veggie side, then made mine, with only the meat and cheese, then slid it to the veggie side…and THEN put his veggies on his sandwich, and then put the veggies on mine. I hope he doesn’t die because she put the veggies on his sandwich after touching MY sliced chicken and cheese!

@gasman Nothing like that happened at all….I saw her from the time she originally put on her gloves and made the first sandwich, just before getting to his.

Val123's avatar

(I was SO tempted to tell her, as she was making my sandwich, that she could take her gloves OFF and make it, if she wanted! Dude was still standing right next to me!)

Rarebear's avatar

Actually, I would prefer that they not wear gloves at all and just be trained in good hand washing.

What happens with gloves is that people think that they’re protected and they touch everything. I’ve seen people with gloves scratch their nose, brush back their hair, and then touch food. I’ve walked out of places because of that.

Axemusica's avatar

I would say allergies. I worked at a scholtkies (sp?) deli and we had a few people come in that requested we use gloves other than latex. Maybe the person before him asked for something he was allergic to.

shrubbery's avatar

I would ask if I was severely allergic to something. But, with all the food sitting there next to each other, if I were severely allergic to something then I probably wouldn’t get food from a Subway but make my own.

Dr_Lawrence's avatar

@lilikoi Having seen how very few people wash their hands in the public restroom after using the toilet, I avoid handling the faucets, or the doorknob or handle inside the restroom with my freshly washed hands. That just makes good sense!

If you see that the sandwich artist handle something, the flavour of which you do not want on your food, then ask for a glove change.

Val123's avatar

@Axemusica No, no “special” glove request. He just asked her to change her gloves, and she just grabbed a new pair of the regular plastic, clear gloves that they use. But….maybe, like you said, she touched some meat or something that he’s allergic to. But…I would think there would be cross-contamination galore regardless. The meats are side by side, and are often open while several sandwiches are being made. Yeah. Like @shrubbery just said.

@Dr. Lawrence….I don’t see how that applies in this situation…?

@Rarebear Oh man!

Your_Majesty's avatar

It might because he didn’t like the gloves using by that person(he might think it’s dirty long used kind of gloves).
He has that right as a costumer anyway(although it’s actually inappropriate).

janbb's avatar

That sound crazy to me.

Val123's avatar

@Doctor_D Like I said, the guy in front of the weird guy was the first sandwich she’d made with a fresh pair of gloves…..

casheroo's avatar

Allergies? I can completely understand. If I asked someone to change their gloves, I’d mention the allergy.

Otherwise..what does the guy think happens at deli’s where you can’t see whats happening? At Wawa, you change gloves rarely..maybe if you go to the bathroom or do certain things. But, you’re behind there doing just the deli work (you don’t usually switch from the deli to the cash register…) so you keep your gloves on.

tinyfaery's avatar

Vegetarians might not appreciate meat juices on their sandwiches.

Val123's avatar

@tinyfaery He ordered meat…I don’t remember what.

lilikoi's avatar

@Dr_Lawrence Wait, if people aren’t washing their hands, the faucets should be pretty darn clean, don’t you think? I guess it depends where you are, but in some places the doorknobs are regularly cleaned. I’ve read shopping cart handles have more germs than restrooms. But all this is moot, because the number of serious health-threatening germs you’d be exposed to in either situation is so small. Please do not start wiping down the shopping cart with baby wipes!

From what I understand about our immune systems, the more we are exposed to, the more tolerant we are to stuff that threatens our health. The saying “what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger” is quite literally true. If we seek out ways to limit our exposure, aren’t we just doing ourselves a disservice? If I am exposed to harmful pathogens, and my body builds an immunity to them, I don’t have to worry about it. If I avoid exposure, and then somehow become exposed at some point, my body will have a serious battle on its hands. I mean there are limits – I am not going to eat shit or drink water known to be contaminated with cholera, but in day-to-day activities, your health risks are pretty low I’d think.

Val123's avatar

@lilikoi TOTALLY agree!

charliecompany34's avatar

when i go to subway, i just hope they have spinach. all subway chains do not cater to that market.

Axemusica's avatar

@tinyfaery lol, “Meat juices”..... that’s called blood darlin ;)

oratio's avatar

@Axemusica Meat contains around 60 percent water after cooking. It is moist. But I get the joke :)

Axemusica's avatar

@oratio yea I know, I just thought “meat juices” sounded funny.

Val123's avatar

@charliecompany34 Spinach?? Frow up!

Fred931's avatar

Maybe the person that went before him had ordered a particular item that he was allergic to.

Val123's avatar

@Fred931 Yeah…we went through that above. Not really likely, or reasonable…...

Simone_De_Beauvoir's avatar

No I have better things to worry about.

Dr_Lawrence's avatar

@lilikoi
Every person who does handle the faucets have dirty hands before they wash. If they handle them again after washing, they undo the benefit of washing.

I’m no clean freak, but when I am eating in a restaurant where my hands might contact my food, I try not to contaminate by food with traces of other people’s urine or feces. That is not so crazy.

I have a strong immune system and I am no germophobe. I do practice common sense.

Val123's avatar

@Dr_Lawrence Sometimes, imagination is stronger than reality.

downtide's avatar

I wouldn’t care, though I can imagine in some circumstances, if you’re allergic to something in the previous sandwich, it might be important.

If on the other hand, the sandwich maker had taken payment and touched coins with the gloved hand, then I’d ask her to change it.

Val123's avatar

@downtide No, she hadn’t. She had made change, then switched out with another girl and put her gloves on.

The change thing makes me laugh too! I mean, you go to Taco Tico, buy a taco for $.89. Give them a $5 with your bare hands. They give you four ones and $.11 cents in change (with their bare hands) which you accept with your bare hands. You put the money away then go sit down and eat your taco with your bare hands!! In fact, the weird guy, actually, did exactly that! I just think the whole taking-it-to-such-extremes thing is ridiculous.

Fred931's avatar

@MyLastPost, Didn’t read through all the answers first. This happens a lot.

Your_Majesty's avatar

@Val123 I agree. But you won’t know if they’ve been using that same gloves from long time ago(I meant from yesterday,two days ago,and so on…).

Val123's avatar

@Doctor_D I saw her when she put them on! I saw her grab them out of the box. These are the cheapy, clear plastic gloves that you throw in the trash when you’re done. They have a whole boxful on the counter behind them. There is no way in Hades they’d be allowed to wear the same pair for more than an hour. Talk about e coli and salmonella poisioning!! She made the first guy’s sandwich right after she put them on, then went to start on weird guy’s sandwich and he asked to to put on a new pair.

Also, glad I ran into you because I’ve been blathering about how you get @Doctor_D RED, and it finally it me that they’re ALL RED and you’re just bolding it and it makes it look….lots more redder!! Gosh I feel stupid!

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