One of my pet peeves, well this actually is way beyond a peeve, is when somebody licks their fingers to count money they are about to hand you. You know if I wanted you to spit on my money I would ask. It’s a gross and disgusting habit that is all too common. People lick their fingers to go through papers, count money, or a newer one to grab a plastic (instead of paper) bag in the grocery store that are on those little hangers. That one is even worse then the money one. Lets just spit on all my food while you are at it.
Granted I have contamination OCD and this behavior to me is assault with intent to do great bodily harm. There ought to be a law (and I am really not kidding much). It is still more then just a gross behavior. Wanna know where you caught that last cold or the flu? Hmmm, been to the grocery store lately? I could list a whole lot more that could be transmitted by this route but you get the idea. And doing a quick web search for lick fingers count money I find that many people find this to be disgusting, even, apparently normal folks.
Being hyper-vigilant and hyper-aware (the really tiering part of OCD) I always scope out the check out lines for finger lickers and other Typhoid Mary types. I am usually pretty good at avoiding them. You just have to watch for a minute while you pretend to read the tabloids. but every now and then you get a stealth licker. Like the one I got today. I watched a couple of people go through ahead of me. Not in a tongue in site. But then my turn came and my food is all bagged and then he had to make change. Sure enough lick the old thumb and start counting off my money.
Wrecks my day.
Do you think spaying Lysol on a frozen dinner will be OK???
7 Responses to “Spitting Mad”
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BB on Jul 30 2006 at 2:42 am
Cash is one of those items I can only cope with after I’ve washed it. Yip, disinfect it. Get it out of the money machine, take it home and wash it.
Which is why I don’t use it much, I use the plastic card, but then I wash that as well.
Just heat the heck out of that dinner to kill those bugs ;)
Kit on Jul 30 2006 at 9:16 am
awh Thankyou Nelson.. that made me chuckle not in a at you way more in a at ocd way ya know.. iv not had much in the way of conatamination issues i seem to block them this last year they get bad i work in a pub and the money there IS dirty i have to wash my hands after every cutomer (gladly i only work the quiet shifts!) but lickers yes its gross! and face pickers and hair strokers get me too.. checkout assisitants asat there picking there face or playing withthere hair then touching your shopping and money and Argh!
but thanks for that post.. lightend my morning =)
Pretty Hate Machine » Welcome to My Obsessive Compulsive Disorder » Blog Archive » Dirty Money on Jul 30 2006 at 10:35 pm
[…] Incertus blogged about how he hates it when people lick their fingers before counting money they are about to give you. Cash money is probably the grossest thing on the planet, period. Just imagine where that dollar bill or quarter has been, how many hands it’s passed through, and where those hands have probably been. In public bathrooms, under snotty noses, on the floor of some filthy car, in some strippers g-string… oh man… I really don’t want to think about it. If you’re gonna handle cash money, you might as well just dig through some stranger’s trash bin and eat the nastiest looking snot filled piece of tissue you find, cuz that’s how much you’re contaminating yourself by doing so. […]
rdboratfan1 on Apr 21 2007 at 3:55 am
I have seen people, mainly women, who lick a finger to turn each and every page of a book, or papers. It’s not a pleasant thing to watch. I understand that the hands and fingers get dry very easy, but there’s lotion for that. There used to be a product called QUIKSTIK which was similar to Vaseline but packed into a small blob. It was used primarily by bank tellers, but also could be used to prevent the need to finger-lick.
Recently my 5-year-old cousin came to visit and ask me to read to her. About halfway through a children’s storybook, she stopped me and said that I was supposed to Finger-lick as I turned the pages. I thought “you’ve got to be kidding me, a 5-year-old is telling me that I don’t know how to read properly”. Didn’t see that one coming.
I agree with you on the hygiene issue, but for me it’s more of a visual pet peeve.
rdboratfan1 on May 13 2007 at 4:32 am
What about people who use their saliva for cleaning purposes?
Such as someone who does so to wipe something off another person’s face? Saliva does not replace soap and water. If there’s a stain on my face, let me know and I’ll take care of it. Thank You.
Incertus on May 13 2007 at 8:39 am
ACK!
I’d consider that, “Assault With Intent To Do Great Bodily Harm”. Heh.
rdboratfan1 on Jul 19 2007 at 2:42 am
There was a Seinfeld episode in which George was at a bookstore, took a book into the bathroom to read while he was on the toilet. He had to buy the book, then tried to return it. The store would not give him a refund because it had been red-flagged because it was in the bathroom. What if bookstores had the same policy for finger lickers?
Imagine the policy stating: You lick it, you buy it. Maybe it will make these people think twice before leaving their spit with no regard for the health of others.