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Comment by DoreenMichele | Hacker News Reader

I'm hoping in all seriousness that it will become a firing offense for cashiers to lick their fingers or wipe their faces before bagging your stuff or giving you change, etc.

I've wished this for a long time because I have a compromised immune system. But I'm desperately hoping that a silver lining of the cornoavirus pandemic will be that the world becomes a less crappy experience for me personally because, good god, people are gross on a regular basis and act like I'm crazy and a bitch if I ask them "Please don't do that. I get sick real easily."

I can't condone murder for coughing, though I have my days when I would very much like to. But I absolutely will sign the petition to pass the law making it a firing offense for cashiers to share their diseases so freely.

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My friend uses disposable latex gloves and brings all his items to customer service, where he scans them and bags them himself.

When he receives his change, he has it placed in a separate bag, which he then sprays w/ 70% rubbing alcohol, and then disposes of his gloves.

And, yes, he is fun at parties.

Not my cup of tea. I think it's better if people just don't share their germs so freely to begin with.

It's more economically sustainable. It's more environmentally sustainable. It meets a higher bar for hygiene than being exposed and cleaning up afterwards.

Etc.

I mean, maybe you are just making conversation. I don't know. But this is not a practice I care to embrace.

Conversation. I am definitely not recommending it.

Eating in restaurant with him is a stressful experience.

Do you mind telling me why he lives this way? Does he have a particular medical condition that you know of?

I believe it to be an undiagnosed mental issue.

He is healthy and eats well, otherwise.

Okay, thanks.

Though I will note that I was called a hypochondriac for years until they decided it was a genetic disorder. I sometimes say "they finally found a better name for my condition than crazy."

Then the internet decided I was crazy. It's like a curse that follows me around.

Bag your own stuff? Pay with a card? Use self-checkout? Have your groceries delivered?

I do bag my own stuff, pay with a card and use self-checkout whenever possible. It's not always an option.

Delivery in no way protects against the problem of an employee with poor hygiene doing awful stuff to your groceries. If anything, it makes it worse because a lot of the handling of it will be out of view for you and people are known to behave worse when no one is watching.

Self-checkout stations should help avoid any viral spread between cashiers and customers.

Self checkout isn't universally available. There are some situations where that simply isn't an option.

Just other customers, not much better.

How many touchscreens are necessary?

You could wipe the touchscreen down before using it. If that's not possible, you should wash your hands after being in public & don't touch your face.

Have you tried wiping a public touchscreen down with a sanitary wipe?

It is not usable until all the fluid has evaporated.

IIRC, most Kiosk machines have physical buttons for accessibility purposes. You could use that interface as opposed to the touchscreen (be sure to sanitize the buttons first).

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