Is this rude of me?

i dont find that rude at all. possibly awkward, but not rude. its not rude that you dont want you and your family to get sick

Unless you have some hand sanitizer to hand her, then I don’t think that was rude. Maybe you can suggest to the managers that cashiers have sanitizer or wipes at their stations to clean up after blowing their noses, coughing, or sneezing. Even if she wasn’t directly touching your food, but the packaging, it’s still a bit icky.

I agree with @JONESGH. It’s definitely awkward but there are awkward situations in life and you just have to face them sometimes. If I were a cashier, I would completely understand. Last time I had a cold, I had a bad sore throat that lasted for 9 days and I was really losing weight to the point where my parents were worried. Not worth it for me at all. In church when we get to the greeting part and I have a cold, I keep my hands in my pockets; I don’t want to infect anybody.

No I don’t believe you were being rude with all the germs and the scare of the swine flu epidemic going around. I actually feel you did the right thing. I ride the subway each morning and if anyone is sitting behind in front or next to me that coughs or sneezes more than three times I change seats. I have nothing against these people but I just can’t afford to get sick because I don’t have enough sick leave at work and more importantly I don’t want to give my children and wife any germs.

To be honest with you, I don’t know. I wouldn’t have handled it that way but that probably doesn’t mean you are rude, just that you have more guts than I do in certain situations. If I had witnessed it I would have probably felt really sorry for the cashier, after all, we’ve all got a job to do and if she only had a minor cold she probably didn’t think to take a sick day (which would be the ideal situation when you work with lots of people all day everyday). However, providing you were polite about it and didn’t deliberately embaress her in front of other people then how else are you supposed to handle the situation if you really feel that her potential germs may have been a risk to you and your family?! I don’t envy you being in that situation at all.

I don’t think so, not at all. In fact i’ve desperately wanted to do the same thing myself a few times. It is so nice to hear that someone has the guts to do it!!

On a side note, when I was working in retail my boss could be very harsh. He would make us come to work, sick or not. Sometimes patrons would complain and then he would send me home. I was so grateful!

After I left, O got to thinking that people could be sneezing all over the stuff on the shelves too. They probably have the really sick people stock the shelves at night so they don’t disgust the customers.
The lady did say, “It’s just allergies, but what ever you want.” I have hoped a cold was allergies too.

@Judi Yuck now next time I shop i’ll be thinking of the sickly stock crew, lol

Not rude, and ya got balls. :-)

Not rude at all, just common sense & good hygiene awareness from yourself. If only more people thought the same way as you.
I hope you didn’t pay with cash though, as you’ve probably now got a pocketful of change all covered in germs from the checkout girl!! Lol

I think with the cold & flu season upon us, we all need to notice things like that. Rudeness be damned. We need to stay as healthy as we can. Period.

Eh, as a former cashier, I always had hand sanitizer at my register. Nobody ever thinks about the sick shoppers sneezing all over their stuff that the cashier is then touching. If I were to blow my nose and use hand sanitizer, and you still asked, yeah, it would be rude (and a bit germaphobic). If no hand sanitizer, I might’ve suggested a small bottle.

@poofandmook Great perspective.

Along the same lines as sick people touching/coughing on the food on the shelves: Germs are everywhere, and you really can’t avoid them. The best you can do is wash your hands often, especially before you touch your face or eat. Happily, most of these germs don’t live long on inanimate objects (I think – I could be wrong about that). I don’t think you were rude at all, but perhaps overly cautious and imagining that you have more control over your exposure than you actually do.

I would probably be more inclined to advise the manager that it is a bad look and incredibly unheigenic for staff to be working while sick.

Potentially, if the customers are making a stink about it, they will be more likely to be more generous with sick days for their employees.

Win win.

Saying what is important to you, in a polite manner, is never rude.

@poofandmook, I watched for it, but no hand sanitizer.

I carry hand sanitizer with me. I would have offered to squirt some into her hands.

I envy you! I wish I had the courage to say something like that. I’ve been in similar situations but never had the guts to speak up. Instead I would roll my eyes or turn to my fiancé and make a comment to him about it. So no, I don’t think it was rude at all.

HAH! that is awesome!
must’ve been really awkward

SO FUNI

Not rude

I just envy your guts. Time to start carrying hand sanitizer.
@augustlan: Yes and no. Bacteria are alive, and if they don’t have anything to eat (such as sitting on a plastic wrapper), yes, they will die. Viruses (such as H1N1 and seasonal flu) on the other hand, don’t need any nutrients to remain viable. So you could conceivably get the flu from that type of encounter.

@La_chica_gomela Thanks for the correction… I appreciate it. :)
Still, as long as you wash your hands, you’d be ok, right? Or have I got that bit wrong, too?

I think it depends. For example, if the sick cashier (assuming she does have a virus) touches the outside of the tortilla chip bag, then you take it home, then wash your hands, then open the bag and eat the chips with your hands, you’ve touched the bag after washing your hands, and touched the chips you’re putting in your mouth, so you could conceivably ingest her flu virus that way. I don’t know how big or small the chances would be (probably pretty small) but it’s theoretically possible.

So, I guess if you opened the bag, and poured the chips into a bowl without touching the chips themselves, then washed your hands, then ate them without touching the bag again, you’d be fine.

Wow, that got really long winded!

Thanks. :)

Not rude at all!

Definitely more than a little awkward, but I admire you. With the H1N1 virus and such there’s no way I would want someone blowing their nose and then touching my food. Sure it might be a little embarrassing to ask, but better slightly embarrassed than SICK! Good job! :D

I don’t think it’s rude at all. I sneeze in my “elbow pit” as my son calls it and if I need to blow my nose, I go the bathroom and wash my hands. I think that they should put purex at all the check stands for instances like what you’ve described.