She put her hands WHERE?

My Mom sent me an email today about an experience she had in The Woodlands...I love the way she writes...and how she discreetly tell you where it is, without telling you where it is...read closely

I was shopping yesterday and went to lunch today at my favorite deli in The Woodlands. I always look forward to their food and people watching while I enjoy my food and their great gingerbread muffins. Like any other food establishment one visits, the smiles and service received sets the tone.

At the cash register I asked for a Togo cup. Cashier smiled and said, "Sure" and then turned around to take one from the stack. Two came off so she STUCK HER HAND INSIDE MY CUP to separate it and then placed in on the counter for me. Really, Really? I kept waiting for her to trash that cup and give me one she hadn't put her flesh on where my lips or food would not touch ... never occurred to her ... but it did to me. As she when she presented me with my receipt, I gave it my most polite voice and said, "May I have a new cup please since you put your hand in this one?" She reached around and took the top cup off the stack without touching the inside or rim and placed it on the counter - that's what I'm talking about! (She left the "soiled" cup next to her computer and I'm not sure she didn't put it back on the stack after I left.) She then told me to give my yellow copy to "them" ... I knew who she meant. "Them" pointed me to the drink area ...
and, as I filled my cup, I noticed someone else had taken over the cashier duties and now the cashier was busing the food - OH CRAP! I didn't want her "hands" on my tray ... so I hung out around the salad bar and picked up my own tray. I wandered through the seating area (3PM) trying to find a clean table ... finally moved dirty dishes from the "people watching" table I wanted to another unbussed table.

As I began enjoying my food listening to the happy squeals from the small children at the table across the isle, overhearing (not ease dropping) the conversation of the table behind me, I rethought my cashier experience. I began to think about how many people, in the manufacturing process and at the restaurant, had handled the cups and realizing how many of them had not washed their hands or used hand sanitizers. I use straws on all glasses I drink from at restaurants ... and now you know why.

I'm not a germophobic - but let me ask you, do you use straws?

Love,

Mom