"Would you like my illness along with your groceries today???"

[NeverlandClub23]

I got a manicure recently and the girl doing my nails had really dry hands. During the manicure her fingers started to crack and bleed. She looks up at me and says "Oh! Sorry, I don't have anything" and puts those little rubber things on the tips of her fingers (that have little holes all around them). I was so grossed out. I was thinking "Great, I never thought I would die from getting my nails done".

But, honestly, the grocery thing wouldn't freak me out. After working as a bank teller for years and seeing the gross places people keep their money (some in their bra's, some in their underwear...), I've just accepted germs and people being sick.

 

[NotUrsula]

Be aware that many stores have policies that checkers/baggers may only leave their lines for one break every so many hours. If you're in that position you're going to be saving that for the time when you really need to go to the restroom.

The manager probably did the whole reprimand for show, and she went along because she had to. The grocery business is cutthroat, and the rules can be really draconian sometimes.

 

[Camicar]

The manager got after her, I mean this lady had "3 years of service" listed on her name tag...she should definatly know better!!! all of that food that she bagged and that was sitting in front of her when she had her coughing fit was THOWEN AWAY...about $50 in produce! i got a $20 gift card, but I had to go shop for everything all over again...when I was in a hurry because my Daughter (4 yr. old) had a bad headache (she gets migranes ever since she cracked her head open last Feb)...

I was so angry! I'm still mad about the dumbness of it all. It just ticks me off. People that do that should get fired, I don't care how many years they've worked there. This is a public service that DEALS WITH FOOD, something that is easily contaminated...and this chick is coughing all over my stuff?

You know what? When I worked as a cashier in a grocery store I was told that it didn't matter how sick I was, as long as I could stand up, I had to go to work or I'd be fired. I also know this to be true for most waiters/waitreses to this day.

I can tell you in my case back in the day, I had a horrible stomach influenza -- the kind that kills people who are old or fragile. I was fainting and vomiting and had diarrhea like nothing else in this world. I literally could not walk from the bathroom to my bed. I had a doctor's excuse and my boss actually told me that three days off (keep in mind, I was NOT getting sick pay or any pay for being off) was enough for everything other than death and I had to come back to work or be fired. I had to lean against the counter or risk falling over. But that was fine with my boss. He did not care if I passed on those germs to others. He simply did not care.

So the manager may have played a good game with you, but behind the scenes it would not surprise me in the slightest that the sick cashier has no choice but to come in or risk losing her job.

 

[okeydokey]

what did the mgr say?

Maybe he made her come in when she tried to call in sick?

 

[onelilspark]

If you think about it, which I haven't before this...
When people handle your food in fast food, they need to wear gloves. If they handle money in between handling food, they're supposed to change gloves. I wonder why they don't make cashiers at grocery stores do that. I mean, you think about the meat, which no doubtebly some, at some point, has leaked onto the UPC scanner that the fruit, which may or may not be bagged is then weighed on.... Hmmmm. I mean, I know I wash all my fresh produce before eating anyway, but I think I might be putting it into bags now every time. Even when I buy just one apple.

 

[edwardsfire]

I guess I shouldn't mention the fact that most produce has been touched by god knows how many people with who knows what on their hands. The fact you touched the grocery handle and then the food transferred enough to the produce.

Yep, folks worry too much.
but i would have definately said something to the fool bagging my stuff.

 

[edwardsfire]

If you were making min. wage and had very limited sick time. or if you called in sick to much you might lose your job. You too would be at work sick. There is a limit to the time off people can get for sick time. Don't blame her blame the manager.

I hope you wash your produce when you get it home no matter who handles it.

Yep, always blame someone else....

 

[Magic Mom]

You know what? When I worked as a cashier in a grocery store I was told that it didn't matter how sick I was, as long as I could stand up, I had to go to work or I'd be fired. I also know this to be true for most waiters/waitreses to this day.

.

Yep, when I first started college, I worked as a cashier at a Winn-Dixie in FL. I tried to call in sick one day because I had a horrendous cold. I was told come in or don't come back. So I went to work with my cold, hacking and sneezing....the NERVE of me! I should have been fired.

 

[Pin Wizard]

A few months ago there was a cashier in the food store who sneezed or coughed in her hand, then went back to checking things through. I told her I no longer wanted the item she touched, and I told her why. She took it away, then got wipes from under her counter and wiped her hands off.

 

[Magic Mom]

If you think about it, which I haven't before this...
When people handle your food in fast food, they need to wear gloves. If they handle money in between handling food, they're supposed to change gloves. I wonder why they don't make cashiers at grocery stores do that. I mean, you think about the meat, which no doubtebly some, at some point, has leaked onto the UPC scanner that the fruit, which may or may not be bagged is then weighed on.... Hmmmm. I mean, I know I wash all my fresh produce before eating anyway, but I think I might be putting it into bags now every time. Even when I buy just one apple.

Grocery stores are disgusting places. Between the zillions of customers riffling through the food with unwashed hands, and the conditions in the back store, a bagger with a cold (while gross) is probably the least of our worries.

 

[mykidsand_i]

i worked in a grocery store for most of my high school life. I understand. people cannot call in sick. I didn't think that this lady who coughed all over even looked sick. I don't know what she had. I don't think she should have called in sick. The issue here is not that "sick people are always forced to come to work"...

it is The fact is that she could not respect me, as a customer, enough to walk over to the "clean up" counter 5 steps away from where she was to clean herself up. There was a hand washing sink with bacterial hand soap with a sign over it that said "employees must wash hands frequently"...

I was one of TWO people in a line checking out and the manager and three other cashiers/baggers were standing less than 5 feet away from me when this happened. This place was not busy. The priority for this lady needed to be to wash her hands and have someone else do the job.

This is a food service job. It doesn't matter what happens where, (restaurants, grocery stores, fast food place)...when people are working with food, they need to stay sanitary and be respectful of others. I know that nothing is being done about this now days, because there are so many disrespectful people and managers would rather have their employees come to work 1/2 dead. When it comes to food and cleanliness, there SHOULD BE no room for "people coughing on what we eat"...my grandpa is a health inspector who checks restaurants, grocery stores, fast food places and believe me...if he would have seen what I witnessed today, this grocery store would have recieved a fine!

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

I worked as a cashier in high school. I wasn't allowed to leave my register for anything. So I find it hard to beleive that the cashier could have just wandered over to the handwashing station whenever she felt like it.

I also wonder if the manager was sensing the same tone that I am.

 

[BelleBoo&AmisMum]

I also wonder if the manager was sensing the same tone that I am.

Probably, I bet the manager couldn't get OP out of there fast enough.

OP, might I suggest you start a garden and grow your own produce. People touch it, kids grab it, people cough/hack/sneeze on it. That's what the sink at home is for, to wash it.

Unless they've used it as toilet paper I'm not about to get my panties in a twist.

 

[MinnieMe87]

Probably, I bet the manager couldn't get OP out of there fast enough.

OP, might I suggest you start a garden and grow your own produce. People touch it, kids grab it, people cough/hack/sneeze on it. That's what the sink at home is for, to wash it.

Unless they've used it as toilet paper I'm not about to get my panties in a twist.

 

[Bluestars]

This is why I use the little plastic bags provided in the produce section, as much as it bothers me to use them. It's one less person touching my food. And I wash it when I get home, too.

Now, if I'm geting something at the Deli and somebody has a cold, that's another story...

Yep, all of my produce is put in those plastic bags and I tie a knot in the top.

 

[JustcallmeHappy]

Probably, I bet the manager couldn't get OP out of there fast enough.

OP, might I suggest you start a garden and grow your own produce. People touch it, kids grab it, people cough/hack/sneeze on it. That's what the sink at home is for, to wash it.

Unless they've used it as toilet paper I'm not about to get my panties in a twist.

 

[Evil Genius]

Wasn't your produce in some kind of bag. Don't you wash your produce with soap and water?

 

[mykidsand_i]

So, you're saying if you check out at a grocery store, or if you eat at a restaurant and someone puts snot on your food- you wouldn't say anything, just eat it? OK.

I'm so happy that some of you pretend to know who I am from a single thread of me having a bad day...interesting. I am not a loud person, nor do I like to "cause ripples" I like to mesh along with everyone else...but obviously you know who I am...thanks for letting me know about me.

I was not loud at all in the store. In fact, it wasn't even myself that "called the manager over" nor was I the one to "fill her in completely" about what happened. It was the cashier. All I told the cashier was "can you please have someone else bag my groceries?" There were, by the way, two or three other baggers standing around/talking to eachother. The cashier is the first one who complained about the bagger to the manager. I was quiet when we spoke about what happened. It was not a "big ordeal"...I just didn't want to eat food that had someone elses snot on it- even though I OF COURSE WASH MY FOOD WHEN I GET HOME...I'd be dumb not to!

 

[nuke]

Unless they've used it as toilet paper I'm not about to get my panties in a twist.

Well you know I've heard some rumors about the workers on the farms. I wash all my produce when I get home bagged or not.

 

[MushyMushy]

Sounds like a whole lot of drama over nothing. You're picking up who knows how many germs from everything in the world that you touch, and then take it out on some poor employee just because you can see it. I'm sure she was miserable enough having to work like that, waiting on rude customers, and then getting treated like she had the plague.

Would it have grossed me out? Yes, but I'm also smart enough to know that I have to wash my produce anyway.