How to deal with a yuk moment?

When on holiday last year, I looked through the window of the butcher's shop at the meat displayed there. We were planning to have a BBQ so I wanted some nice steaks. I was horrified to see a huge blue bottle casually flitting from sausages to steak to chicken etc.

I went in and told the butcher but didn't buy anything.

I'm a bit nervous about complaining about food if case they bring me a replacement that has had something worse done to it! Does that make me paranoid?

I would probably have been struck dumb too but did refuse to buy a sandwich I had ordered after I noticed a large fly buzzing around the counter where all the ingredients were. I explained why I was not taking said sandwich but it did not seemed to bother the girl serving me at all.

My mother who was much more assertive than I will ever be, watched a shop assistant place some cheese onto some scales where there had been bacon just seconds before and told him he could keep his cheese and in future use a sheet of paper when weighing goods.

Food hygiene was much less of an issue back then but mum was right and I remember feeling proud of her.

I was in a cafe recently where I ordered a coffee. The cup was a little too full and it ran down the outside edge. Before I was given it the assistant ran her finger up the outside to catch the drip. I was berating myself for days for not saying "can I have another one please" I just cannot believe I said nothing as its not like me to avoid something I was unhappy with. I'm still holding on to this as we speak.

I was buying bacon once when the assistant who was slicing it, stopped to have a good old nose blow - I could see the tissue was all wet and soggy but she carried on handling the sliced bacon and handed it over to me. I'm ashamed to say I didn't say anything, but left the bacon on a shelf. What a wimp - it was a long time ago and I certainly wouldn't ignore it now!

Antibact gel or wipes I mean.

grannyactivist I do the same as you, and have sometimes been glared at.

As for a hairdresser messily sneezing on my hair - no, no, no. I think I would say something.

namo - I often leave ladies toilets without washing my hands, it depends where I am. Once through the door though I use the antibacterial hand gel I have in my handbag. In (clean) posh hotels I usually do wash my hands so I can use the hand cream provided.

At the supermarket the assistant dropped the piece of fish we were buying on the floor, picked it up and put it in the bag. I saw him out of the corner of my eye and never said a word. It was the last piece and I only told my partner when we got home. I never realised I was such a wimp!

No namo, I wouldn't say anything. I'd just look after my own hygiene.

You're in the ladies' toilet and a woman comes out of a cubicle having used the loo, and walks past you to exit with no intention of washing her hands, do you say something? As if you're the Toilet Police? I swear I will - one day.

A friend was buying some ham off the bone when the assistant slicing it sneezed all over it. She is a timid person so didn't say anything just paid for the ham and then threw it away. I told her that wasn't fair on other customers. When I was in a bakery in Spain the assistant came in from putting out the rubbish bins and started to serve the unwrapped bread. I reprimanded her and she was very apologetic but it put me off buying unwrapped bread.

I don't think my hairdresser would have done that either but equally I wouldn't like to say anything and would probably go home and wash my hair! I've always hated bakery shops which have trays of uncovered scones or buns on display on top of the counter right in front of customers who can both breathe all over them and also reach over to hand the assistant their money. I've noticed the worst offender where I live now has these covered up but still feel they should be under the counter glass display.

When a local beach cafe opened here a couple of years ago, the cakes were all on display at the front of the counter by the till. A friend offered to buy me one, but I declined (quite loudly) on the grounds that they were uncovered and probably covered in germs, not to mention dried out. The next visit, they were all sporting Perspex covers

I once watched a young assistant in a shop serving loose bacon. She licked her fingers to separate the slices!! This wasn't in one of the major supermarkets by the way. However I recently saw a small child cough all over the unwrapped bread in Marks and Spencer. The assistant saw it happen and I'm hoping she removed the bread.

At the supermarket bakery I was having trouble opening a polythene bag to put my fresh bread rolls in. The manager "helped" me by blowing in the bag to open it up!

I must be unusually stroppy...I wouldn't have hesitated to ask for my hair to be shampooed again at the salon! That's just disgusting. Thank God my lovely hairdresser knows how and when to use a tissue

That is pretty horrible. In hairdressers I'm also wondering about the scissors/haircombs/brushes they use. Wonder if they have enough as not to share between clients ?

Is it just me,or do some young people not use tissues these days? I'm regularly driven mad by someone sniffing with a runny nose, with no sign of a hanky. I've even been known to move seats on a train when the snuffling got too much to bear!

It would not have been the germs that offended me but the slime in my hair - yuckety yuk!

It's not just produce on display outside a shop, though, is it number? There is so much unwrapped stuff inside the stores - bread and other baked goods, fruit and veg, the salad bar, pick 'n' mix. Fruit and veg can be washed, but bread and prepared salad mixes or sweets can't.

But then, are we all becoming overly afraid of bacteria being transferred in this way? There's no avoiding germs - they're everywhere, on everything that people may have touched before, not just food. Seats on public transport, door handles, newspapers and magazines, library books, ATM machines, coins and banknotes. The list just goes on. Not worth worrying about [shrug]

Unbelievable !!
I'm sure my hairdresser of 15yrs wouldn't have done that. If she had, I'd have had to comment.

When I was shopping in Morrisons a woman was squeezing all the unwrapped loaves of tiger bread. I couldn't stop myself from telling her off. I complained to customer services as well.