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Tongs or no tongs?


Meredith22

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Okay, I'm going to be brave enough to ask for opinions on this. I've read a thread with someone complaining about people not using tongs to take cookies at the buffet lines. This seems like a reasonable complaint on the face of it, but let's think about it for a moment. Don't most people then eat the cookies with their hands instead of a knife and fork? So if you've used those same hands to take your cookie with tongs, aren't you then transferring the germs of the hundreds of other tong-using passengers ahead of you right onto your cookie when you pick it up to eat it?

 

I don't want to sound paranoid about germs and the whole issue sounds silly, but isn't the avoidance of ailments the reason we use tongs in the first place? It seems that cookies should be an exception to this rule due to the manner in which they are eaten. Gosh, now that I think about it, maybe dinner bread and rolls should be picked up by hand, as well. Or perhaps we should just avoid ANY buffet food that won't be eaten with a knife and fork, especially if we've been dishing up our own food with utensils touched by other passengers. I don't know about you, but I've never seen hand sanitizers at the tables of any Lido deck.

 

Of course the CDC probably has all sorts of statistics on how many people have gotten sick from handling cookie tongs. If not, surely someone will suggest a multi-million dollar government study of the problem.:rolleyes:

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After using tongs, before touching the food I've retrieved, I can rub hand sanitizer gel on my hands. I pick up a little bottle of it at Walgreens before I go on the ship, costs me about 99 cents.

 

I would do this on the cookie I picked up with the tongs, but it tends to alter the flavor. :)

 

Personally, I'd prefer if they did it the way my local grocery store does in the bakery section: Instead of tongs you use over and over again, grab a piece of paper out of a dispenser and pick up your rolls/cookies with that.

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even tho i use the tongs, i get it. always wondered about the fascination with tongs. your hands are grabbing the tongs right where other hands have grabbed the tongs. people can say they wash before eating, but we all know that is not always the case. peoples hands and arms hover over the food. people breathe & cough close to the food. it is mainly a mental perception thing. i'm 50 and i aint dead from the germies yet...but i will admit, when i see a snotnosed kid (or sadly, a grownup) grab food with their hands, i pass.

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Though not related to Tongs, on our last cruise I saw an elderly lady who had apparently take too much sliced mushrooms putting back some of the mushrooms into the bowl using her (clean) fork! May be she had never been at a buffet -- there are big signs saying that one MUST get clean plates and settings each time one enters the buffet! If an attendant had been nearby, I would have asked them to throw away the whole bowl of mushrooms. Probably, they would have taken the bowl inside and brought the same bowl out again.

 

And of course, each time one enters the buffet one is expected to use the sanitizers at the entrance. But the plunger of the sanitizer bottle is full of germs -- so please make sure that you use the sanitizer on the finger that you used to press the plunger!

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And of course, each time one enters the buffet one is expected to use the sanitizers at the entrance. But the plunger of the sanitizer bottle is full of germs -- so please make sure that you use the sanitizer on the finger that you used to press the plunger!

My husband and I haven't encountered any publicly available sanitizers on our previous cruises although we did look for them. We will look again on our trip next month with a different cruise line. Regardless, even though we are generally not paranoid about sharing germs with strangers, we have decided to simply carry our own small bottle of hand sanitizer with us so we can use it just prior to dining. The avoidance of norovirus alone seems to make this a prudent choice.:cool:

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I see so many people taking things and licking their fingers ..or eating something off the plate while looking for other stuff...we can make ourselves crazy with this........If I see them touch something after they do this..I pass on the next thing and flash them a look:mad: but people do not care...selfish! I do not let it spoil my trip....but it bugs me...too many things can be passed on..and it is not fair to put others at risk..jmho

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And of course, each time one enters the buffet one is expected to use the sanitizers at the entrance. But the plunger of the sanitizer bottle is full of germs -- so please make sure that you use the sanitizer on the finger that you used to press the plunger!

 

Every dispenser I've encountered is automatic. Put your hand under and it squirts out. No need to touch anything. And I always make a point of sanitizing on my way out of the buffet.

 

Off this specific topic: I work for the giant health care provider where everyone has a health plan card. Sometimes I see patients with their cards in their mouths as they fish something out of the purse or pocket, and then try to hand me the card. They look at me funny when I just try to read the info from the card without taking it from them. Makes you wonder what some people are thinking...:confused:

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A clarification: On some Princess Cruises, when the use of sanitizer is mandatory (though still many skip it), automatic ones are used. Where sort of optional sanitizing is encouraged, at peak times the crew at the entrance squirts the liquid as pax enter the buffet but at non-peak time the plunger type just sits there for individuals to use. And as far as the auto ones, it is amusing to see people hitting the nozzle because they they dont realize that it is automatic. We take a bottle of sanitizer but dont carry it with us each trip to the buffet.

 

And of course, each time one enters the buffet one is expected to use the sanitizers at the entrance. But the plunger of the sanitizer bottle is full of germs -- so please make sure that you use the sanitizer on the finger that you used to press the plunger!

 

Every dispenser I've encountered is automatic. Put your hand under and it squirts out. No need to touch anything. And I always make a point of sanitizing on my way out of the buffet.

 

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I also bring my own little bottle of sanitizer with me, I also keep little individually packaged wipes (although I haven`t found ones that say antibacterial) I find that the hand gell will transfer a taste if you are eating with your hands so I can use these wipes after to get rid of that. I am not as paranoid as I sound but if you have ever gotten sick from being on a cruise you tend to be extra careful.

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Finger lickers are the absolute worst. Oblivions who don't care about their own well-being or anyone else's. Right behind them are the people who throw the tongs into the middle of the food.

 

Call me paranoid, AR or whatever, but I try to sanitize/wash first, pick up plates, utensils, cups with left hand and use right hand for tongs and such. Then sanitize again. That way a tong infected right hand never touches utensils or cups.

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Finger lickers are the absolute worst. Oblivions who don't care about their own well-being or anyone else's. Right behind them are the people who throw the tongs into the middle of the food. ...

 

I agree!

 

I carry a little bottle of hand sanitizer and packages of antibacterial Handiwipes with me. Hubby rolls his eyes when I make him use them, but I don't care.

 

Even if I have sanitizer and wipes with me, I've gotten in the habit of cutting up breads and sandwiches rather than eat them with my hands. I've gotten some strange looks for doing this :D . If I must use my hands to eat with, I don't eat the part of the food I had to hold.

 

Yep, I'm Anal retentive, paranoid, and everything else, but I have gotten sick when eating out (probably from the food itself or from the people who prepared the food) but I'm not taking any extra risks.

 

Tongs setting in the middle of food defeats the purpose of using them. I can't understand why people do that.

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Azure Moon: Don`t worry I am pretty paranoid myself. I talked to my sister last night, she had just come off one of the Holland America ships and people were sick with some kind of bug. They are leaving on the Ryndam today for the Mexican cruise and I heard that they had 110 people who were sick that ship with the Norovirus just a week ago.

So if people look at you funny that won`t hurt near as much as a bad case of that stomach bug! :eek:

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I'm with you..for the most part, the best word I can think that comes close is "trough".

 

People can be really ignorant and totally self absorved.....I mean, picking up food with their bare fingers, sampling it or putting it back...I've seen people in the bulk foods section at Whole Foods sampling and I have said on many occasions OUT LOUD, "You know, I was going to buy some of that until I saw you put your dirty fingers in it". I've said that even at a buffet line "Excuse me sir,but nobody wants to eat that after you touched it with your bare hands". Who cares if they are insulted..might spare someone from getting trench mouth or some other kind of creeping crud and I'm not going to be friends with them anyway!

 

 

oh god...I hate buffets! The handful (no pun intended) of times that I've eaten in one I've been so paranoid I wasn't able to enjoy the food. I'd much rather eat in the dining room where I can't see the servers pick their noses! LOL
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  • 4 months later...

I wish the cruise lines would have servers behind the buffett table put the items on your plate. At one point in time they used to do this. I've been cruising for years. I use Purell and wipes and I am very choosy what items I will eat at the buffet. I too, do not like buffets and try to avoid them.

 

I will not eat anything at the buffet where I feel the food is exposed to people walking by, coughing and sneezing! YUK! While we are on the subject, I do not like when people use those drink containers to keep refilling them at the water/tea/ punch machines. Think about all the germs they are spreading that were on the bottles where they drink out of them!

 

I have gotten sick on cruise ships before (flu, cough, cold) and it is not fun! I was on a cruise where practically everyone was coughing and sneezing all over the place. Passengers were just nasty! If I can do anything to try to help prevent getting sick I will do it. I do not care what anybody thinks of me. I think too that if people were more clean we would not have such a problem with germs spreading!!!!

 

People--There is water and soap!!!--WASH YOUR DARN HANDS!!

This is not pertaining to my buddies on this board who share my opinions! :)

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Oceania have servers at the buffet; they have a high ratio of crew to passengers. No passengers get to touch the tongs and, consequently, no passengers got ill on the cruise I was on. The Sapphire Princess were right behind us and had a lot of sick passengers.:(

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Fortunately, no sick pax on Sapphire Princess, Apr 14 - May 14, SYD / LA, 31-day cruise!

 

Oceania have servers at the buffet; they have a high ratio of crew to passengers. No passengers get to touch the tongs and, consequently, no passengers got ill on the cruise I was on. The Sapphire Princess were right behind us and had a lot of sick passengers.:(
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egads I knew I didn't like buffets..but never thought of the reason being that maybe subconciously I was afraid of germs.....lol! I just hate seeing messy food containers, people touching things and putting them back, and eating too many different things that make me feel icky cuz I overate....ack! I think we will do the diningrooms on our cruise in 4 weeks :)

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Storm15--didn't mean to get you grossed out! When you do think of it there are a lot of germs out there! Dining Room is your best bet in my opinion. I still eat at the buffets but very cautiously--and with my purell and wipes!!!

 

Enjoy all of your meals and have a terrific time on your cruise!!! :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here's my solution to eating at the ships buffets. I don't know if helps or not but it make me feel better about it.

1. Be among the first group of people to eat when they open.

2. Always use the hand sanitizer before & more importantly after you go through the line.

3. Always take food from the back of the food trays & never the front or top. Especially important when there are kids serving themselves.

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Here's my solution to eating at the ships buffets. I don't know if helps or not but it make me feel better about it.

1. Be among the first group of people to eat when they open.

2. Always use the hand sanitizer before & more importantly after you go through the line.

3. Always take food from the back of the food trays & never the front or top. Especially important when there are kids serving themselves.

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Whenever we eat in a buffet restaurant it isn't the tongs or germs that gross me out, it is a person who takes a plate and then piles food upon food until it is about a foot high. Everything is mixed together, slopping off the plate. Don't these people know that can go back to the buffet as many times as they want?

 

Judee

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