One of my favorite things about going out to eat is using the bathrooms so I can see the "Employees Must Wash Hands" sign. I love that sign. It's hangs up there as though that is really the last thought that I wanted to be thinking about right before I went back to my table to eat. Sometimes I wonder if there are people who see this sign and then go back to their table feeling much safer about eating their food. "Well, this food must be ok to eat. I'm sure the employees are washing their hands... after all, I did see that sign up in the bathroom. And they DID have it hanging right next to the sink, so, it would have been pretty hard to miss. Ok, so none of the employees actually speak english... but I'm sure they can still READ english, right? Yeah, it's ok... let’s eat!"
Sometimes I wonder what could have possibly caused this sign to be put up in the first place. I think the scariest situation involving this sign would be if you went out to eat and didn't see a sign hanging in the bathroom, but then went back to the same place a week later, and now there was a sign hanging up. What caused that sign to be put up all of a sudden? Did employees not have to wash their hands last week? Is this a new policy effective today? You don't want to get caught in the "employees must wash hands" sign transition.
I think I'd rather just assume that the employees are washing their hands instead of thinking that this sign is now up there because at one time they apparently weren't. I also like the idea that instead of firing these cooks and hiring clean ones, they just put up a sign reminding them to do it. "Yeah so listen guys, we have gotten some complaints about urine in the food. However... I'm not gonna fire you... I'm just gonna put this sign up. So, try to remember if you can."
Article comments
1 - boomcrashbaby
I guess it's better than seeing the sign "All employees must wipe bottom when finished using facilitiy"?
2 - Tom Johnson
They need those signs everywhere, in my opinion. I can't begin to count the number of men I see at the urinals who just zip up and walk out. As I posted on my site a while back, I'm tempted to leave a sign that reads "Do you want to touch my penis? No? Well I don't want to touch yours either! Wash your hands!"
3 - jadester
it may have been intended as comedy, but this post raises a good point.
I agree about fellow blokes washing hands - i don't see how you can pee and then not wash your hands. i mean, it's not like washing your hands is a difficult, time-consuming, or even expensive, process
4 - boomcrashbaby
Comments like this:
"we have gotten some complaints about urine in the food."....made me think that perhaps there should be a sign on how to correctly hold your penis while going pee-pee.
5 - Joe
Having visited some of the filthiest public restrooms in the Western hemisphere, I can understand how many might ask themselves "Which is cleaner, my wang or that faucet handle?" I recommend carrying a bottle of Purell around.
6 - Mac Diva
Tom, there is such a thing as 'sign fatigue.' Too many warning signs and people stop reading them.
I am not even going to get into men and personal hygiene.
7 - Mark Saleski
this is what we need.
8 - duane
I am not even going to get into men and personal hygiene.
Oh, but MacD, you should. Meeting men can enrich your life, and personal hygiene can actually help facilitate that. Personally, I've been into hygiene for ... oh, I dunno ... going on five years now. Those restroom signs are always very helpful. I think I'll get one for my own bathroom. "Oh, that's right. I'm supposed to wash up after having possible contact with various bodily excretions."
9 - kuros
you can put uo the sign but if you can only get cold water out of tap what is the purpose?
10 - RJ Elliott
Weird factoid:
A drop of the average person's urine is far more "sanitary" than a drop of that same person's saliva.
Discuss amongst yourselves...
11 - RJ Elliott
Maybe the signs should read:
"Piss all over your hands if you like. Just don't spit on them!"
12 - Mac Diva
Very funny, duane-:). I'm always making guys wash their hands, and not make sandwiches on a filthy countertop, throw away sneakers that have never seen the inside of a washing machine. Oh, the list I could compile.
Mark, that cartoon reminds me of a certain Seinfeld episode.
13 - Shark
Apropos of nada: (stop me if you've heard this...)
A Texan and a Yankee are just finishing up at a public urinal.
One starts to exit while the other goes to the sink.
Yankee: "Hey, man, where I come from, we wash our hands after we pee."
Texan (leaving): "Well, where I come from, we don't pee on our hands."
14 - Health Dept. Employee
According to the state sanitary code Chapter 13 for Retail Food Establishments, all restaurants are required by law to post those signs. Rest assured it is not because the employees weren't washing their hands thus prompting the necessity of a sign.