I recently attended a community event, where my table as a vendor was positioned right across the aisle from a vendor who was selling strawberries dipped in chocolate. I had no sooner arrived and set up my display, when a man with whom I am acquainted…and who is a real character….approached. He started joking with me about the position of my table and the temptation to spend the day gorging myself on chocolate covered strawberries. I pointed out that while I was just across the aisle, I would have to walk quite a distance around several tables to get to the chocolate covered strawberries.
My “friend” apparently didn’t want me to have to surmount this barrier in order to indulge myself. He walked right up to the display of chocolate covered strawberries, picked up an entire tray, and more or less stuck it under my nose. I, of course, caved in, took one of the luscious looking berries and gave him the 50 cents to take back to the vendor.
That was an amusing start to the day. But, as the day progressed I was horrified with what I saw the dipper-of-strawberries doing. She did NOT wear any gloves while she dipped the berries. She handled the money and went back to dipping berries without washing her hands. She cleaned off the chocolaty spoon with her fingers. She dropped the papers on which she was placing the berries on the floor, picked them up and used them. As she spread out the papers, she licked her fingers in order to separate the papers. AND between dipping berries, SHE LICKED THE CHOCOLATE OFF HER FINGERS!!!!
The vendors on either side of me were raising their eyebrows and guessing what would happen if someone from the state health department happened in.
I was reminded of the 3 months of psychiatric nursing experience I had at Chicago State Hospital many years ago. We students lived on the grounds and ate in the hospital’s cafeteria, which was staffed in part by patients. One day as I stood in line, I had a view back into the kitchen. There a patient was placing dollops of butter on little square cardboards. As she spread out the cardboards on the tray, she licked her fingers to help in separating the cards. I did not eat any butter the rest of the time I was there. Most of us gained weight during that 3 month experience, because we figured out that the baked goods came sealed in plastic from an outside source. If someone was licking things, at least we didn’t know it. Ignorance is bliss.
Chocolate covered strawberries are also bliss, but I will not be eating any if I attend that event again!
