Yeah, you need exposure to filth on tongs. No question.
Put your febreeze hand sanitizer away and touch everything..
Unless you're on public transportation, thats where I draw the line,
never ride then rub your eyes. But food by nature is bathed in bacteria.

Haha. some great responses.

I am always meticulous about touching only the rolls I bought so I still think the old biddy should have kept her pie hole shut ... but to keep up appearances I think I may use the bag method next time around...unless of course it is the same lady, in which case I'll try the 'Bobbing for apples' method mentioned before...LOL

'Bobbing for apples' method
ha ha great
what an amusing thread.

I usually use the wax paper but sometimes... yeah, i'll just grab them. Fuck the germiphobes.

What a bitchy comment on her part.

"You're supposed to use deeez nuts!!!"

This gave me a good laugh.

I must admit that I am a bit of a germaphobe. But I could care less how people grab the rolls cuz I go for the bagged products. At least I can pretend they haven't been handled, dropped on the ground, or come in contact with rodents or insects.

This conversation seems like it could have come straight from a Seinfeld episode.

Bloodrinker had the best solution. The inside out bag method. Use that myself. While I am a bit of a germ-a-phobe myself (I look absolutely ridiculous in subways/subway stations- I won't even open a door without a glove or a jacket sleeve) depending on my mood and how annoying the person doing the commentary was, I might have done this:

*drops roll on supermarket floor next to said persons feet*

*pick up roll, toss back into bin*

"There now we know where that roll has been, have a nice day!"

Have to disagree. The best solution is buy prepackaged rolls. Saves time, confusion, annoyance, conversation, etiquette conversations, germ questions... etc.

Except for the fact that all prepackaged foodstuffs contain a certain amount of allowable filth by law.

I agree the tongs are probably filthy and have never been washed.

Use inside out bag/wax paper method, or hands and screw whoever cares.

Usually I'm super lazy so I just buy prepackaged stuffs.

i'd use tongs and think someone using their hands is gross... although if someone was being a I FART A LOT to me i'd throw a fist full of pubes in the bin

you should have licked those tongs and then grabbed a roll.

i agree shes got no argument if your not touching any other rolls, i wouldnt wanna touch the tongs either.

Bullcrap, how does she or ANYONE know, KNOW, this guy showered 10 min ago or whatever the story is? Inside out bag is the right answer. Tongs are/could be dirty, for others sake don't use your bare hands. Is it really THAT HARD to just do the inside-out bag move multiple people suggested?

bread is bad for you.

not a bad idea, but again i only agree if you are only touching your own bread.

The amount of time I see a waitress, waiter put their thumb in the soup of the noodles and then I just imagine what it's like in the kitchen!!

People use to smoke in the kitchen...with butt in the mouth... its very gross but it's Hong Kong - we love SARS!!!!

I don't know you and I'm not judging you, but what you did was wrong--no amount of justifying can erase that. Even though you just showered, in the intervening ten minutes, you probably touched door handles (the biggest cause of spreading colds and flues). It's not a matter of where the HANDLE of the tongs has been (that's your problem, much like the door knobs before you got there), it's the opposite end of the tongs that have only been touching bread--and less likely to be covered in germs--meanwhile, human hands are filthy, no matter how careful you are.

Touching food that you're not going to eat can contaminate it for the person who eats what you have touched. Even though cooks in restaurants (at least in the US) are extra careful about cleanliness, people still die every year from such contamination. So, let me know the next time you're going shopping, so I can get there ahead of you and lick the bread.

You're lucky; in Japan, they would have thrown you out of the store (and I've seen it happen).

this thread is way to funny
either buy pre made bread/roll
make your own/come on how hard is it you spend enough time online you can make bread
never shop in the supermarkets in cali or where ever half of you go shopping
stop being so anal and being germaphobes
i also agree " thongs are Nellissery"

Why the fuck are you buying bread anyway, you should make it yourself.

Depending on the type of bread/amount you want to make, it can be MORE expensive to make it yourself than buy a cheap ass loaf. But this is about rolls, I can't say I've looked into that.

Anyway, the whole point is courtesy. Sure, your hands are probably clean, but no one else knows that and sticking it bare into the bin, even if you only touch yours, isn't to say whatever nasty action that MIGHT be on your hands won't flake/crust/bacteria-bomb the others surrounding it. And since no one else KNOWS, it's just rude.

I'm no germaphobe, trust me, the nasty crap I do sometimes shocks even me, but I AM courteous around others.

I doubt the veracity of this. Particularly this particular set of tongs, since they are also used for the nearby bagels (cinnamon raising, chocolate chip, berry etc. and have bits of stuff all over the 'business' end of them. They are also chained to wall with eyebolts going into the handle of the tongs so don't tell me they have EVER been unchained and properly cleaned.

Anyway, like I already said, I'll try the bag method from now on as a 'feel good' gesture to others.

These particular rolls I don't know how they make them, or I'd attempt it. (I actually use a bread maker for my regular bread). They have some kind of crunchy/chewy coating on them and a very nice texture.

Yeah, if I saw someone digging their meathooks into the bin, I'd probably change my mind and go with the Wonder bread. Then again, I wouldn't have said anything...maybe just mutter "nasty fucker" under my breath...

This is the best thread of the year. Screw toys, I am all about grocery store anecdotes now.

Anyway, I had almost the same thing happen to me. Now I always carry around my own pair of tongs wherever I go, the ends of which i always store surrounded by bread (for that is all they may ever touch). That way if anyone gets in my face, I can meticulously explain why I am both apprehensive to use store tongs and respectful of people's desire for me to not use my hands and how my tongs make everyone happy. I have several of these special sets of tongs for sale if anyone wants a pair, just send me a PM.

Tongs are just an illusion. I'd have snorted and walked away happily with my manhandled bread leaving the woman to her attention seeking business. I wouldn't do it in Japan though, not because it is gross, but because they're tongs are probably just as good as mine.

2 pages on tongs vs grab n'bag . . . it's gonna be a long fuckin' winter . . .

Are you suggesting it should be a poll!?!?!?!?

Maybe this is a regional thing. I've never seen tongs in an American supermarket, but around here there are always small sheets of wax paper with signs encouraging you to use them when you retrieve baked goods.

The (relatively upscale) supermarket that I regularly go to also has sanitary wipes at the front door.