http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2013/0...cub-foods.html

A 68-year-old Gem Lake, Minnesota, retiree who alleges he was "jumped, kicked and beaten" by police officers and store security after he walked off with 1.4 pounds of summer sausage and beef sticks that had been set out as free samples might not actually become the poster boy for pitfalls of supermarket courtesy culture, but he should be. Here's what happened.

Indeed.

A question for the philosophers, but in the meantime the lawyers will offer up profitable arguments.

The only place I've seen food samples offered are in places like Costco and Sam's Club we're there is always an attendant watching/preparing them. How sanitary can this be? Food left out and no one watching? Not only would I not take any, I wouldn't even try any for fear that's some crazy has sneezed all over them, pawed through them, or otherwise contaminated them.

I could write the same about the cretins in hotel lounges who ignore the tongs or other implements, pick up food in their bare hands, and sometimes even pop it into their mouths.

I observed that most recently in a Hilton Lounge in Germany. The older woman doing it happened to be French - her companion muttered something to her when she caught me glaring at her - but ignorance transcends nationalities and I've seen this disgusting behavior carried out by a variety of customers way too many times in lounges for me to think it's a rare occurrence.

I've also seen it at restaurant buffets and it offends me just as much.

Wow.

Never thought of filling plastic bags with 'samples'

yeah, ive kind of gotten away from any unattended buffet-style

I must disagree with you. If a person is careful to touch only the piece of food they are consuming, I think that using your hands is far more sanitary than everyone touching the same pair of germ-infested tongs.

I would never use my hands to 'scoop' anything up, where I might contact other food. But I find it much easier and more practical to pick up a croissant or pastry with my fingers rather than attempting to crush it between the typical too-small pair of tongs provided at a buffet in order to transfer it to my plate.

If you were really concerned about the cleanliness of the food, the correct thing to do would be to summon a manager and tell them what you saw and how you feel it contaminated the food and ask them to remove or replace it. Alternatively, explain to the woman how she was contaminating the food. What good does glaring malevolently at the woman do?

As far as grocery store samples, I often wonder if the container of toothpicks is dirtier than anything else. It is nearly impossible in some cases to avoid touching other toothpicks when you are trying to pick up your own toothpick.

Maybe BYOB (bring your own bag) is really the way to go!

That "If" is so big you could shove a couple of germ-infected hands through it. Your point seems to be that your hands and your co-ordination should be good enough for me.

Yet this particular individual was picking up nuts and potato chips, for example. Perhaps she's a surgeon, a concert pianist, or otherwise gifted with near-miraculous hand co-ordination. How otherwise could one pick up peanuts out of a bowl without leaving a few little germs behind?

Thanks for your attempt to provide instructions in appropriate behavior; however, I don't generally go through life creating confrontations for the sake of, well, providing instructions in appropriate behavior, other than more serious circumstances. If, for example, there was a flu pandemic, I would have quietly spoken to a manager.

As you may know, it's standard procedure on cruise ships for the buffet to be manned by employees and off limits to customers when there's an outbreak of something nasty aboard.

On a more practical level, the lounge would have had to remove everything that was out, because this woman picked her way through every dish.

You infer I was glaring "malevolently." Methinks, given your own insouciant approach to grazing at buffets, that you've been the innocent victim of such malevolence.

Your attitude seems certainly more typical of this era than mine, and I may well be in the minority.

I'm another who eschews tongs if I know I can pick up what I want to eat without touching anyone else's food. I really don't see why this is unhygienic If I don't come into contact with any food but my own, then it's not a problem.

Crisps and peanuts? you either chose to eat those from a communal bowl and accept the associated risks or you don't. But don't think you'll ever get those served both communally and hygienically.

� chacun son go�t.

Agreed. Samples such as cheese and artichoke dip are out in a couple of the nearby supermarkets we visit and I avoid them. I pick up enough germs from our own grandchildren, thanks very much.

Reading this thread, I was reminded of a local woman, now deceased, but for decades over-active in civic and political affairs. She would show up at every occasion in which free snacks, finger food, or even free meals were available, and stuff 3 days rations into plastic bags in her enormous purse. I know that her income after retirement was modest, but not that modest....

She gave new meaning to the word "Shameless".

It is so sad that this is where were are as a society. I know that the use of words like fair, reasonable and commonsense draw ridicule on this and other boards, but really! Commonsense should dictate how many/much is enough. A sense of fairness should guide one's action. The "reasonable" person measure should be an indicator of appropriate limits.

I am not going to get into an argument over these words with anyone. If you don't know what is reasonable; if you can not fathom what is fair; if commonsense needs to be precisely defined for you, then so be it.

This actually saddens me a little. Just like it saddens me a little that some advertisements explicitly mention that one doesn't get the pictured smartphone in addition to the smartphone case being advertised for USD$35.00!

It's been a couple decades since I worked in retail, but you see that quite alot there. I was reminded of it last Saturday when I worked a fundraising booth for my animal charity at a local pet adoption fair. Like all the other many animal charities, I had a table with stuff for sale. At one point an older lady carrying a shopping bag walked up and asked me something in a thick accent I couldn't quite catch. I asked her to repeat and she said "free stuff?" gesturing at my table. I said no, sorry, this is all for sale. She cheerily thanked me and wandered off again. Her husband followed, carrying two shopping bags. They were just going to all of the fair booths looking for free stuff.