Drink pure alcohol out of those glasses; it will denature the bugs! ;)

Howard Hughes used 3 kleenex per glass

Some even grab the wine bottles from the top. Blech.

I know it's politically incorrect, sexist, illegal, immature, etc. today ...

But I sometimes wish I was alive and flying back in the "Coffee, Tea, or Me?" stewardess days, when the airlines practically hired only young, single, female model types.

So compared to that, today's F/A's are making me sick :p

(Just kidding ...)

Yeah, but then you would have been a baby with feces covered diapers a snotty nose and urine all over you. Not a good health risk either.
just kidding :)

OK, now how exactly should a flight attendant handle the cups again? The last time I've seen them (the cups), they were stacked into each other and the only way to get the top one off the pile was to pull it out at the rim (OK, the other possibility would be to reach inside the cup to pull it out but I don't think that would really solve the "problem").

Maybe someone could explain what I'm missing?

HTB.

the stack could be turned upside-down and the cups could be handled
from the bottom.. not the top rim.

I stand corrected... Don't know why I overlooked this.

HTB.

I wonder if we could bring our own cup/glass/mug and just say "filler up" when they come by with the drinks...that way no germs are transmitted in the "cup" transaction. Lets all practice safe beverage handling.

and lets say the mouth of the bottle touches the rim of your cup.. and
it has touched may be a few dozen other rims before it got to
your own cup..

in any case, its not easy to avoid germs.. it would be nice if they
they dont make it obvious and handle the cups properly, but
I would't be paranoid about it.

what if they use gloves: who knows what they've touched/handled with
the gloves on.

i didn't know about this as really so long as no fingers get into my cup, most people are ok about it. im more concerned about aircraft water especially those served on us airlines. a lot of us airlines are operating very old aircraft and as a reult the water quality is quite bad.

What about the nasty ice?? I watched an Oprah where a middle school girl did a school project on the ice quality at 5 fast food restaurants. They were all disgusting. Then she did the same study on the ice on airplanes. Double yuck. It was enough to start drinking my cran-apple warm or to just forgo the whole ordeal and get a sealed bottle of water (hold the glass of ice, please).

HERE, HERE! P.O.T.W. (Post Of The Week) :p

I'm ambivalent on this issue. While I know it's "healthy" not to be too freaked out about dirt and germs and mice found in garbage dumps have a better immune system than lab rats raised in essentially "germ-free" environments. I know if I think about all this too much, I'd never go out to dinner, travel, or enjoy life at all. Germs are everywhere. Our bodies are covered in them...no matter how often we bathe and wash our hands.

There is, however, an acceptable ammount of exposure and an unacceptable one. I think it's good to have someone who handles lots of different germy cups and glasses, etc. to try to be as sanitary as possible about doing this. That's not asking much I shouldn't think. On the other hand, we're all trapped in that big can of germs when we're flying, so what's the difference?

When we went to London last summer, my husband (with the best immune system of anyone I know) get sick with a horrible cold toward the end of our trip...just about the exact incubation period for catching such things while on the plane coming over. Then, of course, he passed it on to me and I was sick as a dog on the plane. Guess I did my part in giving it to some poor schlepp!

Anyone heard of that fizzy tablet stuff the schoolteacher supposedly invented to help boost the immune system while flying? How silly. Yet, I tried it on that same trip. Wow, sure worked for me...not. Can't remember the name of it but I saw it the other day in the drugstore.

Bottom line - the best way to prevent illness is to boost your own immune system by eating right, sleeping well, and exercising. WHATEVER!

betsy

Betsy:

Are you talking about 'Airborne'? One of my students is addicted to the stuff. bleh.