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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday March 14 2020, @06:16AM   Printer-friendly
from the gotta-ban-them-all dept.

A UK supermarket has banned the use of money that was stored in shoes and bras as part of the effort to reign in the spread of COVID-19. Among other strange facts coming out of this outbreak is that some people lick their money before handing it over to the cashier.

We are doomed.

[Ed Note - Updated the story to reflect that the store is called Iceland and is, in fact, a UK supermarket.]


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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 14 2020, @06:56AM (18 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 14 2020, @06:56AM (#971073)

    When people lick their fingers before flipping through pages. It's quite common and WHY DO PEOPLE DO THIS!!!!????

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  • (Score: 4, Touché) by Runaway1956 on Saturday March 14 2020, @07:03AM (11 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday March 14 2020, @07:03AM (#971075) Journal

    In about a hundred years, when the last literate person who remembers what a book was has died, no one will turn any more pages. By then, everyone will have a nuclear powered, holographic, indestructible, and unlosable pad of some sort, most likely embedded into the back of their wrists.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 14 2020, @07:42AM (9 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 14 2020, @07:42AM (#971085)

      BUT WHY DO PPL DO THIS GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!?!!!!!!!

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 14 2020, @08:20AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 14 2020, @08:20AM (#971096)

        Because they carry diseases that they want to share with you?

      • (Score: 5, Informative) by RS3 on Saturday March 14 2020, @11:11AM (7 children)

        by RS3 (6367) on Saturday March 14 2020, @11:11AM (#971137)

        Seriously, you don't know? It's because their fingertips are dry and they can't get enough friction with the paper.

        You can buy a "finger cot" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger_cot [wikipedia.org], or "thimblette" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thimble#Thimblette [wikipedia.org] for the purpose. They're used a lot by many people who deal with paper a lot. I remember seeing office administrative assistants using them.

        A totally gross story: at a supermarket near me I was waiting to buy some bagels. The store has shelves behind glass doors, and you're supposed to use a plastic sheet when you pick them out and put them in a small bag. Old-ish lady in front of me was not only squeezing them by hand, not picking them, but going through and touching and squeezing them with her bare hands. If that's not gross enough, she then licked her freaking fingers and touched them. I kind of freaked out and she was clueless as to what was wrong. People like that should be banned from stores.

        I guess some people have developed an unconscious habit of licking their fingers.

        I don't think I've eaten a bagel since. Certainly not from any store with that kind of display.

        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by SomeGuy on Saturday March 14 2020, @11:41AM (2 children)

          by SomeGuy (5632) on Saturday March 14 2020, @11:41AM (#971146)

          Changing unsanitary habits like licking fingers is exactly the sort of thing that will make a huge difference against virus outbreaks, or avoiding even common contagious illnesses.

          Probably 99% of the crap going on, like closing down events, is mostly political posturing that will have little long term impact (other than causing another economic crash). Banning cash is just a lame excuse to wastefully sell cell phones plus payment apps, or sign people up for tracking cards. A better solution would be to have cashiers use gloves, extra sanitizer, or such.

          Wasn't there a Feringi rule of acquisition along the lines of "never pass up the chance to profit from a crisis"?

          • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 14 2020, @04:14PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 14 2020, @04:14PM (#971223)

            Are you high? closing down events is due to super spreaders, one person with mild symptoms could infect LITERALLY thousands of people at say E3. A majority of the cases in South Korea are due to one person who infected tons of people as an example. Iran could be similar... but due to licking shrines.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 16 2020, @01:50PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 16 2020, @01:50PM (#971869)

              You miss the point. The vast majority of people can't just lock themselves in their houses forever. The virus spreading won't stop just because people close a few events. It may help slow things down a bit, but everyone will get exposed to it eventually.

        • (Score: 2, Informative) by khallow on Saturday March 14 2020, @12:24PM (1 child)

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday March 14 2020, @12:24PM (#971158) Journal
          Another option is finger wax. I use that whenever I count large numbers of bills.
          • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday March 15 2020, @03:53AM

            by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday March 15 2020, @03:53AM (#971476) Journal

            The wax? Yeah, I see it at the bank all the time. It's usually in a little pink flat tray thingy, maybe 2 inches long, and an inch wide, not more than 1/4 inch think. I think the wax is tinted pink, peach, or something similar, or it could be transparent, and I'm seeing the pink plastic through it. Never would have though of it, until you mentioned it.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 14 2020, @01:24PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 14 2020, @01:24PM (#971176)

          I'll still be buying bagels, but I think I'm going to toast them, at least for the next few months...

          • (Score: 4, Funny) by RS3 on Saturday March 14 2020, @08:42PM

            by RS3 (6367) on Saturday March 14 2020, @08:42PM (#971310)

            A few months might be overkill. Toasting them for a month will probably kill enough germs to make them safe.

            :)

    • (Score: 2) by krishnoid on Saturday March 14 2020, @09:46PM

      by krishnoid (1156) on Saturday March 14 2020, @09:46PM (#971328)

      ... which they'll have to lick to turn the pages.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 14 2020, @07:54AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 14 2020, @07:54AM (#971086)

    Confero: "Name of the Rose", by Umberto Eco. That's how you die. Movie has Sean Connery in it, though.

  • (Score: 4, Funny) by legont on Saturday March 14 2020, @04:54PM (2 children)

    by legont (4179) on Saturday March 14 2020, @04:54PM (#971233)

    Is it a serious question? People wet their fingers to increase friction between skin and paper. People with dry hands - such as old, experienced and fearless - have this issue, while the youngsters who sweat their fear out usually don't.

    --
    "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
    • (Score: 2) by legont on Saturday March 14 2020, @05:04PM (1 child)

      by legont (4179) on Saturday March 14 2020, @05:04PM (#971236)

      Forgot to mention. In this particular case with money, people do the last check - if two bills did not stick together. When I drove a cab in NYC I once got 3 dollar pay which in fact was one dollar bill and two hundreds.
      Hence I spit on my fingers (to avoid liking - my mother taught me this at very tender age) and check the bill right before hanging it out.

      --
      "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
      • (Score: 2) by dry on Sunday March 15 2020, @04:03AM

        by dry (223) on Sunday March 15 2020, @04:03AM (#971479) Journal

        It's even worse with plastic money, it is very sticky. Bought gas the other week and would have overpaid by $20 if the teller hadn't been honest.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 14 2020, @08:18PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 14 2020, @08:18PM (#971300)

    When people lick their fingers before flipping through pages. It's quite common and WHY DO PEOPLE DO THIS!!!!????

    https://youtu.be/AL9ru777zBI [youtu.be]

    Enjoy. You're Welcome.

    • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Saturday March 14 2020, @08:47PM

      by RS3 (6367) on Saturday March 14 2020, @08:47PM (#971311)

      That is disturbing. That poor woman will never live that down. Although not how she originally intended to make her point, hopefully it drives the point home.