Probably OT now?testing in public

OK, I'm going to be painfully honest here. I worked for a vet for a long time so not much grosses me out but if I went out to dinner with you and you tested at the table, I would never go out to eat with you again. I would bet that many people were bothered but no one spoke up, and to be polite and not cause a problem while we were visiting, I wouldn't have said anything, either. In this day and age of having to be so super-careful about bacteria and viruses, to have someone bleeding while people are eating is horrifying to me. I know there's not usually MUCH blood, but I also know that sometimes I think I have it all stopped and wiped off and then there's another drop and in any case, unless you are cleaning your hands right after with anti-bacterial gel, you have blood on your hands. Or maybe it's BECAUSE I worked for a vet and in schools with special pops and know the risks of human fluids that it would bother me>>

I don't think this is because you worked for a vet. I had a 25-year career in dental hygiene and have dealt with *gallons* of blood (not to mention other bodily fluids one might find in a mouth... I'll spare you the details), not just seeing it, but having it splattered on my face, hands, lab coat, the floor around me (which I later had to clean up myself), etc., and I have no worries like yours. So my amateur opinion is that this is a personal squick of yours.

Hey, we all have personal squicks. I can't stand the sight of a dog licking someone's face. Or little kids in high chairs mooshing their pablum into their hair, their ears, up their noses, etc, while their doting parents look on and think it's "cute" (and yes, this includes my own grandchildren...) But whatevs. I just do my level best to look the other way and think about something else, and in a little while, it's over. The world does not revolve around what I can stand to look at and what I can't. *shrug*

As for blood on someone's hands across the table, well... maybe someone picked their nose out in the car before they came in. Maybe they used the bathroom at home before they left and didn't wash their hands. Maybe the people cooking your meal you're about to eat sneezed on your plate. Or just picked their big nose pimple in the bathroom on break before they came back into the kitchen. Shall I go on?

When I do test in a restaurant situation, I test very discreetly, usually under the edge of the table or behind my purse, whatever I can manage. I would never do it at all in a "fancy" restaurant. I would never do it all if I were out to dinner with my husband's boss and his wife or our pastor and his family. I only test with people who know and love me. When dining with anyone else, I would excuse myself to the ladies room. Or more likely, I would have tested out in the car... and yes, come in with blood on my hands!

I dunno. Just my take on things. As with everything, we all have to do what we have to do.

Judy D.