LETTERS: NEED FOR GOOD SANITATION

To the editor:

The other day I bought a sausage and asked to have it sliced. I could barely avert a grimace when the person touched the pieces with his bare hands, the same hands that he used to handle money and that he used as a shield when he coughed. When he handed the package to me, I saw that his fingernails had rings of black under them. (I was afraid to look for cuts or sores.)

This was not an isolated incident. I have noticed carelessness at many other places too.

Although my curricula did not include public health or food service, my intuition insists that these incidents are not desirable. Do you ever get a stomach ache or some nausea or diarrhea or a sore throat after eating out? One possible cause could be carelessness.

I wonder if we could all be a little more aware and more careful. Is it unthinkable that we might gently remind each other when we see a potential hazard in the making?

Let's see if we can clean up our corner of the state, thereby making visitors inspired to go their corners and do likewise. We might all feel safer and better. Thank you for considering this.

SUE PENZEL

Jackson