This is a graphic that I by chance came across online today. Apparently it comes from Nichijou, a Japanese comedy manga. I am not positive what the intended focus or message is: are we to be disgusted by the server's finger that found itself wedged in the customer's food or are we to forget the faux-pas and instead be entranced by the server's tawdry acrylic nails?
Focusing on the former, this scene in the manga comedy manages to touch upon that primal fear most of us have about strangers (or even family members) touching our food. Like a good Hitchcock film, this .gif taps into our psyche and preys on those innate fears and the emotional and physical reactions that we are not necessarily cognizant of in our daily life.
Okay, maybe the writers weren't channeling Hitchcock at all and I took this all too far, but I really can't help but be repulsed by this scene! The issue of others touching our food comes up daily, especially in the dining halls at Smith. There are issues with cross-contamination, finding hair that isn't ours in our food (this has happened to you too, right?) and just plain old hand-to-food/plate/utensil contact that, depending on your personality, might either cause you to react or not even notice.
What are your boundaries when it comes to "others" touching your food? Is a friend allowed to lean over, without asking, and take one of your fries? If a stranger accidentally touches your fork with her/his hand as you queue up for the buffet, will you grab a new one? If you find a hair in your lasagna that definitely isn't your own, do you remove it and go on eating or have you lost your appetite at that point and move to a different dining hall completely? Are we really fearful of germs or do we just feel a sense of violation to our personal space and health?
-Stacey Ladusch
