No it is not okay to leave raw meat by the cleaning products.

[sixums]

I swear, if I see one more of these things, I'm gonna flip the hell out. I'm starting to think it'd be better if I didn't go into the grocery store. This one is mostly anonymous SC, mixed in with a little bit of my boy.

So, I'm home visiting my partner and as per usual, we head to the grocery store to get ingredients for dinner. He makes this great vegetarian version of Hamburger Helper, just some simple pasta and sauce mixed in with a LOT of fake ground meat. It's absolutely delicious.

Anyway, his mum wanted us to pick up some oven cleaner. We're moving in a few weeks and the oven's had some wear and tear. We grab it and start to head to the registers. Towards the end of the aisle near the front is where I spot it.

A package of ground meat sitting half shoved onto a shelf next to the bathroom cleaner.

Regardless of the fact that I'm a vegetarian, that is just plain effing disgusting, not to mention so wasteful. You, my dear anonymous SC, just ruined a perfectly fine package of hamburger because you couldn't be assed to put it back where it belonged.

I point it out to my partner and grab it, looking it over. It doesn't look bad, but still. I have no idea how long it's been sitting there. Could be two minutes, could be two hours. The following conversation happens:

Me: I'll give it to the cashier when we check out.
Partner: *looking upset* Eh, don't do that. Just leave it there.
Me: Excuse me? I'm not going to just leave it there.
Partner: People do it all the time...
Me: Doesn't make it right. What if it started to leak all over everything, or rotted? It's better to just give it to an employee than risk getting someone sick.

He still looks upset as we head towards the check out lanes. I spot an employee overseeing the SCOs, so I scoot on over to him. I very politely tell him I found the package in the cleaning section, and had no idea how long it had been there. He gives a little sigh, thanks me, and takes it.

Partner must have known I was unhappy with what he said. As we headed to an express lane he turns to me and says, "That was a very good thing you did."

You bet your ass it was. When is he going to learn not to put up with that stuff?

[fireheart]

Good for you pointing that out with your hubby about leaving things in the shelf.

And hey, while I'm not a gigantic fan of red meat, I will eat it, but still...raw meat near the cleaning products?!

[Anakah]

Reminds me when I was grabbing for a two liter of soda and my hand graized someone's chewing gum-- right on the front bottle! I was grossed out and went to the front and told the cashier. What is wrong with people?!

[Golden Phoenix]

Our rule at the store i worked at (i need to find an inventive and clever alternative name for that place, "Hell" comes to mind) our rule was "Does it feel like it just came out of the cooler?" If yes, put back in the cooler, if no, throw it out.

We threw a lot of stuff out

[PepperElf]

Reminds me when I was grabbing for a two liter of soda and my hand graized someone's chewing gum-- right on the front bottle! I was grossed out and went to the front and told the cashier. What is wrong with people?!

we had trouble on the first ship when some of the females couldn't be bothered to spit their gum out before getting in the shower stalls & decided the soap dish was for their gum.

[fireheart]

Our rule at the store i worked at (i need to find an inventive and clever alternative name for that place, "Hell" comes to mind) our rule was "Does it feel like it just came out of the cooler?" If yes, put back in the cooler, if no, throw it out.

We threw a lot of stuff out

Our ruling is roughly similar. The ruling for us at work goes as follows:

"If it feels like it came out of the fridge/freezer, put it back. If in doubt, use the Super Duper Temperature Gun."

The Super Duper Temperature Gun however, is usually kept under lock and key AWAY from the dairy/frozen staff. You basically just point and shoot a laser at it.

[lordlundar]

The Super Duper Temperature Gun however, is usually kept under lock and key AWAY from the dairy/frozen staff. You basically just point and shoot a laser at it.

Otherwise known as an infra-red thermometer. Nice device to have for measuring surface temperatures.

[Nurian]

This is very similar to what would happen if my wife and I saw something similar, except I'm the one who couldn't leave it be. I usually grab and run it back to where it goes. She usually sighs and rolls her eyes.