# Do you want the rest of this? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 10, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392 "2011-05-10T14:16:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392/21 "2011-05-10T18:06:24Z")
Wife, kid, close family member - sure. Acquaintance, or coworker - no thanks, unless it’s something tidy like chips or french fries that they haven’t slobbered over. Stranger - Not even if it’s in its original packaging (Halloween excluded). ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392/22 "2011-05-10T18:07:34Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > No, I really did not mean that. Why would I? The OP has said that the food in question is a portion of a meal that has been served to another individual - the implication being that the food is not untouched, but instead has been touched multiple times by a spoon or fork that has been in the mouth of that individual - or in the case of a sandwich, the remaining portion of the food has itself been directly in contact with the lips/teeth (and hands) of that individual. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392/23 "2011-05-10T18:26:55Z")
I’m like \*\*olivesmarch4th \*\*- no worries. I doubt I’d accept food from some random person, but from husband, family, friends? Most certainly. I do try to be more cognizant of how I eat when I’m out with friends (use my fingers less, watch how I dip things, that sort of thing) so as to minimize their squeamishness (if they have any), but I’m really not fussy. Our immune systems are pretty amazing things. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392/24 "2011-05-10T18:30:23Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > The OP has said that the food in question is a portion of a meal that has been served to another individual - the implication being that the food is not untouched, but instead has been touched multiple times by a spoon or fork that has been in the mouth of that individual - or in the case of a sandwich, the remaining portion of the food has itself been directly in contact with the lips/teeth (and hands) of that individual. Yep, fine with that. ---
**Author:** ![Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marconi_N.Cheese)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392/25 "2011-05-10T18:44:54Z")
> [@Marconi\_N.Cheese](#): > > If you do want it and are grossed out, why not just cut off the ‘eaten’ part and carry on? I’m thinking sandwiches, steak, etc. Probably wouldn’t work for things like spaghetti. > [@enomaj](#): > > I was thinking more like a sandwich or a candy bar. > > You don’t think that would be rude. As in “I appreciate your generosity but first let me get rid of any stray bacteria you might have.” Perhaps, but I don’t think so. I wouldn’t be offended if I had offered the leftovers and someone cut off the ‘contact zone’. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392/26 "2011-05-10T18:50:29Z")
If you’re really squeamish, you could eat from the other end, but then you’d have to throw away the “neutral zone.” ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392/27 "2011-05-10T19:19:22Z")
Absolutely - if it’s from a friend or family member, I’ll definitely eat it. From someone I don’t or barely know? No way. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392/28 "2011-05-10T19:19:24Z")
From my family or close friends, sure. from a stranger, or a passing acquantance, probably not. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392/29 "2011-05-10T19:23:10Z")
I seriously doubt that a complete stranger, say, passing you on a sidewalk, is going to offer you the rest of his sandwich. But what about a (semi)trusted coworker? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392/30 "2011-05-10T19:29:26Z")
> [@multimediac17](#): > > No, I just have a “thing” about food that’s been eaten by someone else, and it doesn’t matter who it is. Well, it does smell kinda rank after it’s been eaten by someone else, so I can see where you’re coming from. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392/31 "2011-05-10T19:30:09Z")
I’m amazed at the number of people who go “No way!” _unless_ it’s a family member. Somehow, sharing a little extra DNA makes their slobber somehow … less slobber-y? Although I suppose the real notion is that if it’s someone you know fairly well, you’d know already if they have some sort of communicable disease. I’m not a germophobe, so it would be on a case-by-case decision - I don’t mind splitting some fries with a co-worker, ferinstance. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392/32 "2011-05-10T19:30:33Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I seriously doubt that a complete stranger, say, passing you on a sidewalk, is going to offer you the rest of his sandwich. But what about a (semi)trusted coworker? I have had an acquaintance ask if I wanted to try something when we happened to be at the same table togethere, but yeah - strangers don’t generally offer people already-eaten food. I’d definitely share food with a trusted co-worker (as long as I knew they washed their hands and didn’t cough and snort everywhere). ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392/33 "2011-05-10T19:32:46Z")
We do share at our office. I generally don’t take people’s leftovers, but that’s generally because it seems a little classless to me. But like many other things, I can differentiate, and think it’s a little classless when i do it and not have the least problem when someone else does it. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392/34 "2011-05-10T20:40:37Z")
I think that, today, I stick with family, and explicitly family I know that are “clean”. But, in times past, I didn’t care. I was always hungry in junior high (being on Adderall didn’t help), and I never had any extra money for food (I got free lunches, even.) I’d prefer food that hasn’t been bitten off of, and I would do the whole neutral zone thing, but I’d eat it. And I would just drink soda. I’m pretty sure that’s how I caught mono in tenth grade, although I don’t remember doing it in high school. Oddly enough, even during that time, I avoided it when my extended relatives did this, and thought it gross. Like, when my uncle and aunt would eat out of the ice cream container. Half eaten sandwich, fine. Something that had been eaten out of and put back, ew. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392/35 "2011-05-10T22:41:23Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > I’m amazed at the number of people who go “No way!” _unless_ it’s a family member. Somehow, sharing a little extra DNA makes their slobber somehow … less slobber-y? Although I suppose the real notion is that if it’s someone you know fairly well, you’d know already if they have some sort of communicable disease. Nope, just means I’m likely to have all their germs already. I don’t _think_ anyone’s talking about their second cousin they see every ten years. ---
**Author:** ![Kalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/df705f/32.png) [@Kalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalypso)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392/36 "2011-05-11T00:09:42Z")
It depends. I’d finish my lover’s food, even if bitten on directly. If I were inclined, I’d finish the steak of a mere acquaintance, provided I saw them eating it with a knife and fork, because you’re not usually touching the fork to the bits of meat you aren’t eating right then. It’s purely how clean I perceive the food, and may or may not have much to do with how clean it actually is. ---
**Author:** ![classyladyhp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5ac83/32.png) [@classyladyhp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/classyladyhp)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392/37 "2011-05-11T00:12:26Z")
> [@enomaj](#): > > Would you accept an offer of food if it’s half eaten? Why or why not? I’m not germaphobic but I’ve always thought that eating after someone is kinda gross. I usually play it off as I’m not hungry so as not to offend. Ummmmm no I wouldn’t accept it. can someone say gross? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392/38 "2011-05-11T00:20:07Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > My gf and I often exchange plates for tastes at some point in restaurants. Our tongues have been in each others mouths frequently enough that I have no qualms. > [@multimediac17](#): > > No, I just have a “thing” about food that’s been eaten by someone else, and it doesn’t matter who it is. I’ve dated guys who’ve had the same issues with sharing food. Issues that just seem completely nonsensically considering where our mouths ended up later that evening. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392/39 "2011-05-11T00:37:52Z")
Depends on whose dishwasher it was in… ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392/40 "2011-05-11T01:20:13Z")
Absolutely not, unless maybe if it’s my wife’s and the touched part has been cleanly cut off. Otherwise it grosses me out big time. But- I have an excuse. Both of my parents were “messies” and compulsive hoarders – My father had a severe case of hoarding compulsion, and wasn’t a particularly sanitary person; My mother was a less dedicated hoarder, but was one of the laziest people in the world. As you can NOT imagine, our home was a filthy, chaotic mess. Piles and stacks of trash, rotting garbage, dog turds, dog pee weren’t unusual inside the house, and always overwhelmed the senses in the yards and garage. You’d walk in the door and the smell would hit you in the face. By the time I moved out at 19, I had a profound aversion to disorder and disorganization, and a metric shitload of ridiculous, hyper-finicky hangups about what constitutes “disgusting.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-want-the-rest-of-this/581392.md?page=3)