# If I spill something in a store, is it my responsibility to clean it up? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 31, 2022, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877 "2022-07-31T17:40:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877/41 "2022-07-31T22:36:10Z")
My work here is done! 🤣 👍🏼 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877/42 "2022-07-31T22:43:55Z")
> [@TheCuse](#): > > We banned his ass. Normally, I would interpret this as [synecdoche](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synecdoche), but here I’m inclined to take it literally. “I’m sorry, sir. Your ass is not welcome here. You’ll have to leave it outside.” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877/43 "2022-07-31T22:48:34Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Ah yes. I use dozens of beers for that. [Life hack!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb1GZXL5PDY&t=97s&ab_channel=TeamCoco) ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877/44 "2022-07-31T22:52:03Z")
Prehensile. Its been awhile since I laughed out loud. thank you. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877/45 "2022-07-31T22:52:37Z")
How do you know she didn’t work there, and was simply there on her day off? I also think the impulse to clean up the mess may have been a “Mom thing.” You’re not obligated to clean a mess up, especially if it’s potentially dangerous (“bodily fluids” or broken glass, for instance) but I do think you’re (generic you) obligated to tell someone that you made it. p.s. In a grocery store or the like, I don’t think people are obligated to pay for things damaged in this way unless they did it on purpose, which does happen. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877/46 "2022-07-31T22:56:59Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > What I do is go to the nearest employee, sincerely apologize, and inform them of what happened. Yes. But if it slippery, maybe drop some paper towels or something on the mess to warn people about slipping. > [@SmartAleq](#): > > I would have put something down to start soaking up the mess and called an employee over to deal with it more comprehensively. Right. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877/47 "2022-07-31T23:07:35Z")
Medical condition or not, adults are responsible for cleaning up their own shit, not leaving it for anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877/48 "2022-07-31T23:13:11Z")
I have twice had dogs embarrass me with poop-fests at stores (and yes, these were both establishments that welcomed pets). The first time, a Lab that decided to have a diarrheal episode in a greenhouse (I used up most of the toilet paper and paper towels in a nearby restroom cleaning up _that_ mess). The second time, Pluto the wonder spaniel late in puppyhood, took a nice soft dump\* just outside the front door of the pet store.\* The employees did not seem at all unhappy when I went inside, explained, and volunteered to take care of the mess. I am less inclined than previously to take the dog out for a retail good time. \*he was also prolific at the vet early in his career. \*\*my canines’ public mistakes have virtually never involved a firm #2. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877/49 "2022-07-31T23:17:16Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > Lucky me, I was on bathroom duty that day… Certainly. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877/50 "2022-07-31T23:27:06Z")
I was in a mcdonalds last week and went to fill my cup with water, and hit the red punch instead. I grabbed some napkins and cleaned it because Im a neat freak and I would want someone ahead of me to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877/51 "2022-07-31T23:57:26Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Prehensile. Its been awhile since I laughed out loud. thank you. It’s from a legendary thread: > [@Another bathroom etiquette memo: Do you have a prehensile rectum?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-bathroom-etiquette-memo-do-you-have-a-prehensile-rectum/75367): > > Look, Fuckwicket,I know you got your problems. I’m aware of the fact that your metabolisim causes you to have to be in the bathroom five seconds after you eat. Or you’re taking exlax with each meal, I don’t know, but whatever the case, can’t you clean up after yourself? You can’t weigh more than 120 lbs, and I’ve been working with you for years. Every single time I’ve used the crapper after you, it’s a mess. Today was just the final straw. There was shit on the seat. There was shit under the s… ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2022, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877/52 "2022-08-01T00:09:18Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > completely random female customer (and she was a customer she wasn’t an employee) IMMEDIATELY grabbed a bunch of paper towels and started cleaning the mess I left on the floor. I know she wasn’t an employee because while she was cleaning one of her kids started talking to her about something he wanted to buy before they left for his soccer practice. Someone in parent mode saw a mess and cleaned it up with easily available paper towels before one of her kids tracked through it, or slipped on it. As a dad whose kids were once small that makes sense to me. The store is responsible but if I made a mess that was a potential hazard and something was easily available to reduce that hazard I would do so as a matter of reflex action. And I would reduce potential hazards to my children whether or not I was the cause. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2022, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877/53 "2022-08-01T03:27:48Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Someone in parent mode saw a mess and cleaned it up with easily available paper towels before one of her kids tracked through it, or slipped on it. > > As a dad whose kids were once small that makes sense to me. To me too. I don’t think the OP is automatically a bad person for not having jumped for the paper towels, but I’m a bit gobsmacked that he didn’t even offer a “thank you” or a “sorry” to the random stranger who was voluntarily, as he acknowledges himself, cleaning up the mess HE made. I don’t understand how you can get an optical image of that situation on your retina without immediately bursting into speech along the lines of “hey, thank you very much, I was just going to tell an employee about the spill, I don’t know what happened with that self-destructing cup, sorry it made such a mess”. I mean, that’s just basic common courtesy when somebody else is voluntarily helping fix a problem resulting from your actions. “Wandering off awkwardly” in such a situation does not meet minimum standards for basic common courtesy. To answer the general question in the OP, if you spill or break something in a store, it’s your responsibility to do what you can to mitigate the potential hazard and/or inconvenience to other people as efficiently as possible, and also to apologize for your contribution to the problem. The mitigation might take the form of just immediately alerting an employee (with apologies) to the problem, or jumping right in to clean it up yourself if that’s possible, or doing something to block off the spillage/breakage from unwary passersby. The apology doesn’t have to be fulsome or groveling, especially if it seems likely that some kind of equipment malfunction materially contributed to it. But you do have to at least acknowledge that you know your actions were instrumental in creating this problem and you regret the hassle that other people will experience on account of it. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2022, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877/54 "2022-08-01T03:59:34Z")
I doubt it was the store owner cleaning it up, for the reason that she used paper towels, and not a mop. Paper towels are expensive, especially if you inefficiently wad them up and start trying to soak up a Big Gulp worth of fluid as described by the OP. I had to get rid of paper towels in my reception area, as dogs coming in would sometimes make a mess, and the client, wanting to be helpful, would use half a roll in trying to clean it up, while ignoring me standing there with the washable towel I would much rather use. The other customer was well meaning, but should have waited for the OP to tell an employee, and allow them to use their procedures to clean it, probably with a mop, rather than wasting the store’s product, when that area’s still probably going to need to be mopped anyway. As a customer in that situation, the most I would have done is to put out a wet floor sign if I saw one handy, and inform an employee. Depending on my mood, I may _offer_ to clean it up if they tell me where the mop is, but I wouldn’t expect my offer to be accepted. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2022, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877/55 "2022-08-01T06:12:24Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Good citizenship without judgement. An act of kindness to others who might step in the mess. That, or OCD. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2022, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877/56 "2022-08-01T06:39:20Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > To this day I don’t know how the fuck that happened because the only logical explanation is that the nasty SOB was FINGER PAINTING in there. Yeah, I kind of wonder about that kind of thing as a psychological condition. I’ve heard stories (some, I believe, here on this board) and encountered something like that IRL myself. An office I worked in, where there were around 30 or so female employees, started having problems with, um, shit-spattered stall walls in the ladies room. Some careful attention to when the problem occurred ended up pointing to a particular employee who was very stressed and anxious. The HR guy who had to talk to her about the problem was not happy, to say the least. I don’t know the details of their talk, but she resigned shortly thereafter and the problem never recurred, so … yeah, it was some weird issue she was having. Explosive diarrhea? No, don’t think so. That could leave a mess, I’m sure, but it would mostly be confined to the toilet itself. As to @ekedolphin’s situation, I’m not going to judge, in part because it would probably require TMI on his part, which I emphatically do not want, to get enough information to form a judgment. HOWEVER, I will say that, if you know you have a “medical condition” that might lead to urgent need of public restroom facilities, in a possibly messy way, then … for heaven sakes, carry your own roll of toilet paper/paper towels/whatever WITH you wherever you go, and LOOK AROUND JUST IN CASE YOU ACCIDENTALLY MADE A MESS, AND CLEAN IT UP IF THERE IS ONE, BEFORE YOU LEAVE. Don’t depend on random fast food chains having topped up their TP dispensers and don’t expect some hapless minimum wage employee to be responsible for a mess you might make, however small. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2022, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877/57 "2022-08-01T11:36:18Z")
We have a bathroom at work. We are not required to have a bathroom for customers, but we still allow them to use it. A few years ago a woman allowed her kid to use the bathroom solo. Later, an employee had to pee. When she pulled her pants up, they were wet. The kid had pissed on the floor. Everyone was angry. I told them we could stop allowing public access, so we did, for awhile. Eventually telling people we didn’t have a bathroom became more of a pain than allowing people to use it (maybe twice a week?). Then there was the JazzFest PortaPotty episode. > **Summary** > > There was a line of 50 portapotties at JazzFest, with a line of 10-15 people waiting for each. One portapotty had _no line_!! Occasionally someone who really had to go would run up to the line-less potty, open the door to peek in, then scream and run off. I had nightmares about what they saw. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2022, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877/58 "2022-08-01T12:50:03Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > No, it is not your responsibility to clean up a mess you make in a store. What I do is go to the nearest employee, sincerely apologize, and inform them of what happened. That customer was pretty freakin’ weird. > > A couple of months ago, though, I had a bathroom emergency where I had to duck into a Burger King. The restroom was not fully stocked with toilet paper, and I left a _little_ bit of a mess, but it wasn’t too terrible. I wasn’t able to fully clean it up, though. > > No sooner had I walked to my car than the Burger King employee who was responsible for cleaning the bathroom actually came out to _confront me over it_, saying he’d just finished cleaning the restroom, and how dare I screw it up? I apologized, and he didn’t seem to think I was sincere. Well, fuck you, you _didn’t give me enough toilet paper_. You did NOT just service that restroom. > > I didn’t say that to him, but I left a nastygram with Burger King. They apologized for the inconvenience and gave me a $5 gift card for the humiliating experience of being talked to like that in front of my mother. I haven’t been back to Burger King since then. So you’d fess up to a mess at the drink station and profusely apologize? But you’d make a mess in the toilet stall and then leave the premises, I doubt BK is gonna miss your business. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2022, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877/59 "2022-08-01T23:55:11Z")
At least you had the possibility of cleaning it up. I was in a 7-11 once many years ago, waiting to check out with a full Big Gulp in my hand. As I stood there, the top popped off. Since the top is basically a structural member of the object, the sides started to cave in. I automatically squeezed tighter so as not to drop it, and… essentially THREW it on some poor lady. She was wayyyyy nicer about it than she needed to be, and wouldn’t even accept money for dry cleaning. She had been on her way somewhere but was now headed home. The only small saving grace was that it was diet, so not sticky. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877/60 "2022-08-02T10:22:06Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > Geez, at least with a porta potty they can just use a power washer to hose it out from way far off. And I’ve had exploding ass more than a time or two myself and it sure wrecks the bowl and seat right well but what I couldn’t quite fathom is the side wall. Like, right hand wall covered and behind the toilet covered and really high up there. Seems like if it was just exploding butthole syndrome it would be down lower OR it would have unloaded in his pants and saved me a miserable afternoon The person in question probably DID have some of it in his underwear and trousers. Lately, at my store we have had someone fill the bowl with shit, blood, and TP on a near daily basis. Which makes me wonder if she’s one of our fellow employees. She is also someone who compulsively wraps the seat with TP, and often leaves streamers around the bowl. It would _help_ if she’d _flush the goddamned toilet_! Anyhow - no, you are not obligated to clean up your mess at the store I work at. It is, however, very much appreciated if you tell one of our staff. I do find a remarkable number of people volunteer to help clean up messes. If it involves broken glass I ask them to hold the bin/bag so they don’t actually have to touch it. Blueberries are surprisingly hazardous - they’re like squishable ball bearings. I’ve seen more people fall after stepping on them than almost anything else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-spill-something-in-a-store-is-it-my-responsibility-to-clean-it-up/968877.md?page=4)