# Paying a bill without touching it?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 15, 2017, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-a-bill-without-touching-it/791327 "2017-07-15T16:18:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2017, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-a-bill-without-touching-it/791327/21 "2017-07-16T21:03:58Z")
> [@Quarter\_Girl](#): > > … > she would always put it on a plate, even a paper plate, and hand the plate to our service tech. She was an older lady and we chalked it up to eccentricity. > > She passed away though and now her son does the exact same thing. > … > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > It’s probably an issue with germs. > [@Ambivalid](#): > > …That they _both_ suffer from? And deal with in the exact same way? :dubious: The elderly lady has died. That implies the son would be at least age 50 and maybe 70. He now lives in the same house as Mom did and seemingly has for many years. My tentative conclusion: his whole life was spent attached to Mom’s apron strings. She taught him pretty much everything he knows about how to live and how to behave. IOW, behaviorally he’s a near-clone of her. For both the good, the bad, and the flat eccentric parts of her personality. Sure, there’s individuality in him somewhere. But there’s going to be \*lots \*of shared … erm … idiosyncracies. All the more so to the degree she and hence he were / are shut-ins. ---
**Author:** ![Quarter\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f475e1/32.png) [@Quarter\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quarter_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-a-bill-without-touching-it/791327/22 "2017-07-24T20:10:36Z")
I got the same result with Googling…nil. I’m interested in the Roma theory though. I can’t remember the name of the family, my husband told me but I’m getting old. I asked because I thought it might be a Japanese custom. Their name was definitely not oriental but may well be Romanian. In fact, I have a Romanian friend, I’ll have to ask her. My husband didn’t throw out the notion that it may be a germ phobia but he felt it was more of a custom since the germ thing manifests in many other ways that he didn’t pick up on. It should be noted that we have dealt with this family a long time and the transactions have been check, cash and a combination of both. Thanks for the insights. If I get more info, I’l have an update. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-a-bill-without-touching-it/791327/23 "2017-07-24T22:17:28Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Just kidding. McDonalds is the only restaurant I go to. And yesterday, they were using pencils and paper to compute the bill, as the computer system was down. Now you are joking. The staff I meet have enough trouble with pessing little icons on a screen. Adding up a bill by hand would be quite beyond them. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-a-bill-without-touching-it/791327/24 "2017-07-24T22:31:02Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Now you are joking. The staff I meet have enough trouble with pessing little icons on a screen. Adding up a bill by hand would be quite beyond them. I’m sure our crew had special training. Like a 2nd grade refresher course. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-a-bill-without-touching-it/791327/25 "2017-07-25T01:05:30Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Now you are joking. The staff I meet have enough trouble with pessing little icons on a screen. Adding up a bill by hand would be quite beyond them. I would hope the staff pesses in the restroom. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-a-bill-without-touching-it/791327/26 "2017-07-25T01:10:45Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > This sort of thing is fairly common in some contexts in Japan. Even the most informal store will hand you your change in a little tray instead of putting it directly into your hands. … [Here’s an article](http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/05/23/reference/change-trays/) about this practice. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-a-bill-without-touching-it/791327/27 "2017-07-25T01:24:48Z")
It could be that the son has some sort of immune disease. If so, the mother would have been super careful not to pick up germs, and the son would be too. ---
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-a-bill-without-touching-it/791327/28 "2017-07-26T23:51:00Z")
I’m a classless doofus. Also curious, so I’d just ask the gentleman next time you see him. "Say ol’ chap, what’s with the payment in the tray? I noticed your mum did the same thing and I’ve always been curious about it. Without context, I’d guess it’s a mindless family custom. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-a-bill-without-touching-it/791327/29 "2017-07-27T12:01:25Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > It could be that the son has some sort of immune disease. If so, the mother would have been super careful not to pick up germs, and the son would be too. As I said above, someone that worried about germs (justified or not) would be unlikely to let a filthy stranger into their home in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-a-bill-without-touching-it/791327/30 "2017-07-27T13:38:47Z")
It’s not just a Japanese custom, you’ll come across it in parts of Europe as well. It was particularly noticeable in Italy, Venice in particular. I didn’t notice any of the shop assistants getting upset when I handed them cash directly, I can only assume the shear number of tourists doing it means they get used to it, but they still hand change back via the tray. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-a-bill-without-touching-it/791327/31 "2017-07-27T13:59:08Z")
Also some very Orthodox Jewish men will not make physical contact with a woman. When I try to hand them the change, they usually just point to the counter, and I put it there for them to pick it up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paying-a-bill-without-touching-it/791327.md?page=1)