# Stop licking your fingers! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 24, 2004, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840 "2004-02-24T05:35:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840/21 "2004-02-24T21:04:22Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I cut out the middleman and just use my tongue to turn my pages. _Note to self: Do not borrow books from **Smeghead** _ ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840/22 "2004-02-24T21:08:34Z")
Ugh. I agree. Even people who are otherwise disease-conscious slobber away when it comes to paperwork. Yecch. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840/23 "2004-02-24T21:19:25Z")
> [@gluteus maximus](#): > > Hmmmm… > > Grease is a friction-enhancing substance, eh? That’s a new one for me! Kinda knocks down all those scenes in old movies of train bandits greasing the rails. Silly. Try this: Take a dry knife and try to use it to pick up a tiny scrap of paper just by touching the knife to the paper. Assuming that doesn’t work, try smearing a bit of oil on the knife blade and then touching it to the paper. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji_Kitakyusho)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840/24 "2004-02-24T21:23:37Z")
I am also disturbed by the unsanitary nature of the practice, but I am at a loss to come up with a better solution. What do members of the anti-finger-licking crowd suggest as a method to develop sufficient friction to turn a page, when a dry finger on its own will not do it? ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840/25 "2004-02-24T22:05:58Z")
> [@Fuji Kitakyusho](#): > > I am also disturbed by the unsanitary nature of the practice, but I am at a loss to come up with a better solution. What do members of the anti-finger-licking crowd suggest as a method to develop sufficient friction to turn a page, when a dry finger on its own will not do it? Office supply stores sell fingertip moistener in a little plastic container. Costs less than a dollar. Try it today!! ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840/26 "2004-02-24T22:13:12Z")
> [@Fuji Kitakyusho](#): > > I am also disturbed by the unsanitary nature of the practice, but I am at a loss to come up with a better solution. What do members of the anti-finger-licking crowd suggest as a method to develop sufficient friction to turn a page, when a dry finger on its own will not do it? I’ve always run my finger along the tops of the pages until it “catches” on the page I want to turn. From there, I grasp it and turn it. If I’m reading a paperback, I will bend the back of the book as though to fan the pages towards the left, but fan only the one page I’m turning. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840/27 "2004-02-24T22:39:51Z")
I’m not a finger-licker, but I don’t understand what the problem is with the pratice. I mean, its not like people are hocking loogies directly onto reading material… I wonder how often the anti-finger-lickers wash their towels? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840/28 "2004-02-24T22:50:39Z")
[quote=Fuji Kitakyusho] s to come up with a better solution. What do members of the anti-finger-licking crowd suggest as a method to develop sufficient friction to turn a page, when a dry finger on its own will not do it? > [@vetbridge](#): > > Office supply stores sell fingertip moistener in a little plastic container. Costs less than a dollar. Try it today!! Or, if your office budget doesn’t leave a lot of room for consumable supplies, try one of those purpose-built soft rubber thimbles. They cost a nickel and last for _years_. As long as you can resist the urge to stick them in your nose, mouth, or ass, they usually leave the page remarkably pathogen-free. It’s a great time to be alive. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840/29 "2004-02-25T02:19:18Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Or, if your office budget doesn’t leave a lot of room for consumable supplies, try one of those purpose-built soft rubber thimbles. They cost a nickel and last for _years_. Seconded. I use mine every day. Were all these lickers and spitters born in a barn? ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840/30 "2004-02-25T02:58:59Z")
Oh for goodness sake get a handle on your cleanliness obsessive compulsive behaviours - how many people get disease from touching a previously licked book page? You’re buying into the media led mania for thinking that we have to get rid of all the germs that live in our kitchens and bathrooms with strong cleaners. If you want to build up immunities you have to live with a few germs. Now spitting!!! Don’t talk to me about spitting - I’m sure this is way more dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840/31 "2004-02-25T03:54:48Z")
That is nothing compared to people that lick that stray bit of salad dressing off their fingers in the dining hall and them proceed to use their hands to grab a sausage link. USE THE TONGS, YOU SICK FUCKS. But the absolute worst was when someone used their thumb to push the excess cream cheese off the spreader back into the communal container. I CAN’T EAT A DRY BAGEL! Never mind. It’s cool. I’ll just starve to death. ---
**Author:** ![sleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840/32 "2004-02-25T04:50:52Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I wonder how often the anti-finger-lickers wash their towels? I use a clean towel every day. The previous one goes in the wash. I don’t mind the finger-lickers too much, as long as they don’t ask me to lick their fingers because they’re low on saliva.\* \*Simpsons reference ---
**Author:** ![Jaade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@Jaade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaade)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840/33 "2004-02-25T04:53:28Z")
Ok, I’m with the germ free freaks… You cannot go around licking your hands after handling money! EWWWW. I count the cash drawer everyday as part of my job, and right after I do that, I go wash my hands. Why? I think some people have no CLUE where money has been. ~shudders~ I got a clue several years ago when my ex husband was a cab driver and another cab driver came back to the station with a story about a prostitute that he drove home who had the money to pay. Where she got it from, you don’t want to know. He actually refused the fare and told her it was a free ride. ---
**Author:** ![sleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840/34 "2004-02-25T04:57:10Z")
> [@MelCthefirst](#): > > Oh for goodness sake get a handle on your cleanliness obsessive compulsive behaviours - > > You’re buying into the media led mania I take offense at that. My OCD is purely self-imposed and totally uncontaminated by the media’s vile grasp. ---
**Author:** ![carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrot)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840/35 "2004-02-25T05:01:23Z")
> [@MelCthefirst](#): > > Now spitting!!! Don’t talk to me about spitting - I’m sure this is way more dangerous. Why? That is exactly the same stuff people are putting on books and money. Why should propelling the substance beyond the boundaries of one’s body make it worse? In the interests of full disclosure, put me on the anti-finger-licking side. Finger-licking isn’t good. > [@sleeping](#): > > My OCD is purely self-imposed and totally uncontaminated by the media’s vile grasp. “…With the media’s disgusting, saliva covered fingers…” _goes and washes self with sulfuric acid_ ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840/36 "2004-02-25T05:48:30Z")
> [@Jaade](#): > > Where she got it from, you don’t want to know. He actually refused the fare and told her it was a free ride. And I thought streetwalkers’ usage of “purse” was strictly _slang_. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840/37 "2004-02-25T09:00:12Z")
Wow, you nailed my pet peeve. My boss compulsively licks his finger _every single time_ he turns a page. I have never seen him try to turn a page without licking his finger. It’s obvious that he has no idea if he _needs_ to do it; it is simply an obsession. I am disgusted by every piece of paper he gives me, because I know it is contaminated with his saliva. We have purchased finger-moistening products for the office, but he won’t use them. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840/38 "2004-02-25T11:21:33Z")
The worst are the shop plastic-bag finger lickers. “Shall I put your food in a bag for you? Excuse me while I just spit on the bag first…” ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840/39 "2004-02-25T11:31:30Z")
> [@MelCthefirst](#): > > Oh for goodness sake get a handle on your cleanliness obsessive compulsive behaviours - how many people get disease from touching a previously licked book page? While the idea of other people’s saliva on a book is not pleasant, I’m FAR more repulsed by the thought that they’re putting their hands in their mouths after touching everything all day. I can actually start to gag if I think about it too long. DISGUSTING!! As for the solution: the fanning of pages has been mentioned if there is nothing handy, but if you’re at home or something… um… _lotion_? ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840/40 "2004-02-25T11:33:22Z")
> [@Jaade](#): > > I got a clue several years ago when my ex husband was a cab driver and another cab driver came back to the station with a story about a prostitute that he drove home who had the money to pay. Where she got it from, you don’t want to know. He actually refused the fare and told her it was a free ride. I’ve heard of strippers who will pick up folded dollars off the stage with their butt cheeks as a fun trick. _gag_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-licking-your-fingers/230840.md?page=3)