# The Feared Foot Fungus Fork (Or: Carnival cruise passenger caught on video scratching her foot with a fork) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 24, 2026, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895 "2026-07-24T16:02:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895/21 "2026-07-24T20:10:24Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Second, that fork had been in thousands of mouths before it reached her foot, and yet nobody gets upset at seeing people put flatware in their mouths I recall that, when my oldest son was in high school, he did a science project culturing swabs from various places around the home. We were horrified to discover that the swabs from our mouths produced more prolific results than those from the dog’s mouth and the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895/22 "2026-07-24T20:11:35Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > I’m intrigued, how exactly is the cruise line identifying that specific fork? The matching spoon has the cereal number. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895/23 "2026-07-24T20:13:21Z")
Agreed. But, gross. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895/24 "2026-07-24T20:40:16Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Film at 11!! Voila: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mi2sUcVkm9E/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEnCOADEOgC8quKqQMb8AEB-AG-AoAC8AGKAg0IABABGIwBIFEoFTAP&rs=AOn4CLCWIJ3Cn1gwJ9npj0dY5g_DAy_fyg "Monty Python- Dirty Fork") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi2sUcVkm9E) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895/25 "2026-07-25T19:00:04Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > True story. I had a SIL who would not eat off of any plates at my parents’ house because she once saw their cat eat something off of one of the plates. My SIL would bring her own plate when she visited. The serving dishes and flatware were apparently OK. I’d hate to think what would have happened if I had scratched my foot with a fork in her presence. > > We would joke about the fact that “cat spit” is apparently unremovable and impenetrable. The military should use it on their tanks, ships, and fighter jet canopies. My sister in law (wife’s sister) freaked out when she found out that the pot I was cooking spaghetti in is the same pot my wife soaks her feet in. It’s been through the dishwasher countless times, but she didn’t care. I told my wife later that we should probably never tell her that our stainless steel mixing bowl is also the “puke bowl”. 🤢 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895/26 "2026-07-25T19:47:46Z")
Y’know, I’ve never been on a cruise ship, but it occurs to me that there’s probably some way to get your meals in your own cabin, with a steward picking up the dirty dishes later. So who knows what any given fork ends up getting up to. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895/27 "2026-07-25T19:59:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Y’know, I’ve never been on a cruise ship, but it occurs to me that there’s probably some way to get your meals in your own cabin, with a steward picking up the dirty dishes later. So who knows what any given fork ends up getting up to.   Cruise ships aside, that’s true for any hotel that has room service! ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895/28 "2026-07-25T20:08:58Z")
It’s true in a home. I’ve found my good spoons in the sand box, in the flower bed that also is the lost pet burial ground. In a miracle grow box. In seed bags. In bedrooms. Under the couch. Yeah, I’m never sure what this bunch is doing with the flatware. At home. I sure hope they know better than to do it out in a public place. Gah! (Note to self: buy plastic forks to hide for personal use) ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895/29 "2026-07-25T20:10:25Z")
Forget about forks. Watch any group of humans for a while to see nose- and ear-picking, then touching stuff. Will a hotel replace every doorknob, light switch, and remote? Elrevator buttons? Obviously not. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895/30 "2026-07-25T21:02:13Z")
Yeah I know about door knobs and handles. Especially in public restrooms. I also know my own phone is germified. So yeah, I wanna hide in the closet awhile and try not to think about nasty buggaboos allover everything. Think I’ll think about eyelash mites. That usually breaks the the freak out. Arrrggghhh!! ---
**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 25, 2026, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895/31 "2026-07-25T22:45:14Z")
Given the rest of your very legit health issues that render you a tad … delicate, shall we say. The fact eyelash mites, your kids’ mistreatment of flatware, and boogers on elevator buttons haven’t killed you pretty well proves they’re harmless to you and therefore the rest of us as well. A sincere thank you for being the canary in all our coalmines there **Beck**. Job well done! 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895/32 "2026-07-25T22:52:37Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > My issue is with her doing that _in public_. And while I’m not excusing her actions, I’d like to make two points. I was hosting a Dungeons & Dragons game when one of the players took off his shoes and started clipping his toenails in the middle of the game. People are weird. > [@HeyHomie](#): > > So what say you, Dopers? Did Carnival need to retire the fork, just on the optics alone? No. Practically speaking, I’m not even sure they could have possibly tracked down that specific fork to retire it. > [@HeyHomie](#): > > But who do you think is stupid here? The woman who did the thing, or the general public for their reaction? Or both? I don’t think the woman who scratched her foot was stupid. Perhaps a little uncouth, but not stupid. Quite frankly, if you’re on a cruise ship you need to accept that you’re on a floating petri dish full of disgusting germs. I don’t condone scratching your foot with a fork, but come on, if you went in one of the hot tubs I don’t want to hear any complaints. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895/33 "2026-07-26T01:48:18Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > I had a SIL who would not eat off of any plates at my parents’ house because she once saw their cat eat something off of one of the plates. I hate to think what she would say if she saw that we let our pet rats eat off the human plates. ---
**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:** [July 26, 2026, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895/34 "2026-07-26T06:53:24Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Quite frankly, if you’re on a cruise ship you need to accept that you’re on a floating petri dish full of disgusting germs. Quite so - which is why regular alcohol consumption is recommended. You know, for medicinal purposes. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895/35 "2026-07-26T07:12:45Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I was hosting a Dungeons & Dragons game when one of the players took off his shoes and started clipping his toenails in the middle of the game. People are weird. A friend of mine used to work for a small but successful software company. Their chief software designer didn’t take off his shoes when he attended customer meetings, he just didn’t wear any. According to my friend, he would sometimes rest his bare feet up on the boardroom table for the admiration of all while he pontificated on whatever technical issue was being discussed. They couldn’t fire him because he was as brilliant as he was eccentric, and was basically the core of the whole software development organization. I’m not sure what became of him, but what I know is that in the typical style of corporatism, the company got bought out and I’m sure that the new suits in charge had no time for eccentric geniuses, so something had to give. ---
**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 26, 2026, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895/36 "2026-07-26T07:48:34Z")
It’s actually kinda worse than that. First she scratched the manky foot at length with her hand. Then she used the same hand to pick up a chicken nugget and eat it. THEN she reaches for the fork and starts going to town with that. [Watch if you dare.](https://youtu.be/RBOkDoTmW_s) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895/37 "2026-07-26T07:49:47Z")
Well, at least the passenger wasn’t using spoons! 😉 Seriously, I’m sure that Carnival Cruises is giving its PR a boost by saying, “We’ll retire that fork and destroy it,” I’m also sure that they’re throwing it in the dishwasher, and using it again. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895/38 "2026-07-26T15:15:56Z")
It’s quite possible that the towel you’re drying with has been used to dry between someone’s ass cheeks. It’s quite possible that the washrag you’re using has been used to clean shit off an a toddler who had an accident. The sheet you’re sleeping on has doubtless been ejaculated upon, menstruated upon, likely (accidentally, one hopes) defecated on. But apparently, some people, if they saw a video of a Carnival passenger using a towel to dry between his ass cheeks, would demand that that towel be retired. You’d be amazed at how hot the water is in a commercial washing machine, how powerful the chemicals used therein are, and how hot the dryer is. There’s a reason cruise lines use them. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895/39 "2026-07-26T15:39:21Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > I told my wife later that we should probably never tell her that our stainless steel mixing bowl is also the “puke bowl”. 🤢 Lol. We use a mixing bowl as a puke bowl, too. Probably a different one each time. I’ve never kept track of which bowls and pots for used for that. > [@Odesio](#): > > > [@HeyHomie](#): > > > > So what say you, Dopers? Did Carnival need to retire the fork, just on the optics alone? > > No. Practically speaking, I’m not even sure they could have possibly tracked down that specific fork to retire it. Forks are really cheap. Retiring a random fork and claiming they retired that fork was probably worth it for the optics. People get squicked out about all sorts of stupid stuff. ---
**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 26, 2026, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895/40 "2026-07-26T15:47:20Z")
Puke bowl? What about the toilet? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-feared-foot-fungus-fork-or-carnival-cruise-passenger-caught-on-video-scratching-her-foot-with-a-fork/1031895.md?page=3)