Say It, Don't Spray It

Spist - a combination of spitting and spraying a fine mist on something when sneezing or coughing.

I was at the grocery store yesterday and passed one of their employees stocking fruit. I watched as this woman sneezed right onto the fruit. Didn't even cover her mouth or anything.

After she left to go stock something else, I walked over there and noticed that there was a thin layer of something on the fruit. It was mist from her spit, which I have named Spist.

This reminded me of how people at my store turn their head to sneeze all the time. If their hands are full and the sneeze is coming on, many will just turn their head to sneeze and not cover their mouth at all. They won't even use their arm to cover up their sneeze. Which means everything to the right or left of them will get sprayed with Spist.

Now, this is WAY better than sneezing on me, which people do all the time, but still. People don't know what their touching in the store and who has recently sneezed or coughed on what.

We clean the store everyday, but no one thinks to wipe down the Tic-Tacs or packages of gum. All of those contain Spist.

If you happen to pick up something in the store, it's probably wise to wash your hands immediately. Spist can contain many things, most of the time it's phlegm with bits of throat skin in it. Do you really want to be touching throat skin?

So the next time you go shopping, it would probably be best to pick the item that's all the way in the back. That way you're probably safe from flying Spist.