Don't like to "sign with finger"

[Anonymous]

Went shopping today, and maybe this is not new but it was new to me: had to "please sign with finger" on the checkout contraption at Nordstroms when I used my credit card. Even though I know that the old type of "signing" with that yucky pretend pen on the charge station was alway less than pristine, rubbing my finger in the little space where all other charging customers had previously done the same thing seemed so gross. Maybe I should wear gloves with that first finger pad on them from now on when I shop?

Is this just a sign of the times, and should I just not complain about yet another trivial inconvenience? Does anyone like this? Wonder if it is more or less prone to fraud....I don't know enough about it to conjecture. I can see that it does give the check out clerk more mobility, so maybe that is the advantage?

[Anonymous]

just use gloves...

don't forget to put yourself inside a bubble too.

[Anonymous]

Maybe it is capturing your fingerprint and not your signature?

[Anonymous]

Just carry one of those $1 bottles of hand sanitizer in your purse/pocket and use some after touching the pad.

[Anonymous]

If it really bothers you, you could carry your own stylus. I bought one from Amazon for (occasional) use with the ipad. I think it would work fine.

[Anonymous]

You put your hands on the shopping cart, your hands on the counter (the same one people sneeze and cough on all day), your hands on the buttons for the card reader, your hands on the pen to sign your checks for the last 30 years of your life. And THIS is what you are worried about? Do you think the germs get in deeper because your finger is sliding along the glass???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You put your hands on the shopping cart, your hands on the counter (the same one people sneeze and cough on all day), your hands on the buttons for the card reader, your hands on the pen to sign your checks for the last 30 years of your life. And THIS is what you are worried about? Do you think the germs get in deeper because your finger is sliding along the glass???

+1

[Anonymous]

Yeah and some people insist that their peas not touch their potatoes. Whatever. It freaks out OP and that must have been why the thread was started.

[Anonymous]

Pay with cash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pay with cash.

Cash is perhaps the dirtiest thing you can touch, absent swishing your hand through a toilet bowl.

OP, life's a big petrie dish. The sooner you accept it, the happier you'll be.

[Anonymous]

OP here: I don't put my hands on the shopping cart unless I have gloves on or have already wiped it off with the wipes or it's been sitting in the sun; I don't put my hands on the counter (the same one people sneeze and cough on all day); I don't put my hands on the buttons for the card reade;, I never paid with checks for the last 30 years, and I always have my pen anyway. And yes, THIS new thing is what I am worried, actually more curious, about because I read that study that one of the dirtiest things in the mall are the ATM buttons and the escalator. The germs do not get in deeper, ha, ha, but I am pretty sure that there is a much higher incidence and concentration of germs on that small ipad-like screen.

I agree that cash is pretty much the dirtiest thing you can touch; and I also agree and accept that life is a big petrie dish, but I'm not happier nor resigned about it. Isn't it weird to try to actually sign your name with your finger on that small space? So gross and childlike.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here: I don't put my hands on the shopping cart unless I have gloves on or have already wiped it off with the wipes or it's been sitting in the sun; I don't put my hands on the counter (the same one people sneeze and cough on all day); I don't put my hands on the buttons for the card reade;, I never paid with checks for the last 30 years, and I always have my pen anyway. And yes, THIS new thing is what I am worried, actually more curious, about because I read that study that one of the dirtiest things in the mall are the ATM buttons and the escalator. The germs do not get in deeper, ha, ha, but I am pretty sure that there is a much higher incidence and concentration of germs on that small ipad-like screen.

I agree that cash is pretty much the dirtiest thing you can touch; and I also agree and accept that life is a big petrie dish, but I'm not happier nor resigned about it. Isn't it weird to try to actually sign your name with your finger on that small space? So gross and childlike.

I think you need to buy yourself a big transparent bubble and live inside it. Take baths in Purell. Wear a surgical mask in the bubble. Coat everything in Clorox. I mean, what use is your immune system and acting like a normal human being? Those things are overrated.

[Anonymous]

The stylus idea is a good one, thanks.

[Anonymous]

Get pacifier wipes. They are smaller than baby wipes and have food grade cleaning agents on them. You can take one out, wipe it over the screen, sign and then discard the wipe. I think I saw them at BRU for something like $3.99 for a package of 40. You can buy them on-line in bulk (6 packets) and always keep one in your purse.

[Anonymous]

OP why not just wash your hands after touching public surfaces? That's a good practice to do anyway. I am careful about it and I very very rarely get sick.