I must have some sort of disease.

Really, I must. Me and my consumer brethren. At least, that’s how I feel when my products are scanned by register jockeys wearing surgical gloves.

I just don’t understand this phenomenon. If they are sick, and the gloves (often filthy from touching money all day) are an attempt to keep me from getting ill, well I would just prefer they stay home lest they sneeze.

If they’re worried about getting sick from their consumers… Well I have a problem with that. When you enter any industry that has extensive contact with people, have kids, or leave your house, you accept the risk of getting sick on occasion. It’s just life. I have never had the secretary at a hospital or clinic greet me while wearing surgical gloves. What makes these people, who have less contact with sick people, feel they need to “protect themselves” from the rest of the human race?

However, my point isn’t that these people are illogical (tangent!). It’s that the companies who, through allowing this phenomenon, are seeming perfectly ok with letting their employees treat their customers like leapers. Your customers should be your friends, your fans… your advocates. And they should be treated as accordingly, not like disease-addled outcasts.