Unhygienic Europe

Commonly observed in Europe: woman (or sometimes man) sits down at a restaurant table and casually deposits bag on the ground beside seat, down among the doggie doo and discarded chewing gun. Later picks up bag and places it on lap to get something out. Subsequently rests hands on lap before eating with same hands.


I hope I'm not being racist here, just making a cultural observation, but the Hong Kong way of finding a spare chair, window ledge or other relatively clean surface on which to deposit one's bag does seem considerably more hygienic. Yet if you accused the European woman of being dirty she'd probably be shocked and deny it vigorously. Every culture has its blind spots.