A Tip for Travelers: Never Trust the Glassware

"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck) 03/28/2019 at 14:29 • Filed to: None

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I was reminded of this today when I needed a drink of water but all of my paper cups had been used for coffee or tea. This isn’t normally an issue because I don’t normally use the paper cups for brewing, instead I use the little one-serving coffee maker to heat the water into a paper cup and pour it into my stainless steel insulated cup where I brew the tea . On the rare occasion I decide to make coffee in my room, I use the coffee maker as intended. However, I was without my stainless cup this week.

The one thing I never do is drink from the glassware. Why? It’s not to be trusted:

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I first saw these years ago and was so disgusted that the message stuck with me. It’s part of the reason I travel with my own cup. When I realized I didn’t have my cup with me this week, I found a housekeeper and asked for a supply of extra paper cups. Problem solved.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/28/2019 at 14:32

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I don’t stress it, it keeps my immune system on point.

VincentMalamute-Kim > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/28/2019 at 14:37

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Downside of too much knowledge. I’m not reading your links - problem solved.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 03/28/2019 at 14:37

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whatever doesnt kill you makes you stronger

VincentMalamute-Kim > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 03/28/2019 at 14:39

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Yup. Busy immune system here. I save a lot of time by not cleaning.

Chariotoflove > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/28/2019 at 14:39

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Do you realize how harsh those toilet cleaning solutions are on bacteria and fungi?  I’m not gonna worry about it.

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero 03/28/2019 at 14:43

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yes, just like saiyans

TheRealBicycleBuck > Chariotoflove 03/28/2019 at 14:43

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Two issues with this: first, I don’t want to be consuming toilet cleaning residuals from the glassware; and second, you assume they used a toilet cleaning solution in the first place.

random001 > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/28/2019 at 14:43

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Only use the glassware when you are pouring from the minibar, right?

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > VincentMalamute-Kim 03/28/2019 at 14:44

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My immune system is too strong . It needs something to do other than annoy me.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero 03/28/2019 at 14:45

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I gave up on that line of thinking years ago. Whatever doesn’t kill you immediately usually  leaves something behind that will kill you eventually.

Chariotoflove > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/28/2019 at 14:48

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Quit poking holes in my blinders, dude. Next you’ll have me wondering whether they was the sheets with detergent.

...Aw,  dammit!

Arrivederci > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/28/2019 at 14:50

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If it’s a luxury hotel, I usually just swing by the restaurant and grab a couple glasses from them, that way you know they’ve been properly washed.  

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/28/2019 at 14:51

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I know things of hotel rooms that you don’t want to know.  Far worse than this.

TheRealBicycleBuck > random001 03/28/2019 at 14:52

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Only if what you are pouring is 140 proof. Otherwise, it won’t efficiently kill any bacteria coming from the toilet brush. That still doesn’t protect you from the chemical residuals that might be on the brush.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Chariotoflove 03/28/2019 at 14:56

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Go, go, Gadget Blinders!

TheRealBicycleBuck > Arrivederci 03/28/2019 at 14:58

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Brilliant!

TheRealBicycleBuck > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 03/28/2019 at 14:58

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Oh, now I want to know!

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/28/2019 at 15:03

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Mostly fluid related if you know what I mean. All fluids, everywhere and in every thing.

Let’s just say, I never use the coffee makers.

TheRealBicycleBuck > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 03/28/2019 at 15:07

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OH NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

*pours tea down the drain*

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/28/2019 at 15:25

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If that was true, we’d all be dead from eating dirt as children.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 03/28/2019 at 15:36

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I object to the “whatever” part. Some things that don’t kill you immediately make you stronger in the long run. Other things that don’t kill you immediately will shorten your lifespan.

For example, n obody in their right mind will argue that smoking will make you stronger.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/28/2019 at 15:58

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What about the bathrobe? I used the one in my last hotel, it was actually nice to have a bathrobe but do they just hang them back up waiting for the next hairy fat guy or what?

random001 > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/28/2019 at 16:04

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Maybe not, but if you do it enough, you stop caring....

Thomas Donohue > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 03/28/2019 at 16:09

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ditto. if anything I wash out the glasses and clean anything I touch   with Lysol wet wipes.

The coffee maker? Never! Go and get coffee in a paper cup. And never take the top cup, OR the top lid. Everyone has touched or sneezed on them already.

Honeybunchesofgoats > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/28/2019 at 16:22

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One time I was on a survey and developed open blisters all over my feet. Then I fell into a sewage ditch and broke my ankle. Then I spent the next two weeks limping, chugging antibiotics, and wondering if my foot was going to rot off.

I’m not saying that you people need to drink toilet brush coffee, I’m just saying that I can personally deal  with the possibility.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/28/2019 at 16:27

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Point taken. I did assume sampsonite24 was referring to microbes, as I was referring to microbes in my comment. Covering everything, there are even things that won’t shorten your lifespan but will make it less enjoyable to live after encountering them.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 03/28/2019 at 16:34

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Dammit, packing a sleeping bag was hard enough for hotel stays...now I gotta take a jetboil too? Might as well take the entire camping box and set up the tent in there.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Thomas Donohue 03/28/2019 at 16:35

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My wife is a hella germaphobe. Watching her shuffle around in slippers lysoling the whole place is nuts.

I just avoid the major ...bodily fluid disposal sites.

404 - User No Longer Available > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 03/28/2019 at 18:15

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So it looks like a Jackson Pollock painting in there.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > 404 - User No Longer Available 03/28/2019 at 18:18

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yeap

facw > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/28/2019 at 18:48

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When I stayed at the Cosmopolitan in Vegas I complained about dirty glasses in the room. They sent a housekeeper up who proceeded to just wipe them down with a filthy rag that shed material all over them. I went across the street and got a water bottle to drink from.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 03/28/2019 at 21:00

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I don’t use the bathrobe. When I check out, I take all of the bath linens and put them into one big pile with the towel from my morning shower on top. I hope that the cleaning staff takes the hint and puts them all into the laundry. I’ve heard of people stripping the beds too, but I haven’t gone to that effort.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Honeybunchesofgoats 03/28/2019 at 21:02

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I led my son through seven years of scouts. There’s no telling what we were exposed to over the years, but I can guarantee it wasn’t toilet brush coffee.

brianbrannon > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/28/2019 at 23:44

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I found poop in the water reservoir of a hotel coffee maker

Longtime Lurker > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/28/2019 at 23:59

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I don’t remember the last time I saw actual glassware in a hotel suite.

TheRealBicycleBuck > brianbrannon 03/29/2019 at 00:49

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OMG, NOOOO!

They made fun of me for bringing a hot glue gun along during my last trip (I was working on a project). Now I need to bring my own coffee maker.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 03/29/2019 at 20:50

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Recommended by science:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110602162820.htm

Never mind the part about clostridium spores in the dirt

VincentMalamute-Kim > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/29/2019 at 20:50

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Recommended by science :

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110602162820.htm

Never mind the part about clostridium spores in the dirt

TheRealBicycleBuck > VincentMalamute-Kim 03/29/2019 at 20:58

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And it says nothing about drinking toilet-brush coffee....

Nauraushaun > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/30/2019 at 21:15

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I’m not changing my life for the deeds of one hotel. You can't control the world in the end

TheRealBicycleBuck > Nauraushaun 03/30/2019 at 21:47

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Interesting perspective. My exposure is probably a lot higher than yours, so it’s something that’s a lot more likely to affect me than you. I spent at least  45 of the last 52 weeks in a hotel. Granted, I stay at least a week at a time, so that’s about 45 separate possible exposures to toilet water coffee in the last year alone.

Nauraushaun > TheRealBicycleBuck 03/31/2019 at 19:26

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That’s fair enough. I’d be more concerned about the state of the seats and hand rails and whatnot on the public transport I use. Or money, which is guaranteed to be covered in bodily fluids.

But I just try not to think about it.