In this age of viral videos, we at The Takeout try not to shame random citizens. It must be devastating to commit some minor food-related infraction (oooooh, you eat your pizza weird, shaaaame!), then wake up the next morning to find yourself on Reddit’s homepage. But this guy—the soup-ladling guy—is not committing a minor infraction. No, this man is creating a public health hazard. And after multiple minutes of brainstorming, we can think of no plausible reason for his behavior. So, dude, please never, ever do this again.
This video, which made the rounds on Reddit and Twitter yesterday, shows a gray-haired man in sweatpants sipping soup from the grocery store’s soup bar directly from the ladle… [pausing to catch my breath]… which he then returns to the communal pot. I did spend a few minute trying to give this man the benefit of the doubt; I did. But there is no explanation. Need to take a taste of the soup? I’m sure there are plastic spoons right there. There is no circumstance under which a person should press their lips to a communal serving utensil, full stop. He’s really relishing it too, going in for multiple slurps. [dry heave]
Do people filch olives from the salad bar? Sure. Maybe pluck a grape off a bunch in the produce section? No doubt. But those instances are less egregious in that they involve no exchange of bodily fluids.
[pausing for another round of dry heaving]
Reddit users have pointed out that this appears to be taking place in a Mariano’s, a Midwest grocery chain, judging by the store’s signage and interior. Presumably the serving ware gets washed at the end of the day, so Mariano’s customers should be safe to ladle up a cup of butternut squash soup today—if they can get past the ick factor.