Restaurant Cleanliness

I love sugar lumps served with coffee in restaurants, but I notice that when I try to take one it's hard not to get your fingers on the adjoining lumps. Whatever happened to sugar tongs?

I'm sure in five-star hotels at tea-time they have elegant sugar tongs. But restaurants don't. They should put a spoon in the sugar bowl.

Why does it matter? With a member of the family having cancer treatment, and their immune system down, we are all washing our hands in gel when we are in our homes or out with the person having cancer treatment. And now even when I'm not with them, I'm thinking about the dangers.

It's a matter of life and death. Am I exaggerating? No. 

This week, a member of my family logged on to Channel News Asia. If you want news from Singapore you could log onto Channel News Asia or The Straits Times. The big story was the death of a banker who had leukaemia. He was on cycle two of the six or eight cycles of treatment and got the dreaded high temperature. This signals that the body has an infection it can't fight. The immune system is down because of the treatment. 

You are told to get to hospital within an hour. No messing about at A & E. The cancer ward admits you straight away. If you are living at home or away on business you must be within an hour of the nearest hospital with a cancer centre. (You carry your pills and medical your records with you.) 

The man who died was only in his forties. He was a banker. All his money could not save him.

So I look very carefully at restaurant hygiene.