Employees Must Wash Hands

So I was at a fine dining establishment last week, (yes, I’m allowed into them and was dressed appropriately) and needed to use the rest room. Twice. Two glasses of wine, a glass of club soda and a fantastically fruity martini will do that to me (amongst other things).
 
But while I was exiting the ladies’ room upon my first visit, I noticed a very stately bronze plated sign attached to the door that enforced “Employees Must Wash Hands”.
 
And it struck me a little funny because, like I said, I wasn’t in a fast food restaurant here. I have come to expect this standard (albeit plastic) sign in fast food joints. But here, what does it say to your $400 a meal customer (I wasn’t paying) that you have to remind your servers to wash their hands?
 
And then it really hit me. For crying out loud, why do ONLY the employees have to wash their hands? Why aren’t we all expected to wash our hands? Is it because you’ll take my (friend’s) dirty, grubby non-handwashed handled money no matter what? Is it a subliminal trickery, that I might say to myself “well, I’m not an employee, but maybe I should wash my hands as well”. Are you insinuating that your employees have forgotten their manners. And this fact, you’ll blatantly share with your patrons? Is it really only enforced for employees because they might be touching my meal, plate, or wine glass leaving germs behind? But everything I touch is getting washed afterwards.
 
Or is it? Let’s say I go into the ladies room to do my ladylike business and decide that I don’t need to wash my hands (which, for the record, was not the case but we’re pretending here). And then I touch the doorknob that other dirty birdies have touched, and the arm of my chair to pull it out, and then the salt and pepper shaker…and the dessert menu….are you getting a little skeeved out yet?  And then, as I leave, I put my grubby hands in that mint bowl….choosing my mint….touching three or four before I decide on my mint. You know, there have been studies to see what is on those mints, and it’s not always sugar. It is, in fact, much, much worse. And I bet it’s not the employees touching those mints either.
 
I’m sure it’s just some silly food service law that this sign needs to be placed in the restroom. But alas, even though the restaurant is modestly not suggesting to you that you wash your hands after leaving the restroom, I implore you to do so.
 
On the second visit to the restroom, the ladies room was occupied, and the men’s room was not. Two glasses of wine, and a fantastically fruity martini told me that maybe the sign on the door that said “men” was merely a suggestion. And since it was vacant, I chose to comply with that line of tainted thought. I can assure you that despite my manners being called into question by my overactive bladder, I washed my hands on the way out because I’m a good girl who exercises clean hygiene. I never break the important rules. I swear. Everyone must wash hands. I did not take a mint.