>>1
I'm not an American, but if the floor was just cleaned five minutes ago (and indeed truly cleaned, and not just half-assedly), then the cookies should be more than fit to consume, especially considering that the normal human hand carries a great deal more bacteria than a floor that just got cleaned. But then again I'm paranoid about touching public handles and similar with my bare hands, and I wash my hands too often. Anyway! Excessive table manners tend to be more common in the more "posh" places, regardless if it's in USA or China or whatever. Excessive rules for behaviors is generally seen as one of the primary things that distinguish humans from animals, highly elaborate table manner included. They serve to make the meal more like a ritual of sophistication. In other words: Mental masturbation over how advanced and sophisticated ("certain"?) humans are.

Pip pip, cheerio and all that. ::adjusts imaginary monocle::
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