5 Second Rule for Coffee

Is there a 5-second rule for coffee like there is for food? I mean, if coffee beans or grounds hit the floor or the sink, can you scoop them up and use them anyway? I've seen people at McDonalds pick up burger patties off the floor and put them back into the bin - hopefully they were fired soon afterwards, but I don't eat at Mc's anymore, so I don't care. I do care...I mean, it's nasty, but I encourage as many as I can to stop eating at fast food restaurants, all of them. I ask the question about coffee because I grind my own. I buy a pound a week and I seem to be using about a pound a week - just under, and there's that factor of dust coffee that lands on the counter top and in the sink, or on the floor when its early enough and my hand-to-eye coordination if off a bit. Can I just pick it using a clean paper towel and use it? Maybe use the dust that falls and throw out the dust that stays on the towel - the ultimate dirty coffee, not the slightly maybe dirty coffee that was in the middle of the mix that got wiped? I wouldn't think of using a bleach towel wipette, nor would I ask the question if I were scooping it into my maybe not washed morning hands - so the paper towel thing? Its good right? 

 Is it feasible to think that I wouldn't be serving my dirty coffee to anyone? Not likely. I have surprise guests all the time. I could get a separate little canister for the dust coffee. I could be the only one ever subjected to it - is this even a real issue? Am I really thinking about saving it? OF COURSE, I want to save it, it's coffee! I don’t buy silly cheap coffee. I buy the good stuff. Black Rifle Coffee, Peets, Caribou, maybe Kicking Horse.  Yes, I want to save it - dust or bean! I want to use it; I want to smother it in water and drink it, caress it, I want to bathe in it - not really, I said that for shock value - how are you feeling?  

Believe it or not I'm not going to tell you (I'll tell Tex if I ever meet him in person and he comes over for coffee, he deserves to know whether or not he’s drinking 3, 4, 5 second coffee and hopefully he won’t be too offended. Lord knows, I don’t need him calling me “cheeky” again.) you don’t need to know.  I won't apologize...I'm only telling Tex because he’s foreign and he may not be familiar with Oklahoma food rules.  His mom may never have told him it’s OK to dust off the candy or cookie if it only hit the ground for a second or two.  Now, back to the coffee and the rules, my cereal is suffering while I write this. It's all steel oats, so it'll be crunchy tomorrow no worries. I want more insight as to what is moral, what is ethical, what is right and proper on the coffee hitting the floor, counter top or sink issue. Feel free to write me.  

So, you know, and so you can make an informed decision, in my house the floor may be cleaner than the counter top.  My sink could be the poster child for gnarly at times, and other times smell of Clorox! The sink is out, we'll agree to that now. No cereal, spaghetti, or soy bacteria on my coffee, and certainly no bleach...but the floor? Is that so bad? FINE. I'll throw it out...no really, I swear I will. I'll be more careful when I transfer it, maybe I need a bigger grinder I don't know.... I'll throw it out now even before I take another bite of my wonderful molasse infused oatmeal. Let me go, I have to get up and grind something...something less dirty.