Touchy question about screens

Post date: 2021-03-03 05:44:12

I cannot stand it when someone touches my computer monitor. In a time where nearly everything is a touchscreen (NOT my monitor though!) am I justified in still being frustrated that people poke at the screen? How can I politely signal to people to keep their greasy fingers off my monitor?

I'm having a bit of an "Am I the asshole?" moment today, after snapping at someone who repeatedly poked at my monitor (it is not a touchscreen and the person touching it knows damn well it is not a touchscreen). It makes me deeply uncomfortable to see people physically touching the screen when pointing at it. I also feel a bit like an ass if I try to intervene (and it is VERY hard not to react by cringing or giving the side-eye!) but the second the finger approaches my monitor I'm inwardly freaking out. Back in the CRT days the worst outcome was fingerprints on the screen. LCDs can be hard to clean, and even glossy coated screens can be damaged by using the wrong cleaning agents, so getting the fingerprints off the screen is not necessarily trivial. I literally keep a microfiber cloth right next to my computer so that I can immediately clean it after an offender has poked at it.

However - touchscreens are everywhere these days. People are being trained to touch screens every time we use our phones or tablets (and while I do clean both regularly, fingerprints on the phone/tablet don't trigger the same freakout as smudges on my monitor).

Is not wanting fingerprints all over my computer MY problem, or is this a case of me being unreasonable?

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