That's a surprise to me. Having lived and travelled across Eastern, Central and Western Europe a lot I never considered vending machines gross. The first vendin

That's a surprise to me. Having lived and travelled across Eastern, Central and Western Europe a lot I never considered vending machines gross. The first vending machine I ever saw must have been a coca cola (or pepsi) vending machine in my primary school 30+ years ago. Then my high school too had a coca cola vending machine and then they were everywhere. As they became more popular I started seeing them on gas/petrol stations, rail stations and many other places. However, the kind of machines I talk about always dispense cold cans, sweets, crisps, sometimes packaged yoghurt, but never hot stuff. Any time I encounter a hot vending machine they are always within some establishment like a gas station where you're supposed to pay first, you get a cup and then you go to the vending machine. The staff of the place is responsible for keeping it clean. However in busy places sometimes there is trash around them (people dropping sugar packets on the floor etc). So perhaps you meant this kind.