Hello.
I'm reasonably sure I'm blowing all this out of proportion but haven't been able to get this thought out of my head for the past 4 days now and, honestly, am freaking out a little bit about it... I don't feel like doing anything and all my time is spent wondering if I could have gotten it, looking in the mirror for any signs, etc.
In short I'm wondering what my chances are that I could have/get herpes the way outlined below.
On Wednesday night, on my way home from visiting a friend I stopped at a gas station to get a pack of cigarettes (I know, disgusting habit and while I have been trying to quit for some time now I have finally told myself once and for all this is it, no more, never again). When I went in to buy them from the clerk he was busy helping another gentleman out so I patiently waited until it was my turn. Upon getting to the front of the line I asked for my pack, paid and as I was getting my change I noticed the gentleman working behind the counter had what appeared to be a herpes sore that was in the process of healing up (all red, like new skin... Not the actual blister or the crust like you see in pictures). I thought about this as I walked out and thought "I didn't touch him, he didn't touch me, I didn't see any oozing or anything, I'm safe" but to be on the safe side I went and removed on the plastic wrapping on the entire package and threw it out. I got in the car and moved it out of the way, touching the leather steering wheel and gear shift in the process, then remembered that I forgot to use the hand sanitizer that I always have with me. I stopped the car and I used it, putting a generous amount on my hands and rubbing it all in until it was gone and off I went (for years now, due to the nature of my job I've been carrying around hand sanitizer and use it often). Later on as I was driving home I decided I want a cigarette, maybe 5 minutes after all of this, so I grabbed the pack and had one. It wasn't until I was almost home and had already had a few that it occurred to me that I could have transferred the virus to my gear shift, steering wheel or even the outside of the cigarette package which caused me to freak out even more. Immediately I got home and started searching, trying to find answers and that lead me to even more unknowns as everything I'd read in the past had said how herpes did not live long outside of the body, how it was transferred from skin to skin contact, etc but this time I found answers about how the virus could live outside of the body for hours on various surfaces (plastic being one of them if I remember correctly).
Could I have contracted herpes? I've always tried my best in the past when having a cigarette to keep my fingers away from the filter or my face/mouth, instead holding it more on the tobacco part but as anyone who has smoked before knows the closer you get to the filter the better a chance you might touch it/your face/mouth.
As I said earlier, I've been monitoring my situation since that night (this was the night of the 24th, it's now the middle of the day on the 28th of September, almost 4 days later), far too much, but don't believe I've noticed anything. However, I also know from what I've read that from initial exposure to the signs of symptoms can be anywhere from 2 days to almost a month... If there are any symptoms at all.
I'm almost afraid to post this just in case the answer confirms my worst fear and have been toying with posting it for a day now, undecided if I want to or not.
I will say that I wish I was stronger and wish I hadn't gone in there to buy that pack of cigarettes... If I was then I wouldn't be in this situation :'(