a new low

[christopher575]

IMAGE_01790.jpg, originally uploaded by christopher575.

It's no secret that I'm really sick of germphobes who think they need a layer of armor between themselves and basically anything that's ever been touched, and would happily breathe Purell if it came in a mist form. I'm already really tired of the way every bathroom has to have an extra trash can by the door because heaven forbid anyone have to touch a handle. But this is really ridiculous.

You dropped the towel outside the bathroom somehow and can't be arsed to pick it up? Oh no! You might touch the DIRTY side. Fuck you.

And no, I didn't just take a picture of this so I could make fun of him. I picked it up and threw it away.

Comments

[skiplogic.livejournal.com]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kfo/53794512/in/set-72157594145029577/

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

I thought of that when I saw this today but I couldn't remember who took that picture and I was actually thinking chunter.

[badrobot68.livejournal.com]

I hope you used soap and water after touching that!

Remember the pic I posted a while back of the tissue that someone left right there ON the doorknob because they could not bear to toss it in the trash can?

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

I do remember. Idiots.

[badrobot68.livejournal.com]

I looked for it on Flickr, but apparently I did not tag it or put it into my "phone post" set. Ah well.

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

You know you can set it up so the ones you send in from your phone are automatically tagged, right?

[badrobot68.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they all say "phone post", and I have about 30000000 of them.

And of course, since I'm obsessive/compulsive, I had to find it.

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/evilrobot6/2803305927/)

[moonrock.livejournal.com]

and being a crazy germophobe and using antibacterial everything all day just makes you have no ducking immune system so when you DO come into contact with germs you WILL get sick. Congrats!!! Dumbasses.

[nicolemarieh.livejournal.com]

i dont understand whats wrong with using a towel to open a bathroom door. so many people dont wash their hands and that is the number one way that sicknesses like colds are transmitted. i touch my eyes and mouth a lot. if i open a bathroom door with my hand then go to get something out of my teeth, i just introduced a ton of germs that my system isnt used to. if people washed their hands i wouldnt not touch the handle, but they dont.

i do always throw the towel away though, oftentimes carrying it in my pocket or purse because there isnt a trash can there. so i completely agree someone is a lazy ass for that. but i dont see why anyone would really WANT to touch a bathroom handle that has been handled by so many unwashed hands right after using the toilet.

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

It's really anecdotal, but honestly the sickliest people I've known are the ones who worry too much about germs and go to such great lengths to avoid them. If you live in a world that's too sterile, you just aren't ready for daily contact what's going around out there.

[nicolemarieh.livejournal.com]

yes, that is anecdotal. im not talking about people that want to disinfect everything around them. im talking basic hygiene here. washing your hands is absolutely a basic hygiene step, just like showering and brushing your teeth. if you are equating that with those who actively avoid things they think arent sterile or something like that then im at a loss to understand.

public health offices bend over backwards to say handwash handwash handwash, its the number one way to stop sickness dead in their track, so i'd have to think theres at least SOME truth to that. further, the argument that people who dont want to touch door handles get sick more often is a complete joke and not even logical. washing hands doesnt really kill anything (doesnt sterilize), it just greatly reduces the number of possibly harmful bacteria. its just plain soap and water, not bleach. it does not affect your immune system the way that say, using antibacterial on everything does. people should not draw the line at handwashing, they should draw the line at antibacterials.

i'm sure you know that some of the biggest reasons our society is so much healthier these days is due to the advent of indoor plumbing, as well as the emphasis on handwashing. before, all kinds of nasties were passed around.

there have been countless cases of people getting sick in restaurants because employees didnt wash their hands after using the restroom, and then touched their food. many cases of e. coli were caused by poor bathroom hygiene spreading the disease. those direct connections are facts, and that is why i avoid touching the bathroom handle. i dont consider myself some crazy handwashing nazi, but these are all basic facts and honestly i am completely confused at how anyone could dispute them or why they would even want to.

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

Do you use a towel to turn off the faucet? It should actually be dirtier than the door because all the people who wash their hands turn the water on with dirty hands.

[nicolemarieh.livejournal.com]

yeah, i wash my hands then dry them with a paper towel, turn off the faucet with the towel and then open the door with it, just like i was taught to. if there arent paper towels i turn it off with my forearm/elbow/whatev and then usually open it with my shirt sleeve. im not paranoid about it though and sometimes do open the door without a towel, like if im headed home or something (rather then back to a table to eat/drink). maybe i just worked in restaurants for too long and have it ingrained in me. plus im a nail biter (which yes is a nasty habit in itself) so i think that makes me extra concious to try to keep my hands clean, since my fingers are always in my mouth. :p

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

Speaking of nails, I clipped mine hours ago and just found one of the clippings in my chest hair. Ha!

[nicolemarieh.livejournal.com]

a lot of people are grossed out by nail clippings: on desks, bus seats, etc. my roommate is, jameth is. nail clippings dont bother me at all, but i think bathroom handles are much ickier, just for the sheer number of hands that touch them and where those hands have been recently. i read a study that they tested office workers desks and phones and they contained much more fecal matter then the toilets, because the bathrooms are cleaned whereas the employees space isnt. thankfully you wont usually get sick from your own germies, so maybe just wash your hands after using someone elses desk :D

[paterson-si.livejournal.com]

This habit still didn't completely make it to our shores. Luckily. :)

[sgtred.livejournal.com]

This puts me in the way back machine, back to junior high or high school science class. We were each given a petri dish and swab and were allowed to run amok in the school to find something that could be swabbed and put in the petri. The only rule: each person had to have a different source. Some swabbed locker handles, a persons hand, toilet seats, one dude coughed directly into the petri dish. Me, I did the door handle of the science room itself.

The results were surprising. Of course, the dude who coughed into the petri dish had quite a jungle growing in it by the end of the day, after a couple days it over grew the petri dish and started to infect others close by.

Basically, any object that had a smooth surface and lots of use (door knobs, etc.) barely grew anything in the dish. Objects that are soft, porous and moist were... disgusting.

Moral of the story: the towel is much worse than the door knob. And, cover your coughs, but NOT into your hands.

"The Germies Are Gonna Get You !!"

[liquid-wayno.livejournal.com]

I'm with you - it seems the germaphobes are the biggest hypochondriacs, anyway. Not to mention, the ones who are always sick or complaining that they fee 'under the weather'. *rolls eyes*

"cover your coughs, but NOT into your hands"

Lately I have been in the habit of coughing/sneezing into the crook of my elbow, to prevent the spread of (whatever)