Why Bother?

[Xobeloot]

So I met up with mom tonight for some dinner. Prior to eating, we both went to the restroom and washed our hands. After that, we proceeded to get our food and that is when it came to me...



Whats the point of washing your hands prior to eating a burger in a restaurant? I mean think about it... What do we all do? We grab the Katsup, mustard, whatever...

What we dont see:


The last person sitting at that table had an uncurable anal fungus and was picking his ass furiously... Oh yeah, he used the the old Heinz 57 too!

Before him, a mother with 3 small kids that were playing on the floor all used it too.

Need salt and pepper?

The last person that touched the shakers had ebola.

So, again I repeat my question: Why bother?

[Craig de Tering]

May I?
I wouldn't mind either way.

My mom (almost) always told me to wash my hands before a meal. On the other hand (no pun here), modern science has shown us that "total cleanliness" leads to more sickness because our bodies are actually MADE to live alongside with bacteria (and perhaps also assorted viruses?).

Humanity has been around for thousands of years before doctors told us "some tiny things" are bad for us.
Too much "clean" equals becoming sick.
I'll take my chances with the bacs. Momma Nature rules.

[edit]
As a side note; I've been to Savannah....nothing much to tell except we got royally lost somewhere and had to ask directions in a Wal-Mart parking lot while looking for our hotel which was at the river (Holiday Inn?).

[chainsnuser]

First, if at all, I wash my hands after the meal. To wash the hands before a meal is not part of the culture here, as long as they are not totally smudgy, of course.

Second, yeah Craig, humans have been around for millions of years, but the 6 billions that are living today are to a great extent due to modern sanitation. Besides of that, everytime I see a commercial for some cleaning agent, that promises 100% cleanliness and germ-extinction, I get the horror! Most germs around are indeed not dangerous but vital for our health. Total cleanliness has nothing lost outside of an operating room.

Cheers!

[Latina]

Interesting thread… I think beyond what is (or not) the best in hygiene habits there’s really a cultural matter working there. Like in south America, for example, there’s a less obsession with germs.
Due to work or personal relationships I’m always close to north Americans (USA and Canada) and sometimes also Europeans, and the north Americans that I met tends to get surprised on the fact that we share beverages (like the mate for example, everybody sip from the same straw sharing saliva without any concern) or the kissing habits (yeah, saying Hi! Is always with a kiss around here..).
For some reason, people here thinks that what gets you sick is not the exposition to germs or viruses (like the flu) but the lack of high enough defenses to fight them back. But with the new anti bacterial products arriving along with other trends, things are also starting to change here in the south.
Good hygiene habits are very very important, but the obsession with what we cannot see (like bacteria, germs, viruses, etc) can be eloquent on what is going on with us as a society. Being paranoid with the possible “attack by the invisible world”, the OCD epidemic, and an increasing difficulty of relating with others.. that’s another thing.

[Starcadia]

I don't really know too much about various bacteria, germs, etc., but I do know, as has been stated already, that we've been living symbiotically with the little creatures for a long, long time. And I don't think people realize what sort of diverse jungle we have living on our skin and inside our organs on a regular basis. Therefore it only makes sense to attempt to live as harmoniously as possible, since we too are, I feel, microorganisms existing on a much larger organism.

But yeah, it seems sensible among civilized company to hose the mud off before gathering to eat.

[TropicalBob]

Xobeloot, you've got a point. You are talking, after all, about transmissible diseases. The most common route is with coins. You pay, you get change, you get germs all over those pennies and dimes. Better go wash up. Course, some pay AFTER the meal. Fine, then what do we do? Reach for a snus and use our bare hands to stuff it into our mouth. Smart, huh?

And then there's this: Next time you're in a restaurant's restroom, notice how many don't wash their hands. You hear the noises, you see them leave the stall and rush to the door. Now ... you ... fastidious and aware, know better. You wash your hands. You dry your hands. You walk to door .. and grab the same door handle Mr. Poopy just grabbed moments before.

Therefore, always keep that paper towel in your hand as you approach the exit door. Grab the handle with the towel, open the door, and drop the towel on the damn floor if the restaurant is too stupid to put a waste basket in that location.

Look around next time and see if you don't see a pile of paper towels on the floor by the door. Now you know why.

[Xobeloot]

People look at me like im crazy because i always open the restroom door with a paper towel.

I never understood why they make the doors on public restrooms push-to-enter, pull-to-leave. Life would be so much easuer if we could kick our way out of all public restrooms. No way am I going to touch that door handle... The amount of pure nastiness growing on that thing makes my stomach turn just thinking about it.

As far as living alongside of germs, I remember growing up and being a "kid". I played in the dirt, i put whatever i found in my mouth, etc... My mother was never there chasing me down with a bottle of hand sanitizer the way that mothers nowadays do with their kids.

Ever seen the George Carlin skit about germs and kids then vs now? it's hillarious.

[Xobeloot]

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[gentlemanly]

Brilliant. I was thinking of that sketch the entire time I was reading this thread.

[Zero]

^^ haha, as was I - George Carlin is a genius.

I was going to state my opinion, but George really hits the nail on the head so there's little point. The only thing I might add to it is the reason - why do people feel this paranoia about germs? The best reason I can come up with is big companies like Proctor and Gamble, whose cleaning products made them a fortune of a business empire. Medical science showed that bacteria and viruses cause infections and the corporate world rallied to provide a solution to this "problem" - one you could buy and had to use liberally three times a day : antibacterial soap. What a huge market!

If you can't find a problem to solve, make up a non-problem and convince people that they need your solution for it. Brilliant.

Personally, my mum told me to wash my hands before every meal too. She still does when I'm around to visit, and she even carries around this liquid antiseptic stuff for "emergencies" when she needs to eat something but isn't around a sink :? I think I've done enough teasing about it that she's finally stopped offering the stuff to me every time she takes it out :lol:

At any rate, the only time I'll really wash my hands before eating is when I'm eating stuff like Indian food where you're eating with your hands and getting right into the mess of it with your digits. Otherwise, I just sort of expect that the cutlery is of a non-toxic standard of general fine-ness and have at it - and I very, very rarely get sick.

[RealmofOpeth]

I'm a hand-washing freak. however, i am also aware of what many aren't. the stuff that people touch jumps out at me...i mean it's not like a paranoid thing but i try not to use publicly touched items in a manner that is going to be followed by putting it in my mouth, or if it follows immediately after washing my hands.
i live like a slob for the most part, but i don't have any food or nasty liquids smeared on stuff. just clothes everywhere and junk of various types.
i also don't care if i touch a lot of dirty things, i can stand it. but so long as it's partitioned with washing before i touch things that go in my mouth. that's just how i am, it comes natural.
however, i don't take showers every single day like a lot of people. sometimes i'll go a couple days without one and still be not bad. i tell people that and they give a weird look, but they don't realize how well i manage my hand hygeine, which is where it matters. i think what carlin says and the idea we're better immune if we're not so critical about being so clean has truth to it, however, i'm not really interested in catching a deadly virus or otherwise becoming ill just to teach the immune system.
i think moderation is key, and not touching public items right after you wash your hands is just good sense..otherwise yes it is pointless if you're not going to care.

[yummi4tunekookie]

Awesome skit. I'm pretty much a freakishly disgusting slob with the same unsanitary habits that Carlin claims to have. When my friends recoil at the sight of me eating food I've dropped, I give them the same argument about my immune system. And honestly, I rarely ever get sick. I do, however, wash my hands after I shit, and I shower daily. Then again, if I'm hungry enough at work, and someone in the back room throws away an unfinished slice of pizza/leftover chicken nuggets/etc., I pick it right out and eat it. You should see the reactions I get from that!

Yeah, I was taught to wash my hands before each meal, and to wash them after using the restroom. But that crap got old real quick. Urine's pretty sanitary, and it's not like I have a disgusting crotchal-area with dirty, sagging vulva. *cough*

I'm gross.

[Stargazer]

when you live like I do, in a barracks whit a lot of other people, you suddenly understand why washing and cleanliness is important.

if people get loosy goosey whit the wash, people get sick quicker than you
can say diarea. it's not all a sales ploy to get you to use your hard earned buck. but buying the antibacterial stuff is a waste of money.
you get a small fraction cleaner, but on the other hand you are helping building up the bacterias resistanse to drugs.

[Subtilo]

^ You're right, Stargazer. I remember when I served in the Royal Guard; man, living in barracks and sharing room + toilet facilities with five others could REALLY get ugly :shock:

[Xobeloot]

^ You're right, Stargazer. I remember when I served in the Royal Guard; man, living in barracks and sharing room + toilet facilities with five others could REALLY get ugly :shock:

My last year at university of tampa, I lived in a 4 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment with my girlfriend and 3 other chicks... (plus the boyfriends of two of them and the third ones girlfriend in regularly).

DO NOT ever listen to women when they say that men are the nasty ones in the bathroom. This place was the reason that antibacterial spray was invented. I'd take a 5-man barrack over that any day of the week :lol: