bif
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Wed Jun-04-08 10:41 AM
Original message |
Do you use paper toweling to open public bathroom doors? |
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I'm not a germ freak or have OCD. But I try to use the paper toweling I dry my hand off with to open the door. Am I the only one who does this?
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Shell Beau
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Wed Jun-04-08 10:43 AM
Response to Original message |
1. If I can't kick it open or use my elbow, then I will use the paper towel |
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or my sleeve.
You just never know who didn't wash their hands and went through the door. But I guess that is true with every door out there.
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redqueen
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Wed Jun-04-08 12:16 PM
Response to Reply #1 |
23. Every door handle... elevator button... |
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vending machine button... yup.
I carry hand sanitizer in my purse.
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Shell Beau
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Wed Jun-04-08 12:22 PM
Response to Reply #23 |
28. Ooh and escalators and grocery store buggies! |
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Yuck yuck! I just see that person sneezing and then grabbing the handle!
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commander bunnypants
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Wed Jun-04-08 10:44 AM
Response to Original message |
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no cross contamination here
CB
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petronius
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Wed Jun-04-08 10:45 AM
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3. Sometimes. I often try to touch a non-typical part of the door handle, using |
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parts of my hand that are unlikely to touch my food/face. Also, I typically use hand sanitizer after leaving the bathroom...
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FloridaJudy
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Wed Jun-04-08 10:49 AM
Response to Original message |
4. Only if they open inward |
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Otherwise I just shove it open with my foot.
You can always spot the nurse in a public bathroom. She/he is the one who turns the taps off with a paper towel. What? You want me to touch the same tap I turned on with my dirty hands with my now clean ones?
No, I don't have OCD: what I have is a Master's degree in Public Health.
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raccoon
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Wed Jun-04-08 10:51 AM
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5. Yes, I do. No, you're not the only one. nt |
pitohui
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Wed Jun-04-08 10:52 AM
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6. are you serious? i've never done this or seen it done and i travel a LOT |
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you say you're not a germ freak but i honestly don't know how you could ever go anywhere if you're this fearful
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redqueen
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Wed Jun-04-08 12:20 PM
Response to Reply #6 |
25. Never known any nurses? |
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Take a microbiology course and you'll understand.
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khashka
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Wed Jun-04-08 11:06 AM
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7. I just wash my hands afterward n/t |
LanternWaste
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Wed Jun-04-08 11:11 AM
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8. Every time. And, to go you one further... |
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Every time.
And, to go you one further, I don't wash my hands in the bathroom at my office-- I wait until I return to my desk and use an anti-bacterial hand sanitizer simply because our men's room is pretty... filthy (to put it lightly).
(I worked in the medical community for six years and sat in on one too many in-services about hygiene)
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NMDemDist2
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Wed Jun-04-08 11:11 AM
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9. yes and haven't had the flu in years since I started n/t |
pitohui
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Wed Jun-04-08 11:34 AM
Response to Reply #9 |
15. i haven't had the flu in years and i certainly don't do this |
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so i don't see the connection, sorry
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kentauros
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Wed Jun-04-08 12:12 PM
Response to Reply #15 |
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The human body is quite resilient and resistent to germs. I think our society worries far too much about them, and our environment suffers even more.
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NMDemDist2
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Wed Jun-04-08 03:48 PM
Response to Reply #20 |
31. I am not a germophobe but when I worked in a large office complex |
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or public places I just don't touch the doors, especially during flu season.
before I started this habit I had the flu yearly and usually a couple colds a year. now I don't.
it's anecdotal at best, but I can only share my experience :shrug:
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fight4my3sons
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Wed Jun-04-08 11:12 AM
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Or I pull my hand inside my sleeve. Hate touching the handle on the door! ick
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La Lioness Priyanka
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Wed Jun-04-08 11:13 AM
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yellowdogintexas
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Wed Jun-04-08 04:18 PM
Response to Reply #11 |
32. me neither. I wash my hands and pull the door. |
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I am not ill very often either.
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demmiblue
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Wed Jun-04-08 11:16 AM
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but, oddly, I flush the toilet with my foot even though I wash my hands after using the bathroom.
:crazy:
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hippywife
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Wed Jun-04-08 11:31 AM
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The correct position of the trashcan in any public restroom is next to the door so this can be accomplished. Not kidding. True.
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Midlodemocrat
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Wed Jun-04-08 11:33 AM
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14. I do it. Figured that the amount of people who don't wash their |
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hands after using the bathroom is pretty big.
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Javaman
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Wed Jun-04-08 11:45 AM
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16. I witness everyday here at my work bathroom, people who refuse to wash their hands |
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after using the facilities. If I could I would wear a paper jumpsuit as well.
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Orsino
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Wed Jun-04-08 11:56 AM
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I've seen and heard too many men leaving the rest room without washing up. I ain't touchin' that handle if I can help it.
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Silver Swan
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Wed Jun-04-08 12:08 PM
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If that bathroom door handle is filthy, so is any other surface that bathroom users subsequently touch.
Face it, bacteria are everywhere. Trying to avoid them all is impossible. Besides, we coexist peacefully with most of them.
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Midlodemocrat
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Wed Jun-04-08 12:10 PM
Response to Reply #18 |
19. It's not the bacteria that bothers me. It's the leftover |
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byproducts of someone else's use of the toilet. Ick.
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Shell Beau
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Wed Jun-04-08 12:13 PM
Response to Reply #18 |
21. Urine and feces are a little nastier than most bacteria we deal with. |
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At least they are to me! :puke:
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pitohui
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Wed Jun-04-08 12:18 PM
Response to Reply #21 |
24. do you ever shake anyone's hand? |
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i don't mean to be rude, but it's a serious question
why would you ever shake anyone's hand if you felt this way?
btw, healthy urine is sterile anyway, i wish guys did more than just "shake off" after they whizzed, but i'm not their mommy and i can't control what they do -- i can only control what i do -- and i conclude that worrying about grown people not washing their hands is just harming my mental health (and wasting more trees in the case of the compulsive paper towel users) without any positive result possible
we are constantly opening other doors, shaking people's hands, trading business cards and other papers back and forth...if germs were that easy to spread, it would be hopeless if we didn't go gloved all day long
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Shell Beau
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Wed Jun-04-08 12:20 PM
Response to Reply #24 |
26. Typically I don't shake hands. But I know that we can't |
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avoid all nasty germs out there. But when you are in the bathroom and you know what we all do in there, it is easier to take that extra step to stay away from bodily fluids. And urine may be sterile but yuck!
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Silver Swan
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Wed Jun-04-08 01:47 PM
Response to Reply #21 |
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That about one-third of the dry weight of feces is bacteria? http://www.jem.org/cgi/reprint/14/4/433.pdf(Just something I once learned in a microbiology class...)
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Shell Beau
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Wed Jun-04-08 04:20 PM
Response to Reply #30 |
33. Can't say I knew that. |
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Kinda wish I still didn't know that.
:P
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redqueen
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Wed Jun-04-08 12:15 PM
Response to Original message |
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If they only have air dryers, I'll use my foot.
I've seen FAR too many nasty fuckers leave without washing their hands to be touching things willy nilly. x(
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grasswire
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Wed Jun-04-08 12:22 PM
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...and if I ever find out who is dribbling on the toilet seats....grrrrrr!
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dembotoz
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Wed Jun-04-08 12:23 PM
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29. no but i rinse it off first with my pee. |
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actually i don't but this is the longe afterall
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lutefisk
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Wed Jun-04-08 04:51 PM
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34. Absolutely. Lots of places put a garbage can outside the door for that reason.n/t |
CottonBear
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Wed Jun-04-08 04:52 PM
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35. Yes. Doorknobs and door handles in public restrooms are nasty. |
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Edited on Wed Jun-04-08 04:54 PM by CottonBear
I'm amazed at how filthy many people are.
I open the door using the towel or tissue then toss the towel or tissue into the garbage can while holding the door open with my foot.
I use hand sanitizer after every trip to a store or most any public place where I have to touch surfaces like knobs and handles and buttons.
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ForrestGump
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Wed Jun-04-08 06:29 PM
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36. Always, or some equivalent |
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(using my little finger or some other portion not likely to contact food or mucous membranes, for example). It seems handwashing in public restrooms is a lost art and I know too much about hygiene to ignore the dangers.
I broadened my suite of precautions while working in health care facilities but I've always been aware of crosscontamination and food and other hygiene. I'm very, very rigorous with cleanliness in the kitchen, too, and think a lot of people would be surprised if they were to dye some potentially nasty item and trace where the dye shows up within their kitchen.
I'm not Howard Hughes-like in my desire to minimize contact with potential pathogens, though, and it seems from responses to this thread that many here seem to think you're either incredibly uptight about cleanliness or absolutely laissez-faire. I've many times basically ignored much in the way of food hygiene and can't help but think that growing up in the great outdoors and accruing all sorts of punctures and other wounds untended by hydrogen peroxide (never used that 'til I met my American wife) or alcohol -- or anything else -- contributed to a degree of robustness that many who diligently avoid 'germs' never attain. Still, some of these microbeasties out there, lurking in hot dog packages, on restroom door handles, on money, and elsewhere, can sicken and even kill the most hardy and compromise the most intact immune system. In my job I handle a lot of money and touch and am touched by a lot of people, many of whom demonstrate execrable hygiene standards (does anyone these days at least cover their mouths and noses when they cough or sneeze?), and I just make sure I don't touch my mouth or eyes with my fingers until I've washed them thoroughly.
So, yeah, if the restroom actually does have paper towels I'll use them to both turn off the tap and to open the door. It's an easy and worthwhile way to exercise Universal Precautions in a world where a majority of idiots seem content to spread their coliform and other personal greeblies willy-nilly about the landscape.
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bigwillq
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Wed Jun-04-08 06:30 PM
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