# A Very Un-PC Thread: The Most Unhygienic Custom You Can Think Of. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 8, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748 "2009-05-08T14:00:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748/41 "2009-05-09T15:05:00Z")
Yeah, in cultures where you wipe with your hand, you don’t use that hand (usually the left) to touch anything. It grosses people out bad, for obvious reasons. So it’s not like you’re going to eat dinner with the same hand you wiped with. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748/42 "2009-05-09T15:08:23Z")
Double dipping ---
**Author:** ![Telcontar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Telcontar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telcontar)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748/43 "2009-05-09T15:10:44Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Sex? > [@EpicNonsense](#): > > Most times the sex isn’t all that dirty… I think you may be doing it wrong, but that’s really not my business :-P. When you think about it from purely logical perspective, sex is actually incredibly disgusting and silly, especially oral sex. Thankfully i tend to think about sex in a hormone fueled daze, which I find much more enjoyable. Oh, another church one: sharing the peace (shaking hands with all those near you). Last time i had a horrible cold i spent the entire time apologizing to people for refusing to shake. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748/44 "2009-05-09T16:20:31Z")
Shaking hands and sharing food, seriously? Bunch of Howard Hughes’ in here. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748/45 "2009-05-09T16:24:22Z")
> [@hawksgirl](#): > > Yeah, in cultures where you wipe with your hand, you don’t use that hand (usually the left) to touch anything. It can really be a bother, though, keeping it down there for 7-10 days a month. Cooking with human excrement – not a fan. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748/46 "2009-05-09T17:12:33Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > It can really be a bother, though, keeping it down there for 7-10 days a month. > > Cooking with human excrement – not a fan. Exactly. It’s a great theory that you don’t touch anything that will then touch food or mucus membranes with that hand, but somehow I doubt it’s a particularly effective strategy. If you want to do it this way and have the means to properly wash your hands with clean water, then it’s still incredibly gross in the sense that you’re touching your own excrement, which is kind of contrary to [human instinct](http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=19980201-000032&page=2) and thus really really gross. But it escalates to a whole new level when you think about those who can’t properly wash up after, and the effect that it has. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748/47 "2009-05-09T21:23:08Z")
A luxuriously american custom: People who lick their fingers to open the produce bags at the grocery store then paw over all the fruit & veggies to get just the ones they want. Every time I pick up a tomato I wonder if it has the spit of a hundred people on it. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748/48 "2009-05-10T12:20:56Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > If you want to do it this way and have the means to properly wash your hands with clean water, then it’s still incredibly gross in the sense that you’re touching your own excrement, which is kind of contrary to [human instinct](http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=19980201-000032&page=2) and thus really really gross. But it escalates to a whole new level when you think about those who can’t properly wash up after, and the effect that it has. Come off the “can’t wash up properly” angle. Generally you will always have access to a pitcher or teapot of water to pour over your hands- which is just as effective as running water. And soap is pretty much universal- you can manufacture it easily and even the poorest people in the world have it. Also, you generally aren’t doing a ton of “touching your own excrement”. First off, you’d poop squatting, which spreads the buttcheeks and leads to a cleaner poop. Then, you begin by pouring water over your left hand and directing it towards the area. This cleans most off it off. Then you might do a quick little scrub with your hand under running water. Then you wash thoroughly with running water. I’ve done it plenty and never ended up with visible poop on my hands. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748/49 "2009-05-10T12:59:47Z")
You do realise **Ninja Chick** that the “clean with hand crowd” find the whole cleaing with toilet paper disgusting. _You mean you don’t wash and dry yourself!_. One of my least favourite things about living in England is the absence of [these](http://www.burnleyplumbing.co.uk/images/bathrooms/bidet_spray/shattaf_spray.gif). ---
**Author:** ![Squeaker\_Snow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Squeaker\_Snow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squeaker_Snow)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748/50 "2009-05-10T15:24:25Z")
Giving a sip of your drink to a toddler. The slobber and the floaters in the backwash! Ewwwwww! Unless it’s booze, how can you be mean enough to say, “No” ??? And I don’t want them to grow up thinking that “Aunt SqueakerSnow” is a boozehound. ??? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748/51 "2009-05-10T15:33:35Z")
Eating a hotdog. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748/52 "2009-05-10T15:52:49Z")
So wiping with your fingers is OK, but bacon is unclean? That is some serious nuttery. ---
**Author:** ![alexandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@alexandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alexandra)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748/53 "2009-05-10T15:57:25Z")
Haven’t a lot of nonWestern cultures moved on to loofahs now? Which some argue are more sanitary in that they’re more effective. And are of course more environmentally sound than loo roll. Anyway. I’m not OCD, and someone being grossed out by the idea of shaking someone’s hand makes me :rolleyes: though less so at this moment in time, but the handling of coins is, if I think about it too much, rather horrible to me for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748/54 "2009-05-10T16:03:21Z")
Think of all of the places one dollar bills have been-YUM! ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748/55 "2009-05-10T16:33:55Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > You do realise **Ninja Chick** that the “clean with hand crowd” find the whole cleaing with toilet paper disgusting. _You mean you don’t wash and dry yourself!_. > > One of my least favourite things about living in England is the absence of [these](http://www.burnleyplumbing.co.uk/images/bathrooms/bidet_spray/shattaf_spray.gif). I encountered those in India but preferred [these built-in bidets in Egypt.](http://www.artistic-license-inc.com/b2b/pics/Toilets_With_Built_In_Bidet.jpg) I’ve eaten at some unhygienic restaurants around the world, but somehow they’re more palatable than Old Country Buffet. The one near our house has had some quite unappetizing actions amongst its patrons. The last time was a man who used his hands to pick up salad and the other guy with the drooling problem. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748/56 "2009-05-10T19:54:36Z")
> [@Doody\_Pants](#): > > I hate eating at other people’s houses for the first time because I’m afraid that the food will be put on the table without a serving fork, and then it will be a free for all with everyone using their own forks to serve themselves. That’s fine when all the forks are clean, but not so cool once they have been used to eat. If that’s what you want to do at home with your family, that’s fine. Please have serving utensils available when there are guests. Thank you. > > In the same vein, it grosses me out to see a bunch of people all eating out of one communal bowl. I was just watching an episode of Bizarre Foods where the host was in Ethiopia and lunch was something that looked like diarrhea on tortillas and they were all eating from the same platter. It didn’t help that he described some of the food as “rank” and difficult to eat because it tasted like it had been out in the sun for a couple of days. The horrible things Zimmern eats grosses me out. he ate fish heads that are buried in the ground until they reach the proper state of rot. He eats such disgusting things that sharing a bowl is the least horrible part of it. ---
**Author:** ![santosvega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@santosvega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/santosvega)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748/57 "2009-05-10T20:22:41Z")
Yeah, there seems to be a lot of germophobia in this thread. Not saying it’s entirely unreasonable, but if a handshake is the most unhygienic custom you can think of you need to hit the books. The Aghori in India pull dead bodies out of the Ganges and eat them! Raw! ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748/58 "2009-05-10T20:36:22Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > The horrible things Zimmern eats grosses me out. he ate fish heads that are buried in the ground until they reach the proper state of rot. Ever use Worcestershire Sauce? Fermented anchovies, among other things. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748/59 "2009-05-11T01:14:41Z")
Cow Dung Husbandry for the Curious: Sorry it took so long-I had to sort of ask my father in a subtle way because he’d be pretty pissed if he thought I was sitting around trying to mock poor Indian people/our culture on the internet (this is not my intent, btw). Anyway, 1. You use cowdung fresh everyday. Usually people owned a cow but if you didn’t own a cow either you snagged some off the street\* or you had a cow dung contractor. 2. As a cleaning agent A. Once you receive the cow dung fresh you bake it in a coal oven and turn into a “biscuit” of sorts (not a cookie, my father speaks England english). At some point it burns into activated carbon (I don’t know what inactive carbon is but that’s the word he used). They crumble the carbon and use it either as toothpaste or reserve it for things that needed very deep cleaning/extra abrasion (I’m guessing rust off metals??). B. The Kitchen Cleaning Issue: they do not swab down the counters with shit. My father also pointed out that it’s not like they even have too much counterspace and asked me if I’d forgotten that we didn’t even have running water at my mother’s house until the 90s (dudes, you have no idea how labour intensive it is to bathe but they are the most awesome baths ever). Once they decide that they’ve produced enough of the activated carbon they let the rest of the dung burn into ashes and they use these ashes to scrub out pots and pans. 1. Floors: they used the cow dung to create an antiseptic slurry to pack mud floors. This was apparently before cementing the floors became common in India. They would take fresh dung, mix it with water and create a slurry and spread it thinly over the mud floors. It would dry, the smell would vanish and they would have hardpacked floors (otherwise apparently the mud flakes off after a while). I asked my dad if they weren’t afraid of germs/parasites but he says that everyone believes that cow dung has either antimicrobial/antiseptic qualities and that the slurry is known to keep insects off which is why they use it. 2. You can burn it. However, he said that once they figured out gober gas (fermented cow dung natural gas) that the practice of burning it died out because fermenting it was a more efficient way of using it for energy. He ended the whole thing with “and there are at least 10 more uses but I’ve since forgotten them.” So there you go. \*Of note-in first year property law you actually do read an early common law case about property ownership in the dung of a cow that ambles the streets. I suspect cow dung husbandry went on in the USA a long time ago too. I also mentioned this case to my father and he started snickering because it’s the same principal in India-if you’re snagging the dung off the streets it does belong to the owner of the cow and you’re thieving. ---
**Author:** ![LunarPlexus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@LunarPlexus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LunarPlexus)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748/60 "2009-05-11T03:26:46Z")
> [@anu-la1979](#): > > Cow Dung Husbandry for the Curious: > … Are you bullshitting us? 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-un-pc-thread-the-most-unhygienic-custom-you-can-think-of/495748.md?page=4)