I get around this by wrapping my hand around a paper towel. But I read somewhere that the door handle is one of the cleanest parts of the bathroom. I think it may be because bacteria can’t live too long on the metal. Anyway, I always wash my hands, for as long as I can remember. I hate the argument, “But I didn’t touch it,” or, “I didn’t pee on my hands.” Still, not washing is gross. When you pee, it tends to splash. You might get tiny droplets flying around. What’s to say some of those droplets aren’t landing on your hands and you just don’t notice? Gotta wash… always.
I wash my hands if it’s not at night while I’m sleeping. Otherwise, I generally wash.
I wash my hands unless:
The next thing I’m going to do will be taking a shower
I’m alone in the apartment and the next on my to-do list is taking a nap
Oh, great. Some wanton man-bashing for the sake of it. Yep, thanks for your contribution to the fight against ignorance. Now shall we have a nice discussion about how crap women are with mechanical objects, and why they can’t drive for shit, and why they can never really hold down senior management positions as well as a man would…? Yuk.
Just in case you event want to grow up and play with the adults, FP, some news for you: stereotyping is ugly, from any source and in any direction. It’s insulting, and doesn’t win friends. I’m a man, and I know for certain that my washing and other personal hygiene standards are a whole lot higher than those of many women I have known. And I use turn signals. And if I’m lost, I ask for directions if that’s gonna help.
So do a billion other guys. I guess you see what you want to see, and keep those ignorant prejudices nice and cosy inside your head.
Well, I’m afraid all I can say in my defense is that I meant it lightheartedly, and it was not my intention to insult anybody. I personally am not offended by remarks about women in a similar vein (heck, the stereotypes wouldn’t exist if they had no basis in fact – which is not to say they apply across the board). If anything I said came across as genuinely offensive, I apologize.
Sorry, Fretful. I was over the top by a couple of miles, and I apologise for that. I shouldn’t have over-reacted to your comments. It’s been a yukky day in some ways and I guess you caught some of the fallout. Peace.
Not washing your hands after going to the restroom is disgusting. And like Cecil said, it isn’t that you may have pee or poo on your hands, it’s the freaking BACTERIA! It makes me ill to think of the people who don’t wash their hands afterwards… gah!!! If I find out that you don’t wash, you do drop to somewhere around “pond scum” on my “rank this person” scale, especially in relation to ever meeting you in person.
My son always washes his hands. In fact, he usually comes out of the bathroom and has both me and his father smell them to smell the soapy clean smell. I’m very proud of this 
Once, he came out of a restaurant bathroom almost in tears, and dragged my husband back with him. He was traumatized because he couldn’t reach the soap dispenser on his own. That’s my boy!
Living in the international dorm has plenty of drawbacks. The main one being the foreign students reluctance to use water. I’m guessing this is because water is expensive in their country (or they just have poor hygeine) so they don’t use it much. They don’t shower every day, this isn’t a problem if you don’t smell. However, I consider it common courtesy to freshen up a bit if you’re going to be going to the gym three or four times a week.
This also carries over to their hand washing habits. I’ll be washing my hands and in walks student, they use the facilities, and out they go as I’m drying my hands. Yuck.
I prefer not to think about how I have to use the same dining hall, open the same doors, use the same keyboards, etc. as they do. It makes my day a little more bearable.
Compulsive hand-washer checking in. I use paper towels to turn the faucet handle and open the door also. Can’t stand it any other way.