# Five second rule!! What moron ........ **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 7, 2001, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule-what-moron/48840 "2001-01-07T07:37:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Short](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Short](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule-what-moron/48840/41 "2001-01-09T06:20:56Z")
What I find funny: On the plate: eatable On the table (at least in the more formal settings): uneatable. Garbage in open bag: clean Garbage in sink: dirty Socks on floor: dirty Socks in closet: clean Books on shelves: neat Books stacked up on top of shelves: messy :Drops a raw carrot on the ground. Won’t eat it because it is dirty…: ---
**Author:** ![Short](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Short](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule-what-moron/48840/42 "2001-01-09T06:23:19Z")
Damn smileys Read as “drops raw carrot…” ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule-what-moron/48840/43 "2001-01-09T13:26:37Z")
Eons ago when I used to babysit for pocket money, I remember one lad who shared chew toys with his dog. I thought it was rather disgusting, but his mother didn’t seem to mind, and who was I to give her parenting advice? Anyway, AFAIK, neither dog nor child suffered and adverse effects. I agree about tossing sticky or fuzzy stuff, and dusting off the rest, unless it plops in a particularly hairy patch (damned border collie)… I don’t THINK that practice led to my galbladder removal… then again… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule-what-moron/48840/44 "2001-01-09T14:17:35Z")
I think it’s a common sense thing. Obviously, other people are freakin nasty, so anything dropped in a public place (anywhere not my house) is automatically garbage, unless you can wash it off. My kitchen floor is pretty clean, and I don’t wear my shoes in the house, so the odds are pretty good that there’s nothing all that bad except maybe some dirt/dust and hairs, which are mostly harmless anyway. Of course, anything sticky side down I’ll throw out as well, since it will pick up a lot more crap, and usually looks pretty nasty when you pick it up. I think some people are crazy when it comes to germs though. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule-what-moron/48840/45 "2001-01-09T15:28:49Z")
Well you do know that because of all our worry about germs now with the antibacterial stuff we have etc that there is a higher rate of problems because people aren’t building up immunities to germs? That is why we have thse ‘sick buildings’ and so much athsma and stuff like that now. _looks at the time_ ack! gotta run I’ll be back ---
**Author:** ![c\_goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@c\_goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_goat)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule-what-moron/48840/46 "2001-01-09T15:36:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TopazAntares \* > **… that there is a higher rate of problems because people aren’t building up immunities to germs? …** I remember hearing about worry over the UberVirus that is immune to antibiotics because people rely on them too much for the flu and the like. Don’t know if it’s real or not… just yapping. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule-what-moron/48840/47 "2001-01-09T15:55:52Z")
In the miltary in the field you have limited food, limited time to eat, and no dining room table. Food dropped is brushed off (if moist maybe use water) and gleefully chowed down upon. Five second rule is in effect. I was cooking three HUGE steaks on a very small hibachi. While turning one, the weight of the other two caused the grill to tip, spewing steaks, ash, and various etceteras onto the porch. We had waited for some time for these steaks, and no dinky little bacteriod was gonna stop us! They were brushed thoroughly, everything was re-set, and we had a nice, if somewhat crunchy, steak dinner. I might add this was at a house my dear ole’ Mom still calls the Snake Pit, rooming with two other guys as we prepped for Marine Corps OCS at Quantico. We had testosterone to spare. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule-what-moron/48840/48 "2001-01-09T16:10:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AVSC916 \* > \*\* > > I’ve cringed when I’ve seen women pick up a pacifier their drooling kid popped out onto the shiny floor, then casually wipe it off and pop it back in sonny’s maw. I know what those customers have brought in from outside on their shoes! > > So, you pick up that wet pacifier, wipe it off, chances are it landed in a trace of someone’s urine and wiping it off is not going to get rid of all of the bacteria. You’re poking a strangers p\*\*s in your kids mouth. Or traces of someone’s spit, which might be harboring tuberculosis, or traces of someone’s feces, which might have hepatitis in it. > > Think about it. \*\* Well, luckily I am not taking my kid into bar bathrooms a lot. None of this is news to me. Whether or not I autoclave that pacifier, my son is coming into contact with all that stuff. Simple example: People walk through it, then tuck their feet under them on a restaurant chair. My son touches that restaurant chair with his little hand as he climbs up. Then he eats a cheerio. Voila. This is stuff he comes into contact with in a normal day. We ALL do. Is it gross? Hell yes. But I’d be fooling myself if I think getting all upset about a wet pacifier is going to prevent the little nipper from exposure to this stuff. It’s the same stuff we all got exposed to growing up. “Think about it” indeed. I can put him in a plastic bubble, of course, and go through an antibacterial shower before I touch him. Not interested in that. Although I promise I’ll be more diligent about the pacifier if we go that route. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule-what-moron/48840/49 "2001-01-09T19:42:11Z")
Yah _c\_goat_ I heard that too. It was on the local news radio (630 ched for those Albertans curious… Grandparents listen to it all the time so sometimes I hear interesting stuff) but they were discussing about antibiotics not working because of over prescription and such. There has been worry about it for years only its starting to get worse. But it was also mentioned that because we aren’t building up immunities there are way more allergy sufferers then there used to be before. _AVSC916_ Yah thats true. Just plain dirt won’t hurt anyone… but when was dirt ever just plain ole dirt? _tries to wrap her mind around the paradox of clean dirt_ ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule-what-moron/48840/50 "2001-01-10T02:59:16Z")
When my younger daughter was crawling, a friend with a less, er, _relaxed_ attitude towards germs watched her rolling around on a floor for a few minutes before turning to me and saying, “Well, at least her immune system will be well-developed.” ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule-what-moron/48840/51 "2001-01-10T14:07:00Z")
C\_goat and TopazAntares, I have read a little on this too. Penicillin based drugs are not working as well as they used to. One reason for this is not finishing a whole prescription. People start to feel better and stop taking any more antibiotics, but the infection is still there, but mutating a little. The more this happens, the more it mutates, becoming resistant to the drug. I’ll come back and post a link if I can find anything. I always thought a little dirt wouldn’t hurt you. But I have started being _way_ more careful with raw meat handling, cutting boards and the like. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule-what-moron/48840/52 "2001-01-10T14:19:00Z")
Here’s a [link](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/nation-world/html98/altgerm_013198.html) citing the cause as indiscriminate use of antibiotics for viral conditions such as cold and flu. As we all know, antibiotics only treat bacterial diseases. It’s very scary to think about not being able to treat common infections with drugs. Throws us back to 100 years ago, when people died from simple things like ear infections. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule-what-moron/48840/53 "2001-01-10T15:08:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TopazAntares \* > \*\*Just plain dirt won’t hurt anyone… but when was dirt ever just plain ole dirt? _tries to wrap her mind around the paradox of clean dirt_ \*\* Actually, not only will dirt not hurt you, it is in fact good for the immune system, as some of us have been joking about. Some of the interesting research on Asthma, for example, is leading some to theorize that there is an optimal level of exposure to dirt, bacteria, etc. Too much, too often, and it can trigger problems (like asthma); too little and people don’t build immunities. What’s ideal is to live in a fairly clean environment (your house) but have plenty of exposure to other things like outdoor dirt, animals, etc. More evidence that an overly neurotic attitude about germ exposure may do as much harm as good. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-second-rule-what-moron/48840.md?page=2)