# Oh My God, Wash Your Hands! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 27, 2006, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362 "2006-09-27T14:42:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362/41 "2006-09-27T19:13:56Z")
A question for the “washers”- as I like to call you guys- if you wake up in the middle of the night to pee, do you wash your hands then? Most washers I know don’t, saying it will wake them up if they turn on the light, lather up, etc. and thus have a harder time falling back asleep. ---
**Author:** ![aelveric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/58f4c7/32.png) [@aelveric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aelveric)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362/42 "2006-09-27T19:30:27Z")
If you don’t like people not washing their hands after going to the bathroom, you certainly shouldn’t go to Europe. Almost nobody washes their hands there. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362/43 "2006-09-27T19:43:20Z")
[QUOTE=Yeticus Rex] I actually wash my hands BEFORE I take a leak when there is a lot of handshaking or doorknob grabbing that my hands have done previously (for my own sake). Then I do wash my hands afterwards as well, for the sake of others. And also, what **control-z** said. [/QUOTE] I see I’m not the only one who washes his hands _before_ taking a leak! If I’ve been using somebody’s dirty keyboard or mouse I’ll definitely wash before going. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362/44 "2006-09-27T19:51:54Z")
This is a pretty appropriate thread – I just read an article a day or two ago that mentioned that some intrepid folks at a hospital were trying to get the staff to wash their hands more, since some cruise ships are coming after the passengers and crew with metaphorical clubs if they don’t get with the Purell bandwagon after meals and before setting foot ashore. Doctors didn’t get with the handwashing or Purell too often since the sinks were out of their way or the dispensers were out of the way, etc etc. So the folks got a cross section of the medical staff to put their hands on agar dishes to see what they got. What they got, was some \*fabulous \* hand-shaped bacterial colonies. :eek: Those got photographed and put up as posters and screensavers. The percentage of handwashing went up rather nicely at those hospitals. 😃 The [article]([http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/magazine/24wwln\_freak.html&OQ=\_rQ3D1Q26pagewantedQ3D1Q26eiQ3D5087Q250AQ26enQ3D5da7617ba4ad6388Q26exQ3D1159329600&OP=7330dab7Q2Fl@v(lQ7BQ60zoWQ60Q60wnlnuuLluQ51lnylQ22r1r0Q24Q3Cvlny@@gQ3CQ5EQ7CWvrTYfwQ22g)](http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/magazine/24wwln_freak.html&OQ=_rQ3D1Q26pagewantedQ3D1Q26eiQ3D5087Q250AQ26enQ3D5da7617ba4ad6388Q26exQ3D1159329600&OP=7330dab7Q2Fl@v(lQ7BQ60zoWQ60Q60wnlnuuLluQ51lnylQ22r1r0Q24Q3Cvlny@@gQ3CQ5EQ7CWvrTYfwQ22g)) is at [NYTimes.com](http://NYTimes.com) and requires registration. ---
**Author:** ![Carlyjay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Carlyjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carlyjay)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362/45 "2006-09-27T20:00:46Z")
Okay, first of all, ew. You don’t wash your hands because you’re\* lazy\*, yet you have the gall to tell people who think non-handwashing is gross that they have OCD? Let me tell you something, the effort you spent just rolling your eyes at my cleanliness (and hey, being a clean, considerate person is hardly an OCD, any more than I could call your laziness a disorder) would have been better spent wiping your hands with some Purell or something. Jeepers. Secondly: > [@Anaamika](#): > > If my allergies are acting up and I have no Kleenx generally I’ll go into the stall to blow my nose (although mostly I won’t close the door.) I wash my hands after I blow my nose, too. Inasmuch as your nose is a great festering breeding ground for loads of different bacteria including staph. ---
**Author:** ![oy\_vay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/258eb7/32.png) [@oy\_vay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oy_vay)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362/46 "2006-09-27T20:03:33Z")
[QUOTE=Shayna] I was standing at the sink in a restaurant bathroom one time, when a waitress came in, entered a stall, did her thing, exited the stall and headed straight out the door. I immediately notified a manager, and from what I understand, she was given the ass-chewing of her life. Good. Bitch deserved it. [/QUOTE] bwahah interesting choice of words. Good on ya catching her though 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362/47 "2006-09-27T20:10:59Z")
I work in a call center with three hundred other people, and whereas sometimes at home I’ll go without washing after just taking a piss, I wouldn’t dream of doing the same at work. Three hundred people, any number of whom might have rhinoviruses, hepatitis, flu, viral pneumonia, ringworm, scabies, assboils, purulent wounds that require dressing changes, you name it and somebody in the call center is very likely to have it. I have to touch maybe 50-100 keyboards and/or mice in a day, touch many other surfaces, take pieces of paper from people’s hands, etc. I have stood and watched in abject horror a coworker picking his nose, eating the booger, then grabbing his mouse. I wash my hands after the toilet just to protect MYSELF! It means at least four-five times a day I have a baseline of clean hands to start the germ count from. All I can say is that since I’ve become fanatic about washing after the toilet and washing before I eat lunch I have cut down substantially on the number of illnesses I’ve contracted. Not to mention my queasiness factor is lower when I wash up–hot water, mind you, lots of soap and a paper towel on all handles going out. I also open doors with just my left pinkie finger (we don’t have knobs on the doors, just pull handles.) People can be dirty as hell and my hygiene habits protect me from the lack of said habits in others. If y’all want to touch nasty shit then put your fingers in your mouth or up your nose, more power to ya. Me, I’ll just continue with my regimen and I don’t much care if some of you dirty bastards think I’m OCD for it! ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362/48 "2006-09-27T20:22:35Z")
[QUOTE=Carlyjay] I wash my hands after I blow my nose, too. Inasmuch as your nose is a great festering breeding ground for loads of different bacteria including staph. [/QUOTE] I will if I have a cold, certainly. Not so much if it’s just allergies. I don’t know if you meant the first part of your comments to apply to me, too. As I said, I’m rather ambivalent on the whole thing. Yes, you should wash your hands. I’m not going to freak out if you don’t though. And no, I don’t think you are OCD for thinking about it but I do object to this sort of nosiness that is portrayed. It’s rude to stop someone and tell them - wash your hands. Now food service and hospitals, absolutely, wash your hands. Taking a crap? You damn well better. I just know how clean urine is as many other people have noted. ---
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362/49 "2006-09-27T20:30:45Z")
I, also, would like to see some cites on bathroom-spread illnesses. I was never taught to wash my hands growing up, and I see it as fairly silly. And, by the way, I am uncommonly healthy and rarely catch whatever’s going around. Humans have bacteria on every square millimeter of thier skin, including hands. This is _normal_ and _healthy_. Lots of those bacteria are there to _protect_ you. Washers, do you wash your hands every time you scratch yourself? Adjust your “package” (men) or your cleavage (women). How about your head? Aside from STDs, which as we all know aren’t spread by non-sexual contact, I’m pretty sure there are more scary bugs living in the average scalp than on the average penis. I mean, when I’m at home, I’m perfectly happy scratching my genitals and then making some toast. Hell, the best time to make a meal IMHO is after some extensive touching of both my genitals and (gasp) somebody else’s. Unless you’ve come into contact with something that will smell or stick (feces, urine, menstral blood, semen) I don’t see any real health advantage to washing hands after the bathroom - I think it’s unlikely that your hands are any more contaminated than they were going in. mischievous P. S. I do understand the insistence on hand-washing in a medical environment, where there are both a large number of infectious people and a large number of vulnerable people. I don’t, however, think that the petrie dish experiment was intelligent. Any normal human hand will have commensual bacteria all over it - that’s not unhealthy. ---
**Author:** ![Carlyjay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Carlyjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carlyjay)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362/50 "2006-09-27T20:32:50Z")
No no, Anaamika, first part of my post wasn’t for you. 🙂 Just to clarify, however: your nose [DOES](http://pediatrics.about.com/od/childhoodinfections/a/staph_infection.htm) have Staphylococcus aureus bacteria breeding in it, whether you have a cold or not. Which is why it’s always a good idea to wash your hands after blowing your nose, sneezing into your hands, etc. I wash my hands quite often during the day, particularly when I’m at work and touching things that others touch. I started being more careful about handwashing after I got really, really sick a year ago, and later discovered how many people of my own acquaintance did not wash their hands after going to the washroom, blowing their nose, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Carlyjay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Carlyjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carlyjay)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362/51 "2006-09-27T20:36:48Z")
[QUOTE=mischievous] I, also, would like to see some cites on bathroom-spread illnesses. I was never taught to wash my hands growing up, and I see it as fairly silly. And, by the way, I am uncommonly healthy and rarely catch whatever’s going around. [/QUOTE] Well that’s cool, but what about the less immune-strong person who touches the doorknob after you? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362/52 "2006-09-27T20:42:09Z")
[QUOTE=Carlyjay] Okay, first of all, ew. You don’t wash your hands because you’re\* lazy\*, yet you have the gall to tell people who think non-handwashing is gross that they have OCD? Let me tell you something, the effort you spent just rolling your eyes at my cleanliness (and hey, being a clean, considerate person is hardly an OCD, any more than I could call your laziness a disorder) would have been better spent wiping your hands with some Purell or something. Jeepers. [/quote] I’m not rolling my eyes at your “cleanliness” but at your presumption in telling other people how clean THEY have to be. Monitoring other people’s bathroom habits is controlling and creepy and phobic. Wash yourself from head to toe in sanitizer, I don’t care, but it’s inappropriate to go around telling other people what to do, especially if they didn’t piss on their hands. I have yet to see any evidence that not washing hands after taking a piss makes anyone any more likely to spread germs. What is it with you germaphobes anyway? Does it really increase the quality of your life to go around obsessing over every doorknob and handshake? What’s the worst that’s going to happen? You’ll get a cold? Whoop-dee-doo. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362/53 "2006-09-27T20:44:10Z")
People should wash their hands more often, and since there’s a sink in the bathroom and you’re there anyway, that’s a good time to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362/54 "2006-09-27T20:45:01Z")
[QUOTE=Carlyjay] Well that’s cool, but what about the less immune-strong person who touches the doorknob after you? [/QUOTE] It’s called natural selection. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362/55 "2006-09-27T20:46:06Z")
[QUOTE=mischievous] Adjust your “package” (men) or your cleavage (women). [/QUOTE] _Adjust my cleavage?_ Who does this? And even if they did it, what are they doing? It is to laugh. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362/56 "2006-09-27T20:48:43Z")
[QUOTE=jsgoddess] People should wash their hands more often, and since there’s a sink in the bathroom and you’re there anyway, that’s a good time to do it. [/QUOTE] This is a much better answer than all that drivel about “courtesy” and _e.coli_, but there’s still no reason to freak out if someone _doesn’t_ automatically wash their hands every time. Maybe some women don’t really how little interaction with the genitals is required for a guy to take a leak. You can do it without touching anything at all. ---
**Author:** ![Carlyjay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Carlyjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carlyjay)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362/57 "2006-09-27T20:49:40Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] What’s the worst that’s going to happen? You’ll get a cold? Whoop-dee-doo. [/QUOTE] Maybe that IS the worst that will happen. (And then again, [maybe not](http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:dPspOSv22jkJ:www.health.state.ri.us/disease/communicable/handwashing.php+%22wash+hands%22+bathroom&hl=en&gl=ca&ct=clnk&cd=4).) But I don’t _want_ a cold, or whatever other illness you may be transporting. Just because YOU don’t mind getting a cold doesn’t mean it’s fine for me. Furthermore, I’m bewildered by the people who agree that one should wash one’s hands before handling food because THAT spreads diseases, but they can’t comprehend how it may spread diseases on doorknobs and such. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362/58 "2006-09-27T20:52:14Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] _Adjust my cleavage?_ Who does this? [/QUOTE] Is that a call for volunteers, or skilled professionals? I qualify either way. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362/59 "2006-09-27T20:56:06Z")
[QUOTE=Carlyjay] Maybe that IS the worst that will happen. (And then again, [maybe not](http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:dPspOSv22jkJ:www.health.state.ri.us/disease/communicable/handwashing.php+%22wash+hands%22+bathroom&hl=en&gl=ca&ct=clnk&cd=4).) But I don’t _want_ a cold, or whatever other illness you may be transporting. Just because YOU don’t mind getting a cold doesn’t mean it’s fine for me. [/quote] If I wasn’t transporting anything when I went into the bathroom, why would I be transporting anything when I left? > [@](#): > > Furthermore, I’m bewildered by the people who agree that one should wash one’s hands before handling food because THAT spreads diseases, but they can’t comprehend how it may spread diseases on doorknobs and such. 😕 You don’t actually get sick from having the germs on your hands but from hand-to-mouth or eye activity. If you wash your own hands a lot, you’ll be fine. It’s more important to wash your hands before handling food because you’ll actually be ingesting it. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362/60 "2006-09-27T20:56:35Z")
[QUOTE=Carlyjay] Furthermore, I’m bewildered by the people who agree that one should wash one’s hands before handling food because THAT spreads diseases, but they can’t comprehend how it may spread diseases on doorknobs and such. 😕 [/QUOTE] Well people put food in their mouths, less so with doorknobs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-my-god-wash-your-hands/374362.md?page=4)