# Poll for people who wash their hands after using the bathroom. (Please read before voting.) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 1, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770 "2011-04-01T13:15:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [April 1, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/21 "2011-04-01T18:45:25Z")
I don’t care about the number of germs I spread. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/22 "2011-04-01T18:47:16Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I don’t care about the number of germs I spread. I am not an island. I am involved in mankind. And Rhymer Rule 192 is to try, when possible, to make any location I leave marginally letter than it was when I arrived. That’s why I always gather a couple of errant shopping carts at Walmart and put 'em in the return thing when I’m putting back my own. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/23 "2011-04-01T18:48:08Z")
I see no reason to wash my hands if I didn’t piss on them (and everything is already covered with germs anyway), but I’ll run my hands under the water for a few seconds to avoid getting the stink-eye in public restrooms. It’s become a problem at home because my daughters have started monitoring me to see if I wash my hands before I come out of the can. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/24 "2011-04-01T18:50:09Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I am not an island. I am involved in mankind. And Rhymer Rule 192 is to try, when possible, to make any location I leave marginally letter than it was when I arrived. That’s why I always gather a couple of errant shopping carts at Walmart and put 'em in the return thing when I’m putting back my own. I don’t have smallpox, and everything is already swimming in germs anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/25 "2011-04-01T18:56:06Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Part of the reason is to reduce (it’s impossible to eliminate entirely) the number of germs you yourself spread. Yeah, I understand that but I think we are way overboard hygiene-wise in this country. I refuse to take part in it. I bathe every night, and wash my hands after pooping or as needed. Otherwise all the precious snowflakes could use to eat some dirt every now and then. It’s good for you. As a kid I had terrible allergies and only overcame them thanks to years of vaccinations and exposure training. Germs are the same way. In certain applications like food preparation or in hospitals it makes good sense to wash often and well. In day to day life though, I don’t care too much and I rely on my system to do it’s job. Catching a cold every few years innocculates me for the next three or four. I’d rather be hardy than safe, and I’m not going to encourage super bugs or play up to other people’s irrational squeamishness.. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/26 "2011-04-01T18:57:21Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I don’t have smallpox, and everything is already swimming in germs anyway. How do **you** know you don’t have smallpox? Have you been tested? For all you know you are an asymptomatic carrier and have doomed countless hordes of your fellow Minnesotans to disfigurement & death! If I had meant _Diogenes, your handwashing habits reveal you to be as as disgusting as an Etruscan, and if I had my way you would be exiled to Wales_, I would have written that. But I didn’t mean that, so I didn’t write that. I was explaining the reasoning behind my own behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/27 "2011-04-01T19:02:05Z")
This thread makes me want to go wash my hands. 🙂 Everybody draws their line somewhere, I guess. i wash with soap and hot water and then just go out the door. I know someone who, upon coming out of the stall, first pulls down some paper towel, then washes her hands, wipes, and uses the paper towel to open the doors, throwing it out (in the trash) on her way out. This to me is so weird but she doesn’t try to push it on me and I don’t push it on her. I kind of want to ask her what she does about the germs on her clothes. Because after all, after she goes to the bathroom and then pulls up her pants, don’t her pants get dirty? But I know what she is going to say (I wash my clothes every day) and what she actually thinks (I am not icky and germ infested like the rest of you slobs. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/28 "2011-04-01T19:10:00Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > This thread makes me want to go wash my hands. 🙂 Me too. And I don’t want to shake hands with anybody either. I always wash my hands with plenty of soap. I like having clean hands. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/29 "2011-04-01T19:26:39Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > That’s why I always gather a couple of errant shopping carts at Walmart and put 'em in the return thing when I’m putting back my own. Worst thing you can do in ths troubled economy! By working for free (for Wal_Mart of all places!) you’re depriving someone else of a job! Now I need to work extra hard moving carts out of Wal_Mart and into the parking lot just to make up for thoughtless do-gooders like you. And I’m doing it with filthy hands to induce some sick-leave which will precipitate the need for an additional employee. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/30 "2011-04-01T19:39:32Z")
If you see me in the restroom and I am just rinsing my hands, it’s because I am allergic to most soaps. A good scrub and rinse in water is better than nothing (or hives). ---
**Author:** ![Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_of_the_Lake)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/31 "2011-04-01T19:42:12Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I see no reason to wash my hands if I didn’t piss on them (and everything is already covered with germs anyway), but I’ll run my hands under the water for a few seconds to avoid getting the stink-eye in public restrooms. > > It’s become a problem at home because my daughters have started monitoring me to see if I wash my hands before I come out of the can. This is something I’ve never understood as it’s not about the pee. You’re _touching your penis_ and then shaking hands and stuff. I mean, if you then shake hands with another guy who doesn’t bother washing his hands…oughtn’t you just bypass the middle man and fondle each others penises as a ‘hello’? ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/32 "2011-04-01T19:57:26Z")
> [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](#): > > This is something I’ve never understood as it’s not about the pee. > > You’re _touching your penis_ snip. So? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/33 "2011-04-01T19:59:48Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I want to get this in quickly. For those of you who don’t wash their hands, Cecil had a great article on this that made total sense to me. > > You don’t wash your hands because you may have gotten pee on them. Most of us can go to the bathroom regularly - several times a day even! - and come out without getting pee on them. > > You wash your hands because you should be washing your hands several times a day and you’re in there anyway so why not just go ahead and do it. It keeps you healthier and it keeps washing away all of those germs you may have picked up during the day. > > As for me, before this, I admit sometimes I just rinsed my hands. I mean, like I said, I don’t pee all over my hands! But now I wash them every time, and I think I have noticed a difference. I have avoided several colds that other people in the office have come down with. There’s an attitude that pops up on the Dope periodically that if you wash your hands at all, you’re a germaphobe who is deathly afraid of ever getting sick. I get a little tired of this false dichotomy - I wash my hands with soap and water multiple times a day because I KNOW what other people are doing with their hands, then touching things that I touch, and I don’t get nearly as many colds or flus as other people I know, but I’m not a germaphobe. I may be a "getting sick because I was too lazy to wash my hands"aphobe. 🙂 On preview, I see I should have read the rest of the thread; that attitude is already here and sticking up its head. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/34 "2011-04-01T20:01:51Z")
> [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](#): > > You’re _touching your penis_ and then shaking hands and stuff. I mean, if you then shake hands with another guy who doesn’t bother washing his hands…oughtn’t you just bypass the middle man and fondle each others penises as a ‘hello’? So you’re equating a handshake to a cockfondle? And why should the middle man be left out? But really, (most) dicks don’t have cooties that will get you even if you don’t know about them. There a filthier things than penes floating in the air that you never see. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > that attitude is already here and sticking up its head. Like Cat’s mind. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/35 "2011-04-01T20:04:20Z")
> [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](#): > > I mean, if you then shake hands with another guy who doesn’t bother washing his hands…oughtn’t you just bypass the middle man and fondle each others penises as a ‘hello’? Human resources frowns upon that. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/36 "2011-04-01T20:08:25Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > There’s an attitude that pops up on the Dope periodically that if you wash your hands at all, you’re a germaphobe who is deathly afraid of ever getting sick. I get a little tired of this false dichotomy - I wash my hands with soap and water multiple times a day because I KNOW what other people are doing with their hands, then touching things that I touch, and I don’t get nearly as many colds or flus as other people I know, but I’m not a germaphobe. I may be a "getting sick because I was too lazy to wash my hands"aphobe. 🙂 > > On preview, I see I should have read the rest of the thread; that attitude is already here and sticking up its head. You know, someone can disagree with you without calling you a hysterical germaphobe. I think people who are bothered enough to be conscious of this sort of stuff in normal day to day life are a little overly fussy. I also think that this attitude as a whole is probably more harmful than good. That doesn’t mean I think you need to be committed or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/37 "2011-04-01T20:16:15Z")
> [@Acid\_Lamp](#): > > You know, someone can disagree with you without calling you a hysterical germaphobe.\ So I would think, but that doesn’t seem to be the case on this issue. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/38 "2011-04-01T20:18:12Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > \ > > Like Cat’s mind. Now you’re giving me the strange picture of my mind sticking out of my head and looking around. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/39 "2011-04-01T20:18:34Z")
> [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](#): > > …fondle each others penises as a ‘hello’? This will now be my new form of greeting people. Thank you. Unrelated, when/where’s the next Dopefest? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770/40 "2011-04-01T20:23:47Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Now you’re giving me the strange picture of my mind sticking out of my head and looking around. 😃 Sorry. But it was either that or make a handshake/rape comment which would have been wholly inapproriate. Sure am glad I managed to avoid cluttering up the board with that nonsense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-people-who-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom-please-read-before-voting/576770.md?page=3)