Like velvetjones I’m kind of the opposite of a germophobe. I’ve never understood how it was supposed to work (what are “germs”? what’s so dirty about dirt? etc) and I used to be very much of the “might as well keep my immune system on its toes” mind.
However, I know that I can only get a cold through contacting the spit of someone else who has a cold. And if I don’t live with/work with/otherwise share space with anyone who’s had a cold lately, any cold I get is one I can reasonably safely assume came from touching something that someone with a cold touched.
(I have noticed that most of the time I get a cold it is within a day or two of taking public transit, which I do rarely.)
I don’t like getting colds. They suck. So this is why I wash my hands after using the toilet. It is not because I am worried about toilet germs; ever since that previously-mentioned Staff Report, I am quite comfortable in my disbelief in such things.
I do it because it’s wise to wash your hands regularly (with warm water and non-anti-bacterial soap), to keep the cold germs off them. And the most common opportunity to do that is after I’ve used the bathroom.
Also I try to wash my hands before eating, because I like to eat with my hands, and when I wash my hands it produces a swirl of brownish gray that I would rather be down the drain than in my tummy.