Does anyone here not wash their hands after using the bathroom?
Why do you do that?
Personally, I always wash my hands after using the toilet, because otherwise is just disgusting.
If nobody pipes in, I’ll assume there’s a lot of liars out there, since I’ve often seen people do this.
I dont understand what your motivation is.
I don’t always. If my hands are dirty (in which case I wash my hands first) or I’m about to eat, sure, but otherwise? shrug I don’t have any more germs than I would usually. In public restrooms, I usually do, but then there’s no soap or paper towels or something, so what’s the point? If I’m sick or around sick people I do. Otherwise, germs are germs. I have a good immune system because I don’t coddle it. The urine fumes or whatever aren’t going to make me any sicker than the germs I get outside the bathroom.
Don’t understand their motivation? What? Do you think people are honestly motivated to not wash their hands? Did they sit down and consciously decide, “I could wash my hands, but I resolve not to, as I find this to be a better course of action.”
I always wash my hands and I avoid public restrooms because many of them here do not have soap or warm water. I do have antibacterial gel that I will use in case there is no soap available (rinse off hands, apply antibacterial gel, dry). But I can tell you why a lot of people don’t wash hands. Rather than motivation, it’s the lack thereof. Washing hands takes a minute (at least, if you are doing it right). Some people don’t want to spare that minute.
What I see far more often than not washing one’s hands is what I call the “ceremonial splash.” This is when somebody turns on the water, gives his fingers a little splash in the water (a second or two at the most) and considers his work complete. It’s better than nothing, sure, but hardly effective.
There’s a pizza delivery guy who dropped a pizza on the ground, but then delivered it anyway. It’s dirty, but he doesn’t care, since he’s not going to eat that pizza.
Similar analogy for your dirty-ass-touching hands that you then go and shake people’s hands and touch their stuff with.
I can’t imagine not washing my hands. Public bathrooms are such disgusting places, and at home, I have really nice hand soap.
When I have to use a port-a-potti and can’t wash my hands, I feel kinda ick till I can find a damp towel or some hand sanitizer.
And I’m not a whacko germ-o-phobe. I’ve eaten stuff that’s fallen on the floor. I’ve shared drinks with my husband and kid. I don’t go crazy when my idiot cat walks across the counter. (Yeah, I yell at him and swat him down, but I don’t break out the bleach every time…) It’s just that bathrooms are typically nasty places.
Hmm, I hope that post didn’t sound too inflammatory.
'Cause I’m lazy, and public bathroom sinks are icky. I don’t *always *not wash my hands, though.
On preview: more than a minute? Dear God!
Valete,
Vox Imperatoris
:dubious: My ass isn’t dirty and I don’t touch it anyway (there’s tp between my hand and what it’s touching). There’s a difference between giving someone dirty food and touching their germy hands or stuff with your germy hands. I’m not introducing anything that wasn’t already there.
I believe the idea isn’t that your hands are really that dirtied by being in the bathroom (considering they’re cleaned regularly, probably more regularly than, say, your keyboard), just that you should wash your hands regularly anyway and it’s a convenient time.
I wash my hands regularly, just not always after using the restroom. And I don’t generally have situations where I shake hands or touch people’s stuff (at least at work. Obviously if I’m out and about, I’m touching stuff. Let’s not get silly here). Like I said, if I’m eating or sick or with sick people or cooking or my hands are dirty, I wash them.
I go to RenFaire. The privies don’t generally have soap or sanitizer, so my hands are pretty much dirty all weekend. I’ve never gotten sick from it. It’s not my responsibility to make sure other people don’t get germs, unless I’m serving them food or something.
Don’t worry. You haven’t offended me. I’m used to people getting silly about relatively minor things. (I will never ever understand why people are grossed out by feet - not gross sweaty feet either, just feet, but that’s a whole different subject)
I don’t always wash because I’m not a germaphobe. Unless I get urine on it, its just skin I’m touching down there. And lest people think I’m uncaring of others, I really dont mind if other people dont always wash either. I’ll shake their hand even if I know they didnt, its simply not a big deal for me
Because my penis is cleaner than the sinks in a public washroom 
Actually I do wash my hands most of the time, but primarily because it is a convenient time to do so. I’m sure I pick up far more germs in the course of my day to day activities outside the bathroom than I do inside.
I find the fear of bathroom germs to be overblown. There are many other things to find disgusting.
Sounds about what I expected, actually.
Note to self: Don’t shake hands with the Voice of the Emperor (that is, what your name means, right?)
But, yeah, a minute seems way too long. 10 seconds seems more reasonable.
I do in public, but not always at home. Generally I don’t get anything on my hands in either place, but since I can’t tell what’s floating around a public restroom I take no chances. At home, it’s me and my nads or my husband’s, and nobody else’s. I’m okay with that.
because I don’t care.
I don’t think the toilet paper blocks all germs. I imagine some shit gets through, or at least shit-fumes.
Alright, I’ll cut you some slack since you’re a fellow nerd, though I’ve never gotten a chance to actually go to a RenFaire thing.
Yeah, I remember one time my (now ex-)girlfriend dropped some food down her shirt and she threw it away. I was surprised, since that doesn’t seem like a body part that gets particularly dirty, even though it’s private. I mean, I’d eat something that fell on my arm or something.
You know, I wouldn’t eat something that fell on my feet, although I’m not sure why, so maybe you have a point about feet.
Unless I actually get something nasty on my hands while doing my business, why bother? It’s just not that dirty. Heck, I washed that part earlier in the morning in the shower.
I really do think it’s just psychological. Hypothetically, you want your SO to wash their hands after peeing, but are willing to perform oral sex on them?
I work in a hospital. Wash, wash, wash, even though I don’t have direct patient contact.
If anyone is in the restroom with me, I wash. If not, I don’t. Why? Because the actual hand sanitizer is in the break room right next door to the bathroom at work.
At home. I use the sanitizer rather than washing. Works just as well.
Cause I don’t pee on my hands?
Also don’t shake hands.
Since I started using the wet TP that’s available now, I generally wash (though it’s not completely religious). The stuff is lovely, but I feel like it, um, doesn’t form as effective a barrier between my fingers and my butt as normal TP does.
The reasons I didn’t wash varied: in a rush, didn’t want my hands getting cold, didn’t want to touch the door handle with wet hands*, didn’t feel it was necessary because I hadn’t pissed on my hands, and so on. I think the core of it all was basically that I never developed a habit of doing it. For some folks, it’s an automatic, almost unthinking thing; for me, it was a choice, and I often didn’t feel it was worth my time.