Why Health Class Still Matters

Survey finds airport restroom users seldom wash
….

"The same people that fail to wash after using restrooms go on to pick up children, handle food, greet family and use other public facilities," said Dr. Judy Daly, secretary of the American Society for Microbiology, which sponsored the survey.

The survey, conducted last month by Wirthlin Worldwide, was reported at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy at McCormick Place.

The findings indicate many people lie when it comes to hand-washing. In an earlier survey, 95 percent of adults claimed they always wash their hands after using public restrooms.

With the exception of Toronto, there has been no significant increase in hand-washing compared with observational studies in 1996 and 2000. And researchers fear rates could drop in Toronto as SARS fears ebb. During the epidemic's peak, the media bombarded residents with reminders to wash their hands.
…

Go here for a partial list of dirtiest airports.

[Link courtesy of clean-handed reader Andrew Lynch]

Comments

[Rob]

Neb Okla:

As a life-long female-ass-afficionado, I just want to condemn you to eternity in an O'Hare restroom...

...going back to my happy place...

[Andrew Lynch]

Between reading about Justin's "unit/package," anon's "johnson," madog's "delicates," and the bacterial risk of girl butt, I just snorted coffee all over my keyboard. Thanks for the giggles!

[Anonymous]

Bart Simpson did say "Touch a girl's butt? Everyone knows that's where cooties come from!"

[isildur]

In the bathroom, I interact with a part of my body that's safely tucked away behind layers of laundered cloth.

My hands, on the other hand, are waving around interacting with all sorts of bacterially-infested surfaces -- door handles, telephones, chairs, tables, etc.

The logical solution seems not to wash my hands in the sink, but to wash something *else* in the sink. But I can't see other airport visitors going for that in a big way.

[twistedmerkin]

Neb Okla, usually when I snuggle up to a woman's bare behind I've already liked it clean, so no problem!

[Douglas Fletcher]

The people who most need to be washing their hands are food handlers -- an incredibly amount of communicable disease is apparently transmitted food handlers in restaurants.

Bon apetit!

[chthus]

I rarely wash my hands in public restrooms, because I rarely ever touch anything there with my hands. The only time I will wash my hands is if both faucets and dryers are motion sensored.

What's funny is that, as anyone who had a basic bio lab class can attest, if you swab a variety of different rooms and areas, the restroom/bathroom is rarely the dirtiest bacteria-wise. Things like water fountains and dining areas are more likely to be bacteria-rich. Not only does a saliva splash contain more bacteria than a urine splash, but dining areas and especially water fountains tend to be cleaned less vigourously and with less bleach or ammonia.

[Justin]

Its definately relative for me. Depending on the cleanliness of the restroom I will decide if I wash my hands or not. When you think about it, and I have, my unit is probably the cleanest thing on me. Do you know what I touch all day with my hands. I should probably scrub my package afterwards.

[Concerned Citizen]

Major drug stores now sell those pocket sized dispensers of hand sanitizers requiring no water or soap...although your hands smell a little weird, it gets the job done.

[Jaster]

I remember being verbally accosted by a woman I didn?t know in the packed bathroom of a club once for not washing my hands.
?You?re not washing your hands?!? she shrieked in disgust. All talk in the can instantly stopped as most of the people in the bathroom wheeled around to stare at me, waiting for my answer.
I said something like, ?Lady, it?s not like I pissed on my hands.?
(And even if I did, urine is an antiseptic; it?d probably be cleaner than touching all the greasy, peed-on pooped-on hardware in that place.)
I?d always been leary of washing my hands in public restrooms before that incident. But since that day, I?ve been an even more outspoken proponent of not hand-washing.

[Brad S]

I used the men's restroom at O-Hare last weekend, and let me tell you, I cannot imagine using that place without at least washing the hands. Heck, I felt like I needed a shower. That place was disgusting.

I was amused by the list in the link. What struck me was that at all airports except one, men are more likely to not wash their hands than women. The one airport: San Francisco. Draw whatever conclusions you will.

[Madog]

I rarely wash my hands because the facets look too dirty. I also flush with my foot, and try not to touch the door handle. I should probably wash my hands before I go, so I don't get my delicates dirt.

All I can say is I'm glad I'm not a woman. Their restrooms may not have the strage colored liquids on the floor that mens rooms usually do, but I still wouldn't want to touch anything.

[Kevin Carson]

I refuse to use those air dryers. I still wash my hands, but I wind up drying them on my pants unless there's paper. I bet those damned dryers deter a lot of people from washing their hands.

Brad S.,

I also saw a study recently that found "Wash Hands" signs made a significant difference in how many women washed their hands, but no difference at all for men. They hypothesized something about the role of women as guardians of social mores, or the feminization of authority, or something like that. Probably also says something about why a "for the children" appeal can sell virtually any kind of paternalistic social engineering policy to the soccer moms.

Personally, I'm much more likely NOT to do something a sign tells me to do, unless it includes a "please" and "thank you," and is written in a properly non-authoritarian tone. I thought one of the reasons people came to this country was to escape the omnipresent "Achtung!" signs all over the place.

[Neb Okla]

Next time you snuggle up to a womans bare behind, take a moment and think about where it's been - and if it's been washed since then.

On second thought, it's probably best not to think about it.

Apparently though, it's not uncommon for foreign women to step up on the seat and squat Moroccan style.

[Mark A.]

I think "maternalistic" would be more apt. Also, how common were "Achtung!" signs in 17th Century England? 🙂

[Anonymous]

I especially enjoyed the Sun-Times providing instructions on how to wash your hands.

[Anonymous]

Take piss.

Wash Hands.

Dry Hands.

Place hands back onto dirty baggage the filthy luggage handlers touched moments ago.

[Anonymous]

Wouldn't it make more sense to wash your hands BEFORE you take a piss? This way, you are assured of not getting germs on your johnson.

[Abu Hamza]

You people who don't wash your hands EVERY TIME after using the bathroom are sick, sick, sick. Disgusting. I also hate the electric driers. Nothing like blowing around warm stinky bathroom air.

[Mike]

Try using the Wakmah device

Mike

[Mike]

Try using the Wakmah device

Mike

[Mike]

Try using the Wakmah device

Mike