Who else uses a paper towel to open a public bathroom door?

[trotsky]

mopaul's thread about germs in doctor's offices got me thinking. Am *I* a germ freak? Does anyone else grab a paper towel to pull on the door handle when you leave a public bathroom?

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. Jeeze, does't everyone? Touch that AFTER you wash your

hands? I don't think so.

No, you are not alone. The entire medical establishment does it on a routine basis in hospitals.

[trotsky]

3. Thank goodness I'm not alone.

After seeing FAR too many men do their business, then leave without even looking at the sink, I ain't gettin' near their cooties on that door handle.

[havocmom]

2. yep

and I am not rally a germ freak. I am a pretty good observer and observe that we do well to touch as little as possible out in public and wash our hands well as soon as we get to our homes.

My immune system isn't what it used to be. Helps to take care out there.

[goddess40]

4. They should have 2 door handles

one marked for washed hands and one marked for unwashed. I think that might give people a hint.

Of course I'm joking but I was serious about doing it at the public elementary school that my son goes to. I thought it would be a good reminder to the kids.

[newyawker99]

31. Congrats goddess40!! 500 posts

:toast:

[goddess40]

48. Thanks, I hadn't even noticed nt

.

[bif]

5. I always do.

After seeing countless people use the bathroom and then NOT wash their hands, how could one not? And if there's isn't paper toweling, I use toilet paper.

[MissMillie]

6. it's worse than that for me

I won't hold the hand rail on stairs or escalators.

And I swab my own computer keyboard w/ a alcohol-dampened cotton ball every day.


It's too bad really. The general public never really needed anti-bacterial soap. We just needed more people to practice good potty habits.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

10. We still don't need anti-bacterial soap... it is worse than

the cure.
First of all, it kills the good bacteria with the bad. Bacteria are far more useful to man than harmful. That is why people who use that soap have dry skin, all the good bacteria are killed. It also kills the bacteria that break down wastes in septic, sewer and municipal waste treatment plants. When it gets into soil, it retards the natual decay mechanism which is vital to making more soil, and feeding everything on the planet.

A pox on it.

[supernova]

7. I do and

I also use the antibacterial hand solutions after I get out of the bathroom, esp if I'm eating. Yuk.

Who are these people who don't wash after using the toilet?! This is infantile rebellion.

[TXlib]

44. Who are these people? Look around you.

I think most people either do not wash, or underwash.

Most people who DO wash, don't do it for 15 seconds, with soap.

[supernova]

65. Oh, I know people do it

I still wonder though if folks don't have latent mom issues.

Both my parents worked in laboratories for a good chunk of their careers so we always washed, even between activities, not excessively. It was just a given to clean up before going on to the next activity, so you don't cross-contaminate.

[mike6640]

8. absolutely!

I don't remember when I started using this technique. Maybe 10 years ago or so, I saw someone do it, and thought....that makes a hell of a lot of sense!

I hate it when the trash can is located far inside the door, where I have to hold the door open with my foot and try for a three-pointer. I don't like to trash a bathroom.

[trotsky]

11. Oh, I will send a message to the establishment's staff.

If a trash can is not near the door, I will drop the towel on the floor. I really hate to litter, but places have got to realize the importance of having a basket near the door.

[WoodrowFan]

24. YOU'RE THE ONE!

The bathroom at my old office always had a pile of used paper towels by the door from people doing that. I just kept the paper towel in my hand until I passed a trashcan in the hall or back at my desk. Don't make more work for unpaid cleaning staff!

[Rainbowreflect]

9. I like what George Carlin says about germs.

He believes we get sick because we do not build up a tolerance to germs. All the things we do to protect ourselves from germs are what is really hurting us.
Just a thought.

[trotsky]

13. I think it evens out

With travel, larger populations, etc. I think we get exposed to WAY more germs than we ever have before. Carlin has a point, but there's also common sense in protecting yourself too.

[newyawker99]

32. Congrats trotsky!! 800 posts

:toast:

[CBHagman]

37. Amen to that.

Watch a few people get stomach ailments, pink eye, and the like after failing to do routine hand-washing and then rubbing their eyes, licking their fingers, etc. I've noticed people getting sick after not practicing the most basic, routine santitary habits.

You do build up resistance to a good many things, but it's foolish to tempt fate by refusing to wash your hands after emptying the cat box, say, or diapering the baby.

I read a few articles on hand-washing and have since used the paper towels to turn off faucets (as a student nurse demonstrated to me a quarter century ago) and open restroom doors. I'm like the poster in that I also wipe off the keyboard and the phone on occasion. Things get filthy anyway with use, so clean up now and then.

[blm]

12. Hahah...ME!

.

[JitterbugPerfume]

18. I don't have a "clean" fetish but

there can be some evil little critters on a public bathrooms door knob

yucky mutant germs

[rjbcar27]

14. Nope

and I eat sandwiches with hands covered in oil/dust/dirt, drink from dirty cups stirred with dirty spoons in the workshop. I wipe used forks and knives with a paper towel before re-using them and I never get any stomach upsets, ever.

I'm of the opinion that you really do build up tolerances to bugs and germs and those who are fastidiously clean are likely to get ill more often than me.

And I make no apologies for any of it.

[buff2]

19. Oh,that's gross.....

I can only imagine what your house looks like. :puke:

[rjbcar27]

20. My house is very clean

but the workshop isn't by definition. But I never let it bother me. Clean freaks are doing themselves a disservice in my opinion.

[Skittles]

47. you are correct

the clean freaks I know get sick quite often. They have no immunity. Taking precautions is one thing but going overboard is another. The last day I called in sick to work was 9/11/2001

[RobinA]

73. I'Ve Noticed This

as well. The sickest people I know never miss a flu shot, never let their skin touch anything in a restroom, and Lysol their phones once a week.

I wash my hands in the bathroom, but I don't get obsessive about touching things. Germs are everywhere.

[buff2]

15. Oh yes.......I always do

Whenever you touch ANYTHING public.....especially money,you are handling what everyone else has had in their hands. Just look at that report on 20/20 a good while back.....they did tests on money and found everything from blood to feces. I refuse to eat until I wash my hands. In fact,when I cook I am constantly washing my hands....especially after handling raw meat.Also in that report,they found a LOT of stuff in motel rooms......semen on the bedspread,feces on the phone.... and this after the rooms were supposidly CLEANED.I will NEVER sleep in a motel or hotel again,that's why we bought an RV. I am too particular when it comes to cleanliness.Nope...I don't trust anything I haven't cleaned myself. :evilgrin: I'm not nuts.....just clean. :D :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[DemoTex]

16. Misophobia. Howard Hughes was misophobic.

He used tissue to protect himself from door knob germs.

[ForrestGump]

68. Misophobia? I thought that was fear of Japanese soup....

:P

[RobertSeattle]

17. And I push open Public doors with my fist - not my hand

Haven't been really sick in years...

[kmla]

21. I also flush the urinal with my elbow.

Think about it. If you grab the handle on the urinal with your hand, think about the guy before you. What was the last body part he touched before he grabbed that same handle? Hmmmmmm?

That is why if flush with my elbow.

[LuLu550]

22. my daughter does all of this

and she has OCD.
LuLu

[catpower2000]

23. Of course, it's disgusting NOT to...

So many people leave the bathroom without washing their hands, if I grabbed the bare door handle, I might as well smear their fresh feces all over my hands.

And if the restaurant is so stupid that they DON'T have a trashcan right next to the door, I throw the paper towel onto the floor beside the door after I get it open. They WILL learn eventually.

Cat

[WoodrowFan]

25. Don't make more work for unDER paid cleaning staff!

Leave it at your table with your napkin.
Sorry, meant to say UNDERpaid.

[catpower2000]

26. Unpaid?

How are they unpaid? What do you mean?

I worked in restaurants for ten years. I was a server, a host, and a cook. I know exactly who cleans the bathrooms--generally, it's either the host or the busperson.

As I said, if they keep finding paper towels in the same place on the floor every day, unless they're total morons, they're going to put a trash can there eventually, just because it's a pain in the ass to keep picking them up.

If you go to the local popular bar in your town, you will find a trash can next to the door in every bathroom, I guarentee it. They learned the hard way.

Cat

[Kamika]

27. ofcourse

I dont touch ANYTHING except the paper.. i put paper on the seat too.

[DS1]

28. If there's no paper

I'll grab the door by the top and open it what way, or use my foot, whatever. I'll always use some paper, or sans paper my damn tshirt, if the nasty fuck that used the door last took a shit and didn't wash his hands.

[commander bunnypants]

29. No cross contamination for me.

Worked in surgery for 10 years. I now wash my hands about 20 times a day.


DDQM

[YellowRubberDuckie]

30. Antibacterial...

All soap is Antibacterial in it's nature. Use warm water, lather for about thirty seconds and then rinse. George Carlin is right. The more alcohol you use on your keyboard, the more germ conscious you are, the less likely your immune system is going to work when that really bad virus hits your body. You've gotta build up immunity to stuff...or you're going to die too soon. But I do gotta say, I do flush the toilet with my foot and open the bathroom doors with napkins...and i love those places that don't have doors...just a maze you have to work to get into the bathroom and out. No gross door handles someone touches after peeing on their hands...:wtf: people? WASH YOUR FUCKING HANDS!! Humans piss me off...It should be illegal to be stupid.
Duckie

[nini]

33. I do.. so let's get on bathroom habits

I can't believe some of the high ranking 'professionals' at my job that do not NOT wash their hands after using the bathroom.

Hello??? didn't your mama teach you anything!

For that reason alone I use the paper towel to open the door. I don't consider myself a germ freak.. but I gotta tell you I haven't been sick like alot of my coworkers.. I haven't had a cold in about 3 years or anything else to call in sick for.

I'm sure washing the hands and using the towel on a bathroom door is a big part of it.

[ForrestGump]

34. Yep

Open doors with paper towels.

Flush urinals with my foot.

Often use my little finger (I've got strong fingers) to open a business' door, if it opens outward and I can't find a place to grab it other than the handle.

And so on.

I'm similarly 'obsessive' with food preparation.

I've worked in places where cross-contamination issues were a big deal and I've stuck with it because every time I visit a public restroom I'm reminded of how the vast majority of people seem to be unhygienic pigs.

I, too, am of the opinion that trying to live too germ free is not good, mentally or physically. I grew up in the country where I encountered more than my share of various pathogens - even today I end up in some 'rough' places, and in some situations I'll eat (or whatever) in a less-than-obsessively-clean manner if I have to.

But coliform bacteria (or worse) are not good for anyone, and neither are the various greeblies that unhygienic food preparation conjures up. We take enough risks when we eat at restaurants, or handle money (filthy stuff, coliform-wise - wash your hands before eating, after handling money, if you can!), so why no try to control them where we can? Why risk your health because some disgusting pig chooses not to wash his or her hands after wiping their putrescent bottoms?

And I'm another who'll toss the tissue or paper towel behind the restroom door if there's no handy receptacle, unless I know there's one along my path from there to egress from that clueless establishment. The restrooms with electrical hand dryers are the worst, unless their doors open outwards on exit, but that's when the T-shirt or, if necessary, pinky opening device comes in handy.

People are disgusting, and none of us needs to be ingesting anyone else's intestinal flora or parasites.

[Catherine Vincent]

35. So glad you brought this up!

Yes! People, please wash your hands when leaving the bathroom! Male and Females! There's this one female on our floor just irks me. Yeah, she rinses her hands with a few drops of water and THAT's IT! I have seen her do this a few times. This is a professional woman and is supposed to be intelligent. I would love to just tell her to use SOAP! Water is not enough to get the germs out.

[CBHagman]

50. cat_girl25, we must work in the same building!

I've seen the same sight you've seen, plus people who COUGH directly onto the food being shared at an office gathering. It almost doesn't bear thinking about...

:puke:

[AnnabelLee]

56. Yeah, what's up with that?

So many times, I have seen people let a little bit of water dribble ineffectually over their fingers, totally ignoring the soap...why bother?:shrug:

[commander bunnypants]

36. A cool thing about Delaware for guys. Sorry ladies

In that state you can use the highway toilets without touching anything but youself. Everything is automated. Kinda freaked me out the first time. Unlike Virginia, with heavy doors, smells like a urinal, paper towels no hand dryers.

DDQM

[trotsky]

63. Bathrooms at Target stores

All "magic", as my 4-yr-old son likes to say. Toilets and urinals flush when you walk away, similar sensors turn on the faucet. You still need a towel to open the door but it helps to not have to touch anything else!

[SOteric]

38. Pathologically,

Yes. I wash my hands with hot soapy water for a good length of time (long enough to sing Happy Birthday), not just after I use the restroom, but after I sneeze or scratch, or even tie my shoelaces.

In the event that I find one of those paperless 'air dryers' or a perpetual towel (Not exactly sanitary in and of itself) I tend to carry in my handbag a pack of tissues and a small pack of anti-bacterial wipes. Either of those is most workable for opening the door.

Here's a bit of information of which most are not aware:

Have you ever seen someone plop their grocery purchases into the upper basket of a grocery trolly? You know, the part designed for busy mothers to place their children into..? So...some child's bottom, covered in fecal material and urine barely contained by a rubber pant has been sitting in that basket. Grocery stores do not make it a habit to do more than hose them off once or twice a day, and people put food in it...

Call me whatever dismissive labels you like, that seems to me a recipe for disaster.

[ForrestGump]

40. Pathogenically?

:D

[GBD4]

72. Same thinking

<<Have you ever seen someone plop their grocery purchases into the upper basket of a grocery trolly? You know, the part designed for busy mothers to place their children into..? So...some child's bottom, covered in fecal material and urine barely contained by a rubber pant has been sitting in that basket. Grocery stores do not make it a habit to do more than hose them off once or twice a day, and people put food in it...>>

I was just thinking about food stores the other day! Think about the produce section. People touch all the fruit and then put it back if it doesn't seem to be acceptable. Then you buy that fruit, quickly rinse under water and eat it as if it's clean and edible! Regarding shopping carts, how bout all the hands that have touched that cart handle! And when the carts lie all over the parking lot in the dirt-filled medians, the workers lift the carts up and put them right back in the store and then you put your food in those carts.

[ForrestGump]

39. A LOT of people don't wash their hands after doing their bidness

http://www.washup.org/page03.htm

Mean 67%; far lower in some cities surveyed.

Icky.

And something like 40% of US paper currency is contaminated with coliform bacteria - that's right, the stuff you get from '#2' - though I'm not sure to what level. Still, hardly appetizing.

[SOteric]

41. Well, really, you can blame them

too horribly much for recognising the true worth of American currency.

:hi:

[ForrestGump]

42. I actually think that the $1000 bills

offer far greater quilted softness.....









Oooo - perhaps that's a bit graphic....


:hi:

[TXlib]

43. Public bathroom doors should open outwards

and require only a push, not a turn of a knob.

That way, you can open the door with your foot or elbow.

Yes, I usually use a paper towel, or else hook just my pinky around the handle to pull it open.

I really hate it when there's a knob, and no paper towels, leaving no way around putting your whole hand on the germ-laden ball of death.

[ForrestGump]

45. I usually just kick the door off its hinges in such cases

They can just rack it up as part of their cost of doing business - punishment for incurring the wrath of the Hygienator.

[bif]

52. Germ-laden ball of death!

Too funny! Thanks for the laugh.

[KCDem]

46. always!

Bathroom germs are gross.

I dread having to toilet train my second kid. Going through it once about made me a basket case. Kids touch the seat... ewww!

[protect freedom impeach bush now]

49. always !

cant stand it -- you usually see 50% or more who fail
to wash hands after going...

i SURE do NOT want to touch a door handle that has been touched
by 100s of unwashed hands -- hands that just held someones'
'drain lizards'.

[Kat45]

51. You don't want to know what I do!

Actually, I should say did. I have OCD, concentrated on a germ phobia. I had to wash my hands when I touched just about anything. I've been on meds for several years now, so my situation is much better. Last year was the first summer in years that I'd actually sit on the grass or on a wall outside! But I do carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer in my purse so I can use it before eating when I'm out of the house.

[bif]

54. What does OCD stand for?

Pardon my ignorance.

[Kat45]

55. Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Did you see the movie "As Good As It Gets"? Jack Nicholson's character had it. One of the better-known manifestations of the disease is when the person washes his or her hands constantly.

No need to be pardoned; you're lucky to not be familiar with it.

[David_REE]

53. I do.

[rusk2003]

57. I always do including my own bathroom door

[SuffragetteSal]

58. I've worked in the medical field

and have seen registered nurses walk out of the toilet and leave without washing their hands. Honest. Sorry to those clean nurses out there.

P.S. I usually use my elbows or hips to open doors when leaving, so as not to touch the handle.

[NightTrain]

59. Monk, perhaps?

n/t

[arwalden]

60. Restroom Doors Should PUSH OUTWARD....

You should never EVER have to turn a doorknob or pull a handle!!! EVER!!! (And I'm SERIOUS!!!)

-- Allen

[geniph]

61. I'm just thinking about when I worked around biochemists

and biologists...these guys never washed any of their dishes, and only washed their hands if they were handling something particularly infectious. None of them were ever sick. They swabbed the countertops with alcohol between cultures, and they kept their work equipment (petri dishes, pipettes, etc.) sterilized, but I don't think I ever saw one of them wash a coffee cup. Maybe they figured the internal alcohol they were administering had the same effect as wiping down the counters.

Some things aren't as bad as people think. Urine, for example, is actually quite sterile when it leaves the body. There's no compelling reason to wash your hands after you pee. I know that sounds disgusting, but it's true. It's feces that carries diseases. You can't catch much of anything from pee. It starts to stink after it breaks down into urea and ammonia, but that takes time, and I imagine most people will wash at least once a day!

On the other hand, I no longer touch my face with my hands in any public place unless I've just washed them. I don't get colds or eye infections or such much anymore, either. Touching your face after getting your hands on public surfaces is just asking for a cold.

Most pathogens are fairly short-lived in the environment. Rhinoviruses - colds - are particularly tough, that's one of the reasons colds are so infective. Staph and strep can also be very long-lived.

As with nearly everything else in life, I believe in moderation. If you have to use a public porta-potty to pee, and there's no way to wash your hands afterward, it's not worth risking a bladder infection to skip the chance to pee. You'll do yourself more physical damage by "holding it" than you're likely to do encountering a few pathogens. However, if you use the toilet from Trainspotting, I suggest a full-body ultraviolet and alcohol decontamination.

[trotsky]

64. Oh jeez I didn't need to be reminded of the Trainspotting toilet scene...

:puke:

[ArkDem]

71. This is going to upset all of the

obsessive/compulsive folks on this thread!

[ElsewheresDaughter]

62. me me me and i flush the bowl using my foot

and i never touch the fauscet handles either...i carry those anti-bacterial wipes for hands and use them before and after...that's the only time i use them

[blondeatlast]

67. I use my foot too.

[blondeatlast]

66. Yep--I see too many people who don't wash their hands. YUCK!

[aquaman]

69. This is a no brainer

Yes, I use a paper towel to open the door or to turn on the faucet.

[slackmaster]

70. Affirmative!

Ever since I saw the movie As Good As It Gets I no longer step on cracks in sidewalks either.

Seriously, I always use paper towels to open restroom doors at work and in public places.

[Cthulu_2004]

74. nope...

I can do just about everything I need to do to get into and out of a bathroom with my size 13 EEEE boot. ;-)