Wednesday, May 14, 2003

Don't Shake Their Hands...

Maybe it's just me, maybe it isn't. It scares me to think that it isn't.

Lately, I have noticed that more and more people exit the restroom without washing their hands. I suppose that I should first say that I do not consider myself to be a freak out about such matters and I am not a germophobic or anything.

Anyway, it seems to me that the number of people who leave the restroom without washing their hands is on the rise. And I don't count the people who come in to check their make-up or pick their underwear out of their butts. I mean the people who go in the stall, you hear them peeps, you hear them flush, you hear them zip... and then they walk right to the exit. Ew.

Although I am not obssessed with cleanliness (really, I'm not - take a peek at the backseat of my car... it's the stale french fry graveyard) I just can't imagine NOT washing my hands. Especially when it's nearing lunch and... ew.. I can't even think of it. Just today, as I left the restroom a lady was on her way out, saw me heading to the sink and stopped short. It was like she was only washing her hands because she knew I was watching. If I hadn't been there, she would have headed right back to her desk/meeting/lunch appointment (ew) without even looking at the sinks. But, since I was there, she kind of did the stop and rinse... not wash, but rinse with water for two seconds before rushing out the door.

It got me to thinking... most likely, if I wasn't there, this person wouldn't have paused to wash up. And even when I was there, and she felt somehow obligated to wash, she still just did a light rinse... that strikes me as odd, if not totally gross. Would you want to head into a meeting with someone who only washes when other people are watching? It reminds me of kids and how you have to convince them to brush their teeth... not because their breath smell like monkeys have died in between their teeth... or even that the kids at school will ridicule them and call them "dragon breath"... it's because it's good hygiene. Brush to keep the yuckies out and the cavities away... wash your hands to stop the transmission of germs. Period. There should be no room for debate.

I'm sure people with counter with arguements like "I only went number one" or "I used lots of toilet paper - my hands never touched anything" but I'm not buying... if you've been in a restroom, near a stall, in the general vicinity of a toilet - hand washing is a must. Really, how difficult is it? And do you know what sorts of creepy yucky things lurk in bacteria in a bathroom? Blech. 60 seconds under the faucet with soap and water isn't so much to ask... not for the sanity of the rest of us and the waning popularity of those who DON'T wash.

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