GERMS
Don D
9,834 Posts
The bathroom bandit post and RAD's comment about using a tissue to turn off the water and open the door bring this to mind. Our New Orleans safety seminar was very professionally done by J.J.Keller & Associates. At one point the topic was transfering germs and bacteria among people. For some reason, the instructor walked down the aisle and shook hands with 5 people and told them he had enjoyed having them in the seminar. Then he went on with his presentation. Soon, he told everybody to hold up their hands in the air and he flipped off the lights. He turned on a little 'black lite' he had up at the podium. The right hand of those he had shaken hands with glowed bright white. Lights on. That's how quickly and easily germs are spread in the workplace, especially restaurants, he explained. And, he said, surveys reveal that 90% of the people coming out of restrooms did not wash their hands. Then he told them each to go and wash their hands, this one for a full minute, this one for 45 seconds, this one for 30, and so on. They came back in and he did the light trick again showing that even some of them had washed nothing away and none of them had a clean hand entirely. He revealed a chemical powder he said trainers use in restaurant training using this experiment. He also said, as RAD did, that he always turns off the water with a paper towel and opens the door with one and then throws it back into the trash can.
For those of us who have our toothbrush hanging or standing in an open container, he also said that when you flush a toilet, the bacteria on the water is dispersed through the air for 20 feet in all directions, invisibly. He recommended for that reason that we always run our toothbrush under scalding hot water before using it.
The thing that bugs me the most is to be at a restaurant about to eat and somebody appears whom I know and they walk over to shake hands. I'm eating with clean hands (and a fork of course) and have to shake God knows what and continue eating.
For those of us who have our toothbrush hanging or standing in an open container, he also said that when you flush a toilet, the bacteria on the water is dispersed through the air for 20 feet in all directions, invisibly. He recommended for that reason that we always run our toothbrush under scalding hot water before using it.
The thing that bugs me the most is to be at a restaurant about to eat and somebody appears whom I know and they walk over to shake hands. I'm eating with clean hands (and a fork of course) and have to shake God knows what and continue eating.
Comments
And the problem is that you don't know the level of hygiene being used by those who prepare your food. My husband and I once were having a drink at a bar - not an upscale bar, but a nice one - and my husband left to use the restroom. And so did the bartender. When my husband came back, he said tht the bartender had not washed his hands after using the urinal. We left the bar.
The good news is that I have lived through it - more years than I think anyone else on this Forum and I seldom get sick. Built up immune system????
Elizabeth
But San Francisco makes a point: If everything were absolutely 100% squeaky clean and sanitary, mankind would never have built up any immunity to any of the horrible creepncrud thingies out there. x;-)
Am I the only one who flushes with the toilet seat cover down? My toothbrush is safe.
Elizabeth
I hate it when people discuss these things - y'know it's not a very clean world with all us dirty humans running around. Germs abound. And Lord knows every once in a while we find stuff in served food that can really put you off. But goodness sake, this is our world, and this is how we have survived for quite some time.
I think your instructor is paranoid, and O/C as well.
PS - My toothbrush is in another room.
Not that I want a food handler to leave the bathroom without washing his/her hands, or have my toothbrush contaminated (UGH!), but mankind lived through times when there was a lot less sanitation. Although there was that little thing called the plague. Oh, well, we got a shot for that in the military, right?
Ah Don.... I will start closing the lid before I flush and try to get my wife and son to do likewise. Maybe I'll post a nice big sign above the toilet.
And you don't have to throw your toothbrush holder away, that would be sad x:-( You can get toothbrush covers in CVS. I was watching a special on CNN a few nights ago and the doctor said that drying your toothbrush fully protects against germs as does soaking it in mouthwash for a few minutes. He also said the same thing about kitchen sponges, I keep mine on a soap holder so that its not flat on the sink and dries all the way through. He said they should be replaced every two weeks, something I did not know but now will do.
I used to always tell them that all those germs they protected themselves from on the fawcet and bathroom door now cling to their hands ten-fold! They agreed, but didn't see the irony.
I'm not obsessive - I wash my hands before leaving the bathroom, but don't use antibacterial stuff. My immune system's fairly hearty. You'll drive yourself batty if you think of all the microbes and biobes floating around us every day, all the time!:-S
This is the one area that I just get grossed out over - why don't adults know to wash their hands?! I'm not paranoid and agree that we need germs to build our immune systems. We can't avoid them completely anyway. Think about your kids at school and all those little hands on everything. That could really bother someone if they thought about it too much.
"Why should men have to wash their hands after using the bathroom, it's just like touching your arm."
I quickly advised him that he can touch his arm any time he wants but don't touch any food we both might eat until AFTER I have, don't touch my desk or any thing on it, don't use my pens and especially don't use my phone!!
Like touching an arm my butt!! PUN INTENDED!
Count me as one of the group that uses the paper towels I just used to dry my hands to open the door. Especially during the cold and flu season.