[driftdiver]

"If they would just wash their hands after they use the bathroom...."

50% of men and 33% of women do not wash their hands after going to bathroom. Doesn't matter whether its #1 or #2.

Remember that the next time you pull a coffee stirrer out of the cup at the office.

[Bob J]

And then they open the restroom door with the same hands. You know, the one you have to open to get out.

How often do you think maintenance sanitizes the door handle?

[Abathar]

On a side note I own a tool and die shop, and when you cut hard steel with small sharp carbide endmills you get tiny chips that are far sharper than any needle, and so small you can't see them. We make sure to wash well BEFORE we use the john, there was one case when an employee asked for a pair of tweezers and then went back into the stall for a long, long time. He still hasn't lived that one down....

[Lijahsbubbe]

50% of men and 33% of women do not wash their hands after going to bathroom. Doesn't matter whether its #1 or #2.

That's exactly why I don't like those pot luck deals. Or the community popcorn/potato chip bag. Ish.

[Scoutmaster]

When I first went to work in a hospital I took a sanitation class taught by the nurse in charge of the hospital's infection control. What an eye opener.

She read from reports about the amount and types of bacteria found on the faucet handles and inside door handles of public restrooms . . . following that up with slides of cultures taken from the "average" public restroom faucet or door handle.

After teaching the proper way to wash hands (friction, friction, friction), she taught a hand-washing method that involved three paper towels: one to dry your hands (while the faucet is left running); one to turn off the faucet; and one to open the door (if you can prop open the door with a foot and throw the towel into a trash can by the door, fine; if not, take the third paper towel to the nearest trash can outside the restroom). Wash your hands and then turn off the faucet? What a waste of time! That faucet's the one you touched BEFORE you washed your hands, and you've added the germs/bacteria from everyone else who turned the water on. Wash your hands and then open the restroom door without using a paper towel? The 50% of people who don't washed touched that handled after using the restroom. You've just shaken hands with a dozen to a few hundred people who just used the restroom.

She said the worst situation was the McDonald's-type restroom, with only a hot air dryer. Lots of people who would otherwise wash their hands don't do so if no paper towels are available . . . and if you use the hot air dryer, you're more likely to quit drying while your hands are still damp. Damp hands + inner restroom door covered with crud from everyone who didn't wash after using the restroom = worst possible situation.

I use the method. My wife and kids think I'm paranoid -- but then again, they didn't see the slides of the petri dishes cultured from public restrooms.