Posted on 02/15/2007 8:46:13 AM PST by Froufrou
Your office desk harbors far more bacteria than your workplace restroom, and if you're a woman, chances are your workspace has more germs than your male co-workers', a new research report shows.
Women have three to four times the number of bacteria in, on and around their desks, phones, computers, keyboards, drawers and personal items as men do, the study by University of Arizona professor Charles Gerba showed.
Gerba, a professor of soil, water and environmental sciences, tested more than 100 offices on the UA campus and in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oregon and Washington, D.C. The $40,000 study was commissioned by the Clorox Co.
"I thought for sure men would be germier," Gerba said. "But women have more interactions with small children and keep food in their desks. The other problem is makeup."
Don't get Gerba wrong: Women's desks typically looked cleaner. But the knickknacks are more abundant, and cosmetics and hand lotions make prime germ-transfer agents, Gerba said. Makeup cases also make for fine germ homes, along with phones, purses and desk drawers.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I can't function without having a clean desk, with everything in it's proper place and nothing cluttering it, except the items I am using at that moment. Call it OCD to some degree. When I go home, there is nothing but the computer, phone and calendar on my desk.
I can understand how some can't function without the mess and seem to know where everything is, but I can't imagine being one of those people.
My boss is one of those people. And for her, she loses stuff ALL the time and by the time and/or doesn't realize she has the paperwork and gets upset when she doesn't know what you're talking about. Then she'll find some papers, where the issues have already been handled or the work got left undone for a really long time. It's a big complaint for a lot of people here at my office and they wonder how she's V.P. of operations.
If I win the Lotto Im doing that too.
"The, "he leaves it down" thing is just whining.'
I always left the toilet seat down for my wife. She appreciated it and rewarded my thoughtfulness by nagging me about something else.
bathroom faucets and door handles are disgusting. The average desk is worse according to this study.
I don't know if women keep their workspaces dirtier than men, but they certainly have a filthy bathroom. Ask any janitor.
"and have 100 times the work on their desk that men have!"
And yet still get nothing done.
:)
I read that the article says the average desk has more germs. Should we also be concerned about the type of germs, too?
Maybe I'll have to use the multi-towel technique if I have to use something from my secretary's desk drawer (she's a notorious at-the-desk-snacker).
You said: Yea, but women don't leave the toilet seat up.
***
No, they fail to leave the toilet seat up, but let's not hold it against them.
If it's a pull door I use a napkin - if it's a push door I use my shoulder. In either case I always try to take advantage of someone else opening the door.
At my office the toilettes automatically flush. For some reason that doesn't happen at home. ;-)
Women work majic while the men talk talk talk and have meetings. We do 10 times the work in 10 times less time. And you guys know it.
They were counting germs, not screws, nuts and bolts which carry no infectious agents.
These type of articles amuse me. We live in a sewer of germs. They are on US in US and all around US. But guess what. Most do not bother US and some even are necessary ie gut bacteria. These articles are good for making some people germphobic to the point of abnormality. The person who always wears gloves, will only open the door with a covered hand etc. In other words they are stupid and useless.
"Women work majic while the men talk talk talk and have meetings."
Women use 25k words a day and men use 10k a day.
"We do 10 times the work in 10 times less time. And you guys know it."
You certainly talk about doing work a lot more. :)
I am the facility manager here as well and can attest to this without consulting the poor janitor. Some of the things I have seen.....
I found it amusing, too. People as you described are probably afflicted with OCD.
and complain 10 times more about it...(ducking)
My boss has a lava lite (the kind with little shiny bits) that plugs into a USB port. I borrowed it, but I found that I am distracted by little shiny bits.
Has the lava lamp been there since the '70's?
Probably. I think I see the corner of a PDP-8 at the edge of the picture.
"Makeup cases also make for fine germ homes, along with phones, purses and desk drawers."
A group did a study of public restroom cleanliness (germs). They found that the bottom of the women's purses was dirtier than the inside door handle. Women would often put their purses on the floors and then carry them out and plop them on their desk.
Stated more generally:
"Perhaps the bacteria are spread by vigorous and frequent intercourse."
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