Hey everyone,
I was wondering if anyone has any germ phobias. For instance, any of you cats out there open public bathroom doors with a paper towel? How about using a paper towel to turn on the faucet and shut it back off before using a fresh one to open the door?
 My personal gross out thing is at the gym, the disinfectant spray bottles are always draped with wet, already used rags. I can’t stand to touch them. I take an extra towel just for wiping the treadmill off. I think it’s cleaner to leave the sweat on the machine than to shuffle it around with soppy bacteria-infested towels…not that I have compulsive tendencies or anything.
 A friend of mine, Jennifer, is working on a hilarious book about germs. I’ll have a link to her site soon, but meanwhile, leave a comment or two regarding your germ-phobe ways, germ loving ways or those of the people you know and love!!!
Remember, in a lot of ways, germs are our friends.
Hey Kathie! I send my son to the restroom at the pool with his flip-flops on. some people laugh at this- it seems normal to me. I don’t open public bathroom doors with a papertowel, however, I am soooo glad that there are now electronic sinks and papertowel dispensers. Now, when my son washes his hands, he is not actually collecting “more” germs–or at least I hope not!
Mimi
I’m in healthcare…or, I was. Germs just don’t worry me. Mostly because frequent and proper handwashing pretty much take care of the worst of them. Most of the others just don’t live long on surfaces. The paper towel thing is a great idea. Healthcare people do it all the time. We close faucets with elbows, also. Beyond that, we try to keep our hands away from our faces.
But do I panic over who used the shopping cart ahead of me? Do I maniacally keep Clorox Cleanup in business by spraying the world ahead of me as I go?
Nope.
Kids need germs to build their immune systems. That snotty nosed toddler isn’t sick, his immune system is going into action. When kids start daycare, they get runny noses. If they skip daycare and go to preschool, their noses run then, or when they start kindergarten. The noses run for a year. Then they stop.
Do your kid a favor, let him play in the dirt. Let him eat Cheerios off the floor. Don’t freak out when the snot-nosed three-year old plants a great big wet one on him.
Hey Mimi, good one…M.G. I actually live by the advice that dirt and germs are good for the kids immune system. It just freaks me out to think of certain things that hundreds of people touch every day…weird dichotomy, I know….
Public washrooms.
Erp.
Otherwise….
I know, Mignon. I actually do my best not to use any santizing products at all for that very reason. Though, we did have a bird in the house that crapped on the countertop. I thought that was worthy of a lysol antibacterial wipe. But otherwise, I feel very attuned to the let the dirt sit set.
oh, I realize this completely contradicts my germ phobia at the gym and grocery store…I guess that’s what keeps me from being a full-fledged germaniac…
Oh my gosh…do you really want to know???
I NEVER touch public restroom door handles or knobs. I use my sleeve if it’s long, or a paper towel, or, in a pinch, my left pinky (because it’s the least likely finger to find its way to my mouth!).
I NEVER flush public toilets with my hand — I use my foot (and have trained my daughters to do the same).
I have trained my children to ALWAYS wash their hands immediately upon arriving home from ANYWHERE. In fact, they are so well trained that I don’t even have to tell them anymore…they march straight to the kitchen sink!
I use my knuckle, and NOT my fingertip, when punching in my PIN number or using any sort of “press the buttons” thing for payment or the like. I will NOT use the plastic “pen” to push the buttons on an LED screen unless they won’t work without it.
Need I go on? 🙂 I’m a total germ freak. A huge number of illnesses are passed surface-to-hand-to-orafice, so the less touching thata goes on, the better. And hand-washing is a must!
Now that you know that I’m even MORE neurotic than you imagined, will you still want to read me? LOL
(((hugs)))
Oh, and also…
I am very anti-antibacterial soap. I believe they are awful for the immune system. We just use “regular” hand soap without the nasty chemicals added.
And I strongly agree that playing in the dirt is good for children! It’s just not good for my carpets….
I try not to touch public bathroom surfaces with my bare skin after washing my hands.
The other day my friend’s girlfriend got mad at him because she coughed (she had a cough at the time) and then she noticed that he had held his breath so as not to catch whatever she’s got. Hahaha.
I think money is nasty. I read somewhere that money is worse than public toilet seats. Of course this is from a woman whose son has ingested coins, necessitating x-rays, so I’m biased.
When I saw some news show on TV about the germs you get on your toothbrush by leaving it in the bathroom, I moved my toothbrush into the bedroom. The only bad thing is it just looks stupid having your toothbrush sitting in a cup in your bedroom. So, I moved it into the hallway, into a bookcase. But my wife didn’t like it there — what will guests think? — so now it’s in the den.
So there is a new washer out by samsung. It cleans with cold water and silver ions. What do people think about spending $1300 for a washer and never using hot water again? Plus your clothes should be cleaner (i.e. all the bacteria are really dead)?
Jennifer
Neil, that hit the spot. I moved the kids tooth brushes into the kitchen and my husband blew a gasket as though I decided to store dirty diapers there. I admit toothbrushes are gross, but come on, their pre-schoolers. Jennifer–I couldn’t purchase that thing even if had the cash because I’d never believe it worked. Jaye, the money thing–block it out, block it out. Use your debit card baby and employ Jillian’s touch pad method…that ought to work.
elkay elkay