Washblog

Why am I pointing this out now? Because I'm a guy and I use men's restrooms and see everyone's behavior. And should the avian bird flu virus hit, or equivalently nasty bug, it'll likely kill me. A fate I'd prefer to avoid for a bit longer, thank you very much.

We all know that men claim to wash their hands, but don't. Even after doing "number 2". Which is incredibly icky. My observation is that around 30% of men rinse their hands, and 15% use soap. (I can't speak for the hygiene habits of women.)

I understand that washing your hands is still a new idea for many of you. And that there's no shortage of confusing opinions from bozos who deny the germ theory of disease.

Regardless, in the reality-based community, it's understood that washing your hands is the easiest, most effective way to prevent the transmission of disease.

It's also good manners.

There are thousands of people who are immune suppressed: HIV, organ transplants, graft vs host disease (after a bone marrow transplant), auto-immune diseases, chemotherapy, etc. Even the elderly, infirm, children, or merely stressed out people have weakened immune systems.

I was fussy about germs before my bone marrow transplant. During the course of the treatment, the staff indoctrinate you to be obsessive compulsive. Not Howard Hughes level craziness. Though pretty close. The alternative is death. Of late, I've trying to relax my regime, purposefully exposing myself to more germs, in an effort to build up the immunities that had I lost. I still do stuff like using a towel to open bathroom doors and try not to touch my face.

Of course, I indoctrinated my son. Adherence is always spotty. The way to know if someone washed their hands, versus just wetted their fingers, is to feel between the fingers.

I'll share one last anecdote. A former girlfriend was really into dancing (e.g. ballroom, swing, etc.). There's a lot of hand touching in dance. Her and her friends were talking about the issue, wondering about some of the men. She wanted an honest assessment from a guy about male hand washing. I told her that so many men don't wash their hands, and there's no way to predict who actually washes (regardless of appearance), it's just easier to assume that no one does.

Said briefly, men are yucky. I say this so that women know to start applying withering peer pressure on the men in their lives.

That is all.