Wash Much? Just a Thought
Tiffanie Meador
Issue date: 2/23/10 Section: Opinion
A public restroom can be a scary place, primarily because people do not treat them like it's their own. Yet, why is it that if restrooms are so germ-infested, do countless people not wash their hands after using the facilities?
If you ask me, it's disgusting, not to mention a disservice to the rest of us that actually do care about personal hygiene.
Let us begin our discussion with the construction and installation of the illustrious restroom door.
On occasion, I will see the ideal door situation, and for those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, I mean a pull-in push-out door. This setup allows for nasty people who don't care about spreading various strands of infectious diseases (like E. coli) to not wash their hands. Still, those who do care will not have to wrap their newly-washed, germ-free hands around a newly-tainted door handle. However, fewer and fewer restroom doors have this construction.
Let's move on to the restrooms without doors. This has many upsides. Low cost, since no door is purchased, and there's no door for either party to wrangle with. Then we all win. Dirty ones, clean ones, no one has to touch anything. Still, I implore you to think about what those nasty hand-washing boycotters will touch after they exit the door-less restroom and invade the world of the hygienically conscious.
I admit it. I am slightly obsessive compulsive, which is what brings me to my next point.
There are some options for those of us who do wash our hands but who have to open a pull-out door; paper towels. Of course, a few things need to be in place for this "plan-B" to work. With that being said, please allow me to extend a grateful thanks to those business establishments (ranging from grocery stores and restaurants to gas stations and movie theaters) that leave a trashcan by the door. This enables people such as myself that are avoiding touching the cesspool of germs lying on the door handle, to simply bring along the paper towel they have just used to dry their clean hands, and use it as a shield over the door handle. Simple disposal is right at your feet. The plan is brilliant, unless of course you happen to be somewhere that does not use paper towels but air driers instead.
If you ask me, it's disgusting, not to mention a disservice to the rest of us that actually do care about personal hygiene.
Let us begin our discussion with the construction and installation of the illustrious restroom door.
On occasion, I will see the ideal door situation, and for those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, I mean a pull-in push-out door. This setup allows for nasty people who don't care about spreading various strands of infectious diseases (like E. coli) to not wash their hands. Still, those who do care will not have to wrap their newly-washed, germ-free hands around a newly-tainted door handle. However, fewer and fewer restroom doors have this construction.
Let's move on to the restrooms without doors. This has many upsides. Low cost, since no door is purchased, and there's no door for either party to wrangle with. Then we all win. Dirty ones, clean ones, no one has to touch anything. Still, I implore you to think about what those nasty hand-washing boycotters will touch after they exit the door-less restroom and invade the world of the hygienically conscious.
I admit it. I am slightly obsessive compulsive, which is what brings me to my next point.
There are some options for those of us who do wash our hands but who have to open a pull-out door; paper towels. Of course, a few things need to be in place for this "plan-B" to work. With that being said, please allow me to extend a grateful thanks to those business establishments (ranging from grocery stores and restaurants to gas stations and movie theaters) that leave a trashcan by the door. This enables people such as myself that are avoiding touching the cesspool of germs lying on the door handle, to simply bring along the paper towel they have just used to dry their clean hands, and use it as a shield over the door handle. Simple disposal is right at your feet. The plan is brilliant, unless of course you happen to be somewhere that does not use paper towels but air driers instead.
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