Personal cleanliness

When I press the button at the zebra crossing I use a tissue as I have been told those buttons are rife with nasties. I do then throw away the tissue.

Also I think the ATM keyboard and credit card readers keyboard look very mucky. Imagine all the fingers that have touched them and even worse where those fingers have been.

Blimey! I don't worry about any of those things and haven't been struck down by the dreaded lurgy yet...

Those who avoid touching beneath chairs , door handles , press buttons etc, I am curious how you cope with money ? Not mocking your fear of touching things.

It really doesn't worry me much. I always think - well, it is bolstering up my immune system.

The one and only time I felt slightly queasy was when I was having my septic tank emptied. The tanker driver placed the filthy hose in the smelly hole in the ground, then with his exceedingly grimy hand, ingrained with 'night soil' as it were, reached into his pocket, pulled out a plastic bag and proceeded to eat his sandwiches.

I have to say he looked remarkably healthy on it.

Oh they love their work, janer. The man who does ours usually calls me over to have a look and then waxes lyrical about solids and 'munching'

If I give money to the grandsons, I have to wash it first. At Xmas I gave DGS2 a load of pound coins in a pirate chest. Nice shiny ones DH got from the bank specially. I soaked all of them in disinfectant first.

It's funny though, when I'm out for the day, it can all go out of the window. I can buy chips with coins and eat them quite happily with my fingers.

No rhyme nor reason involved whatsoever.

(I even used to wash my children's Sunday School collection money)

#slightlynutty

I am with the don't worry so much brigade. When I went walking I would climb over styles that people with mucky boots had walked over. Sit and and eat my lunch without really washing my hands first.

However I always wanted to wipe the sticky food residue off my hands after I had eaten my sandwiches. I have never had any ill effects from this.

I do keep my kitchen reasonably clean. We all worry a bit too much but it is important to not subject others to one habits.

Most of us have pretty tough immune systems for thing like this we are more likely to pick up bugs from just being in a room with others. Grandchildren are the very worst source of bugs.

Don't get me started on my anti dettol antiseptic spray rant again.

The caption to Stansgrans rather scary picture of the petrie dish does say.

It’s safe to say almost everything you see growing in this specimen is harmless and in many cases even beneficial to a person’s immunity, but it just goes to show why we sometimes it’s good to wash our hands.

i was at a talk by a vet today. He said that on the first day of his course, the lecturer shook hands with everyone as they came in, and then when they were all seated he turned off the lights and put on ultra-violet ones instead. He had coated his hands before shaking theirs with something that showed up in that light.

It picked up traces everywhere They had gleaming hands, obviously, but they had all touched their noses, ears, cheeks, hair, seats, desks, notebooks, pens, clothes.

"This is why you should always wash your hands throughly after they have been up the back end of a cow, he said, or anywhere else! If that had been bacteria you would all be awash with it, and all you did was touch my hand with yours."

(Sorry about that, all you OCDers. Not a nice image for you.)

Not having a very strong immune system, I am beginning to worry after reading this thread. I do wear gloves for gardening, although I would prefer not to.
I do wash my hands reasonably often, and the only time I worry is if I have been to a public toilet, washed my hands then have to open the door to get out of the washroom - I always think of the people who didn't bother to wash their hands touching the door handle.



jingls you soaked the coins you gave to your DGS in disinfectant?

I am a very negligent GM.

After that talk, I'd be tempted to wear a space-suit. It was about zoonoses - transmissions from animals to humans and vice versa. He did keep emphasising that this, that, or the other was only very rarely transmitted. Oh yeah.

That is zoh-oh-noh-sees not zoo-noses. Most things in the zoo have noses but not so many have zoonoses.

I feel people are getting too anxious about cleanliness.

Obviously if there is someone who is undergoing chemotherapy or has a weak immune system for some other reason then it is necessary to be very mindful of the risks of cross-infection. On the whole, though, I think this preoccupation with germs is getting out of hand.

I am quite particular in my own home (though I don't use lots of anti-bacterial products for worktops, etc.) but outside of the home I'm not going to worry myself silly about door handles, handrails, etc. etc. because I think excessive worry is more damaging than a few germs.

I'll pass thanks Jing!

I've read that restaurant menus are dirty and you should wash your hands after ordering. I take my straw out of the glass if the waiter refills it with a pitcher. I don't want my straw touched by it accidentally. I've often touched my food after handling money. I think of how dirty money is but I just tempt fate! Can't always wash your hands.

I seen to be someone who is somewhat nonchalant about cleanliness after reading some these posts

I regularly wash my hands (thoroughly) and I do have a bottle of alcohol rub in the car (some houses I visit are very a bit unsanitary) but that's it.

I've rarely had a tummy upset so am either very lucky or naturally immune.
The only time I had norovirus was as a hospital patient.

I read a report recently about airline cleanliness. Apparently the food tray attached to the seat in front retains far more germs and nasties than any other part of an airline - including the loos.
One of my DDs lives in a guddle most of the time. Her children play in the mud, hardly ever wash their hands before meals (unless I am there!)and are generally free spirited if you get the gist, and are rarely unwell. I think it's true that a few germs do you no harm and build up a certain resistance. One can sometimes be too clean

I think we are a bit too over concerned with germs. Obviously care should be taken in certain circumstances - food handling, toilets, hospitals, and so on, but in general our immune system should be strong enough to deal with the everyday germs we encounter from door handles, menus, money, library books etc.
I love this picture I came across on FB, which says it all really

I have taken several cheap flights this summer and each time I have lowered the tray to rest my book on. Every time it has been filthy with left over food. I quickly shut them up again. The cleaners obviously don't bother with that bit!

x

I have taken to washing my hands after we've been on a bus or tram - there are times when I will change my trousers too, having had the distinct impression that someone with an incontinenece problem had been using the seat. Not that it was wet; just rather smelly! I clean the covers of library books when I get them home, which is very silly because the pages must carry just as many bugs.

Yes. I do those two things too Gd.

Now I'm going to stop reading this thread. It could make me worse.

OCD is a nightmare. Sometimes literally.

The most germ-ridden object is a kitchen dishcloth so as long as you know that everything else is relative?

I do sympathise though jingl et al x

If someone else has said this already I apologise. We were told when growing up that everyone eats a peck of dirt before they die. Was that just country lore? By the way I have no idea how much a peck is,only it's relationship to a bushell and I don't know how much that is either.

I was in a local healthfood cafe when the girl behind the counter gave me a cup that was dirty round the edges. When I complained, she licked her finger and ran it around the edge! I haven't been there since.

I'm with those who think a few germs do no one any harm. After all, you're removing the 'good' bacteria as well, when washing. I think braving some germs helps build up one's immune system. That said, I do take all sensible precautions, e.g. with raw chicken / washing hands after going to the toilet etc
But let's face it, however OCD you are, if you ever eat out - from the sleaziest coffee bar to the very best restaurants or hotels, - you have absolutely no control over what has happened in the kitchen. Even where there are the most stringent hygiene rules you can't really be sure that your plate of food isn't the one that someone sneezed over when no one was looking, or worse!

I think a bit more knowledge helps. Raw meat can harbour bacteria - there is bacteria in the gut of all chickens, as there is in the guts of all of us, and even the most hygienic handling on its way to the shop won't keep all of it out.

But the good news - heard it yesterday from the same vet I spoke of earlier - is that after 12 weeks of age the incidence of salmonella in the chicken decreases rapidly, so the full-grown ones are safer than those usually sold as chicken portions in the supermarkets. Traditionally, chickens were not killed for the table at such an unnaturally early age as now under intensive rearing.