It’s cold and flu season, which means entire offices are being taken down by the germs and bugs that people pass around because they are not exercising even the most basic office and germ prevention etiquette.
I’m talking about you, people who go into the restroom, use it, then walk out without washing your hands. You nasty. I’m talking about you, people who show up to work even though you know you are sick—just so you can be a martyr and show everyone how dedicated you are. There you sit, in your cubicle, coughing and sneezing over everything and everybody. You nasty too.
The CDC says that only 31 percent of men and 65 percent of women wash their hands after using the bathroom. Gross.
I’ve seen these people at work, and it is disgusting to behold. I had a former coworker that I watched come out of the stall, stop in front of the mirror (under which sat the damn sinks and soap!) fix her hair and makeup, and then walk out of the bathroom as if nothing had happened. Are you serious?
And if she did that, think about how many other people walked out that door without washing their hands—all touching the handle as they went out.
This is why I use a paper towel to open the door when I leave the restroom. This is why I use hand sanitizer after I have exited the restroom, even though I washed my hands while I was in there.
People are nasty, and this is how germs get spread around. Spreading those germs gets everyone sick. Why would you do that?
I don’t understand the thinking behind not washing your hands after using the bathroom. Everything you touch in there has been touched by someone else, and if you are in public, that means those things have been touched by a lot of someone elses. Just start counting in your head the number of germs and other things they have left behind on those same surfaces.
I want to just fall out right now thinking about it.
And if you want to horrify yourself even more, WebMD was kind enough to put together this list of “12 Public Hot Spots for Germs.” It includes such things as the soap dispenser you are skipping right by as you leave the bathroom without washing your nasty ass hands, restaurant menus—which it says can have 100 times more bacteria than a toilet seat, shopping carts, hotel room remote controls and ATMs.
The bottom line is WASH YOUR DAMN HANDS.
It cannot be stressed enough. I wash my hands so much during a day I have little bottles of lotion everywhere to keep from being ashy. It’s a thing, but I’m a germaphobe.
I encourage the rest of you to become germaphobes too and start washing your damn hands.
Because, ugh. Y’all nasty.