Are men really dirtier than women?

[Huckleberry]

A few years ago I was watching the Tonight Show and he had a teacher on there from Middlesex Community College in Massachusetts who taught a course in proper handwashing. Leno was polite, ofcourse, but the whole scene was a spoof on her and the school and the absurdity of the class. The school has since stopped offering the class.

 

[Genecks]

I was my hands to avoid consuming arsenic.

About the only reason since I've watched detective conan. I don't want a woman I love to kill me by accident when I truly love her and it becomes too late for her to find out.

 

[EnumaElish]

I think we should wear gloves when we want to shake someone's hand or perhaps use tissue!

Oh, the perverse Western custom of taking off one's gloves for shaking hands!

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I've had a couple jobs where I had to clean the woman's restroom. They are ALWAYS more filthy than the mens room. Used toilet paper and used female hygiene products on the floor. AND the most annoying thing of all is that so many of them leave urine on the toilet seat because they 'hover' over the toilet instead of sitting on it. And why do they do this? Because of all the other broads like them that 'hover' over the toilet seats and leave urine on them!

Anyway while I always wash my hands I have no especial fear of germs. Back when I was pushing shopping carts and handling money I used to get sick at least once a year. In the past three years or so I haven't been sick once. There are certain things that carry quite a bit of germs and as long as you aren't over exposed to them you should be fine. Unless ofcourse your immune system are a bunch of pansies because you have been over protective of germ exposure.

 

[EnumaElish]

Maybe socially it's not desirable, but there is no threat to you if someone goes number 1 doesn't wash their hands, then shakes your hand. It is not something I would desire, but I won't worry about it. Really I would rather shake someones hand who has just fondled his penis, risk that so called contamination over the many other far more undesirables that come in contact with your hand every day.

What about STDs?

 

[EnumaElish]

I've had a couple jobs where I had to clean the woman's restroom. They are ALWAYS more filthy than the mens room. Used toilet paper and used female hygiene products on the floor. AND the most annoying thing of all is that so many of them leave urine on the toilet seat because they 'hover' over the toilet instead of sitting on it. And why do they do this? Because of all the other broads like them that 'hover' over the toilet seats and leave urine on them!

That's not unsanitary in itself.

 

[EnumaElish]

I was my hands to avoid consuming arsenic.

About the only reason since I've watched detective conan. I don't want a woman I love to kill me by accident when I truly love her and it becomes too late for her to find out.

Yeah, and you should also wait until she takes the first bite or sip. Not to mention goes to sleep before and wakes up after you.

 

[EnumaElish]

Women's restrooms were invariably dirtier than men's restrooms.

This makes me perversely aroused -- only slightly. Can you give any details?

P.S. I am trying to get to the bottom of the definition of dirtiness. I have seen men's bathrooms with the whole floor covered with urine smelling dampness. How can you beat that?

 

[matthyaouw]

I have seen men's bathrooms with the whole floor covered with urine smelling dampness. How can you beat that?

I've seen this too. I really have wondered how men do this... Surely their aim can't be that bad, and I've never seen a man simply pee all over the floor.

 

[hypermorphism]

I've seen this too. I really have wondered how men do this... Surely their aim can't be that bad, and I've never seen a man simply pee all over the floor.

I've seen a lot worse than just a damp floor. The creation of bathroom monstrosities must be an X-file somewhere.

 

[gravenewworld]

You can get Hepatitis from not washing your hands after going to the b room.

 

[Moonbear]

It's also a good way to spread staph infections. Don't wash your hands after using the restroom, go eat lunch, transfer bacteria from your butt to your mouth...yum.

 

[djeipa]

Moonbear, are you busy these days with new students coming to your lab?

 

[Moonbear]

Moonbear, are you busy these days with new students coming to your lab?

Nope, busy with me being new to my lab.

 

[Artman]

Back in 1996, the society first studied how often people follow mom's advice to always wash up after using the toilet. Researchers lingered in public restrooms, putting on makeup or combing their hair, while surreptitiously counting. They concluded about one-third of people did not wash.

Of course they would have washed their hands, but there was this creepy person lingering there counting.

 

[Gabrielle]

I've even heard people comment that they don't like to dine at restaurants because they're afraid that the kitchen doesn't follow proper hygiene practices.

 

[EnumaElish]

I always try to be nice to the waitre(ss). You never know how retaliatory they can be. (That's on top of my realization that they are there to earn an honest living and don't deserve to be dumped on by the customers.)

 

[Gabrielle]

I always try to be nice to the waitre(ss). You never know how retaliatory they can be. (That's on top of my realization that they are there to earn an honest living and don't deserve to be dumped on by the customers.)

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here. Is this is response to my post about dining at restaurants? I wasn't suggesting that customers ask the waiter or waitress about the hygiene practices of the kitchen staff. What do you mean by saying, "You never know how retaliatory they can be"? If I complained about something, (I have sent things back to the kitchen before), I would do it in a respectful manner, quietly and patiently.

 

[El Hombre Invisible]

It's not unfeasible for a gent to relieve himself without needing to lay hands upon his weapon directly. You can spot the adopters of this technique by their Elvis-like hip wiggle. Beyond that, I've often wondered about the necessity for hand-washing after a stand-up. So long as there is no ricochet effect, which is a danger, what precisely are we washing off? As long as we keep our equipment squeaky clean, and those who are always (maybe over-optimistically) prepared for an impromptu early birthday treat do just that, then the recipient of our shaky-handy greeting has more to worry about the germs already on our hands, whether they were recently in physical contact with our pride and joy or not. Agree or no?

 

[Artman]

A couple was sitting at a table in a fancy restaurant and they noticed that all the male waiters all had a string hanging out of their trouser zipper and a spoon in their vest pocket. As the evening went on the couple got more and more curious about this. So they decided to ask their waiter about the string and the spoon.

The waiter slightly embarrassed said, "Well, the owner had an efficiency expert come in and evaluate us. The expert said that too much time was spend running for spoons when someone would drop one, so he said we should each carry one."

The man said, "Okay, but what about the string?"

"Well, he also said that we could save a lot of time if we tied a string to our penis. That way, when we used the bathroom we could just pull down our zipper and pull on the string to go, without touching ourself and save cleanup time."

At this point, a lady sitting at the next table drops her spoon and three waiters take the spoon out of their vest to hand to her.

The man then says, "Okay, I can see how the string could help you get your penis out, but how do you put it back in?"

"I don't know about the other guys, but I just use the spoon."

 

[honestrosewater]

Thanks, guys.

 

[arildno]

It's not unfeasible for a gent to relieve himself without needing to lay hands upon his weapon directly. You can spot the adopters of this technique by their Elvis-like hip wiggle. Beyond that, I've often wondered about the necessity for hand-washing after a stand-up. So long as there is no ricochet effect, which is a danger, what precisely are we washing off? As long as we keep our equipment squeaky clean, and those who are always (maybe over-optimistically) prepared for an impromptu early birthday treat do just that, then the recipient of our shaky-handy greeting has more to worry about the germs already on our hands, whether they were recently in physical contact with our pride and joy or not. Agree or no?

Well, as you probably know, the words "testament" and "testify" derive from the word "testes", meaning "testicles".
This refers to the ancient custom that when males made vows and contracts with each other, they did by placing their hand upon the other guy's genitalia, or at least some part of those.
This custom is euphemized in the Bible as "placing the hand on the other's thigh". Some Indonesian peoples (I think) still use this way to solemnize treaties.
Needless to say, we've euphemized this old practice into giving each other just a good hand-shake.
Of course, I personally wouldn't mind too much if this custom was to be revived in its old form in modern day Western culture; I merely pointed out that the intimacy transferral connected with unwashing might not be wanted by the majority of Westerners today..

 

[Moonbear]

Even if you managed to get through the entire restroom trip without touching anything, since you're right there by the sinks anyway, it seems like a reasonable opportunity to wash your hands anyway. You should wash your hands several times a day just to wash off things like cold and flu viruses that you pick up from door knobs and hand rails and then infect yourself with when you rub your eyes or touch your mouth.

 

[Danger]

I wash my hands religiously.

And do you pray to the soap god then?

Yes, for strength - and to the germ god for mercy. Doesn't everyone?

And you wash with holy water? (Or is that your sister's name?)

 

[honestrosewater]

And you wash with holy water? (Or is that your sister's name?)

No, for some reason holy water burns my skin. I use lye water, which does happen to be my sister's name.

 

[Gabrielle]

Even if you managed to get through the entire restroom trip without touching anything, since you're right there by the sinks anyway, it seems like a reasonable opportunity to wash your hands anyway. You should wash your hands several times a day just to wash off things like cold and flu viruses that you pick up from door knobs and hand rails and then infect yourself with when you rub your eyes or touch your mouth.

You're right. Who wouldn't be willing to take a few extra minutes to avoid getting a cold or flu? It's not just a matter of washing your hands after using the bathroom. It's important to wash your hands before handling or preparing food no matter what you've been doing.

I don't like to eat food after I've made change at the drive-up window at a fast food restaurant. It's easy to forget about the handwashing routine in a case like this because we don't have access to a bathroom until we return to work or home unless we make the extra effort to pull over and go inside to use the restroom. That kind of defeats the purpose of using the drive-up window. If I do eat a hamburger or whatever it is I happen to be eating, I'll hold the wax paper wrapper in such a way so my hands aren't actually touching it. The french fries are a little trickier though. Usually I just bring it back to work with me. Yes, handling money is another excuse to wash our hands. I don't think that aspect has been discussed in this thread.

I'm borrowing a very valuable, informative quote from a poster on another discussion board. It divulges the ultimate, hand washing experience. It's a good one:

As to my public restroom habits, I always flush the toilets using my shoes, I absolutely refuse to touch the handle with my hand. I then crank out a little bit of paper and leave it there. I then proceed to wash my hands vigorously with liberal amounts of soap. When I'm done rinsing my hand, I then tear off the strip of paper and use it to cover the paper dispenser handle and crank out more paper. I then use the strip to turn off the water. When I'm done drying my hands, I open the door using the paper towel and throw it out either once I'm outside of the bathroom or if the trash can is close enough to toss it into before the door closes.

By doing that, I minimize my exposure to the various wonderful things human bodies are capable of producing. That said, I absolutely love automatic toilets, automatic water facuets, automatic soap dispensers, and automatic air hand dryers or paper dispensers. Now we just need a bathroom that cleans up after itself.

 

[Moonbear]

I'm borrowing a very valuable, informative quote from a poster on another discussion board. It divulges the ultimate, hand washing experience. It's a good one:

What I really hate about advice like that is that the bathroom wouldn't be nearly as dirty for everyone else if people like that didn't put their feet on the handles that you're supposed to touch with your hands or grab the handle on the paper towel dispenser BEFORE washing their hands rather than after when their hands are clean. Now the next person to get a paper towel AFTER washing their hands is going to pick up whatever germs that other person left behind.

 

[Gabrielle]

What I really hate about advice like that is that the bathroom wouldn't be nearly as dirty for everyone else if people like that didn't put their feet on the handles that you're supposed to touch with your hands or grab the handle on the paper towel dispenser BEFORE washing their hands rather than after when their hands are clean. Now the next person to get a paper towel AFTER washing their hands is going to pick up whatever germs that other person left behind.

You've made a good point. I suppose they could grab a piece of toilet paper before they come out to wash their hands and then use that to hold onto the handle of the paper towel dispenser. It takes a little extra effort and ingenuity. I guess you have to stop and figure out if it's worth the extra forethought and effort. It might sound like we're going a little overboard or turning somersaults to remain germ-free. We're facing flu season though.

 

[Moonbear]

You've made a good point. I suppose they could grab a piece of toilet paper before they come out to wash their hands and then use that to hold onto the handle of the paper towel dispenser. It takes a little extra effort and ingenuity. I guess you have to stop and figure out if it's worth the extra forethought and effort. It might sound like we're going a little overboard or turning somersaults to remain germ-free. We're facing flu season though.

I don't know a huge number of people who are germ-phobic to that degree, but the few that I have run into, I notice seem to be the ones who are sick all the time anyway. I could speculate many things based on that observation; 1) maybe they're germ-phobic because they get sick often and are desperately trying to do anything possible to avoid more illnesses, 2) maybe they have always been excessively clean/germ-phobic, and that has left them with too little exposure to common germs to build up normal immunity, 3) maybe their obsession focuses on only specific sources of germs, such as paper towel dispensers in public bathrooms and leaves them with a false sense of security so they are not as cautious about things like rubbing their eyes or putting their hands to their mouth and transferring germs from sources they don't think about, like handrails on stair cases, or walking through a crowded mall.

Maybe there are even more explanations, or maybe my small sample size doesn't reflect the more general population of germ-phobes, or maybe I'm a biased observer because I take more note of the health of someone who is obsessed over illness than someone who does not much complain.

Oh, on the topic of the coming cold and flu season, why won't sick people stay home?! I do start washing my hands very frequently at that time of year because all the sick people come to work, cough and sneeze on their hands then touch everything! They come in insisting they can't miss a day of work, but they are totally unproductive, or worse, make a lot of mistakes because they're sick, and infect everyone else. If someone has the flu and should be home, that's where I want them to be. I'll personally do their work for them if it can't wait for their return if they'll just not get everyone else sick. If they've run out of sick days because they've already had to stay home with three sick kids during flu season, I won't even ask them to report the absence, I'd rather they lie and pretend they were at work when they aren't than to bring their germs in and render everyone unable to work.

 

[Gabrielle]

I have plenty of sick leave. I only use it for doctor and dentist appointments. I have 960 hours of sick leave--213.94 hours have lapsed but I don't lose it permanently. I can get that sick leave back if I should ever need it for catastrophic illness. I also have 270.6 hours of vacation. I can't accumulate more than 320 hours of vacation. I have a lot because I only take one or two days at a time. I don't use a lot of time. If I had children at home, that would be another story. Of course, you need to stay home when you have small children at home with the usual childhood illnesses.