Slog - Comments on More Bad Behavior in Men's Restrooms

Comment by The CHZA

The CHZA — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 11:21:39 -0800

Unless you shower weekly or fondle your gooch to pass the time while you're pissing, washing your hands after going #1 in a men's restroom has never seemed hugely necessary to me.

Comment by flamingbanjo

flamingbanjo — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 11:31:37 -0800

So it's legal to surveil people in public restrooms if you're doing it "for science?"

Comment by Mahtli69

Mahtli69 — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 11:35:57 -0800

I usually wash. The exception is when the restroom is so disgusting that my hands would be dirtier after I washed (fairly common ... men's rooms are disgusting).

Keep in mind also that men can politely pee without touching anything in the restroom (flushing a urinal is not absolutely mandatory).

Comment by ellarosa

ellarosa — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 11:39:24 -0800

see anybody dying of dysentary, or e-coli outbreaks that weren't the result of unsanitary and inadequate meat-packing practices? no? then what's the bfd? the big problems are caused unsafe food and water and air. everthing else is just fussy american paranoia.

Comment by whatever

whatever — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 11:47:53 -0800

Now I know what bird flu fears are about

Comment by Lake

Lake — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 11:56:50 -0800

AdFreak is gold, I'm glad you read it ECB

Comment by tsm

tsm — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 11:58:21 -0800

Thanks to doorless restrooms and self-flushing urinals, today one can often enter the men's room and take a piss without touching anything other than one's own body (or even just one's own pants).

Which isn't to say I don't wash my hands as a general rule, mind you.

Comment by shuttlecock666

shuttlecock666 — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:11:37 -0800

i trust myself to be cleaner than most men's room surfaces. this includes the faucets, which are typically filthier than anything else in there.

Comment by christopher

christopher — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:31:12 -0800

Agreed with the general emerging consensus- I usually only wash after number 2 or if the bathroom is hellish, and that means about 34% of the time I'm not washing my hands. Guilty.
-

Comment by Geni

Geni — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:34:55 -0800

I kind of liked what George Carlin said, "I wash my hands when I get shit on them. You know, a little more often around the holidays and all."

Comment by jamier

jamier — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:35:50 -0800

Lame. It's not that you get cooties from your private parts, it's that you touch gross shit all day and the bathroom is a perfect chance to tidy up a little bit by washing your hands.

Comment by ecce homo

ecce homo — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:41:14 -0800

I don't piss or shit on my hands and never touch the fixtures.

I wash my junk in the morning then put it away all day. It is probably the cleanest part of my body.

Comment by mason

mason — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 13:03:21 -0800

We need a police sting operation for this. People have a right to know that the men they're having anonymous sex with in bathrooms have clean hands.

Comment by monkey

monkey — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 13:05:30 -0800

I wash my hands if I think they are dirty, regardless of whether or not I've just used the bathroom. I don't always wash after I pee unless I get sloppy.

Comment by Shaniqua Jackson

Shaniqua Jackson — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 13:09:35 -0800

Just remember that after you wash up and leave the restroom if you touch the door handle (if there is one) you are "infected" with the germs of the people that didn't wash.

Comment by QuimbyMcF

QuimbyMcF — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 13:14:37 -0800

Pee and poop. Ya gotta love this thread.

Comment by Sweetie

Sweetie — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 13:24:59 -0800

Um, you can totally recognize your coworkers by their shoes under the stall walls. Then they come out and DON'T WASH THEIR HANDS!!!!! Ok, news like that spreads like a rash around the office whether it be a man or woman. Casual conversations are taking place and all of a sudden it's "You know I saw Diane putting her hand in the ice maker and she does NOT wash her hands after going potty!" I wash my hands, dry them, and still hold on to the paper towels to open the door and then throw away that paper towel once safely back in my office! People are very very dirty.

Comment by PdxRitchie

PdxRitchie — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 13:43:54 -0800

If they come out of the stall and you see they don't wash their hands, why do you need to try and recognize their shoes? Wouldn't their face be easier to identify?

Comment by keshmeshi

keshmeshi — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 13:52:29 -0800

@18,

Maybe she can hear when the tap isn't turned on and the person just walks out the door?

Comment by Sweetie

Sweetie — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:03:07 -0800

Ok so here's the thing. That coworker that you, your mother, sister, brother, etc...have been sitting next to in a stall (you recognize their shoes)has just finished a virtual symphony with their bunghole and THEN that coworker doesn't even wash his/her hands! It's just the grossest thing out there. Not to mention it's difficult enough to not bust out laughing during the fart fest. Think of the germs these people are leaving on their computer keyboards or the keypads at the copier! And don't even get me started on those super truly wonderful individuals that leave their "gifts" for everyone to look at in the toilet! Thanks for not flushing guy from the copy center!

Comment by Toby

Toby — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:08:30 -0800

I wash my hands every time. It's a 30-second job and I'm done.

I suppose if I was in a truly skanky bathroom *and* the sink, soap dispenser, etc, were not hands-free, I'd make an exception.

Its just that, I think keeping your hands clean is a good habit to be in. And its not a habit if you doing it on some sort of quasi-evaluative, case-by-case basis.

And I think your mom would agree. ;)

Comment by jon

jon — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:01:40 -0800

66%?

Seems high.

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:17:09 -0800

It's a bit better in the Biochem and Medical wings at the UW, that's for sure.

Hot water and cheap soap - the most effective way to reduce infection and cut colds in half.

Comment by UNPAID BLOGGER

UNPAID BLOGGER — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:31:34 -0800

I wash my hands, unless the bathroom has no paper towels.

Why? Because turning off the faucet or opening the door with your bare hands negates the act of washing your hands in the first place.

And don't even think about using hand dryers- all those do is suck the bacteria and germs out of the air and deposit them directly onto your damp hands... leaving them dirtier than when you walked in.

Comment by Tdub

Tdub — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:13:10 -0800

Wash your hands if you're going to be touching any of your orifices excessively (for instance, eating). There are far more infections waiting for you on your keyboard, mouse, phone, etc (things that rarely, if ever, get cleaned) than you could ever expect from a relatively clean bathroom (that is, one that is cleaned once a day or more).

Your hands are probably cleaner with your *sterile* pee on them than otherwise.

Comment by Orv

Orv — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:13:54 -0800

I remember reading a study a while back that found most surfaces in offices are contaminated with e coli, thanks to workers not washing their hands after using the restroom. As a computer support person who regularly typed on other people's keyboards, it pretty well grossed me out.

Comment by adam, partner named steve

adam, partner named steve — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:40:52 -0800

Have this nice liquid soap gizmo - wash every time, I like to fondle myself all day, have a private office, but it is true men can pee with little contamination

Someone is cruising in the company john here about half the time

Erica, do some work on the decline of really great stall grafitti - I miss it

and while we are so in the topic, what do women do with all that toilet paper

Comment by Madashell

Madashell — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:19:26 -0800

Anyone who has taken a 200-level microbiology class should know this is a no-brainer - Handwashing in the pisser isn't just stopping the spread of your wang germs, but those from when you subconsciously scratched your nose nineteen times before heading to the john.
Yes, using a paper towel to touch the faucet and door handle is the way to prevent re-contaminating your hands.
There are many studies out there that show handwashing is the #1 way to stop the spread of viruses and bacteria. Whether next to Craig's wide stance or in the kitchen, PLEASE WASH YOUR DAMNED HANDS!
Thank you very much.

Comment by Greg

Greg — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 18:13:02 -0800

There is no excuse for not washing your hands after leaving the bathroom stall. You think your private parts are clean? Maybe they look that way, and they are, except for the untold millions of 'normal' bacteria living in the damp darkness of your crotch. They don't make you sick because you're used to them, but they could infect someone else. This is even leaving aside the possibility that you are infected with an STD you aren't aware of.

Wash your hands after you use the bathroom, wash your hands before you eat, and wash your hands after you've been touching lots of things that other people have been touching, like door knobs or handrails.

Oh, and while we're at it, I'm a strong advocate of surveiling all men's rooms, all the time. Because the (huge numbers of) men who make every Goddamned men's room in the world a nasty shithole deserve to be caught, publicly humiliated, and shot at dawn. Seriously.

Comment by Kip

Kip — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 20:28:40 -0800

Greg - obsessing a bit aren't we?

Granny was right - wash you hands, don't pick you nose or your butt

Good janitor is the remedy to the shit holes

The john at my house or office could be the lunch room

After two beers, I really like a smelly latrine populated by good looking studs taking a leak -- oh well

And the same latrine sprinkled with executives in suit and tie with hanging dicks while they piss

How about clipping your nails? HATE guys with long nails, ever

Comment by Matt from Denver

Matt from Denver — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 21:53:17 -0800

Okay, dummies, you got it all wrong. You don't wash your hands after taking a piss because you took a piss, you wash your hands when you take a piss because you're in the bathroom and you need to wash your hands any chance you get. You've picked up tons of germs since the last time you washed, so you're washing them away. Get it? It's about not spreading germs.

Comment by Kel

Kel — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 00:20:59 -0800

I like all the men defending the fact that they barely have to touch themselves in the stall-- guys, think about the girls, we don't at all. It's called toilet paper.

We learned it in kindergarten, just wash your hands, it won't kill you.